My experience in the Florida wetlands was anything but damp. It, being spring break, was actually quite dry — boozing wasn’t allowed.
Yes, it was an odd way to spend a vacation: sleeping in bunk beds, sharing a co-ed bathroom with seven others, and eating breakfast before the sun rose. Prison and Alternative Spring Break are the only institutions that could legally force such deprivations. I was captive in the latter.
I’m not really sure why I paid to volunteer. Picking up trash, carrying heavy fences, and painting Park Rangers’ houses was far from glamorous. But whatever, I’m glad that I went, because when I returned to Philadelphia, I felt fab. (And it wasn’t because I’m a community service whore like many ASBers. I don’t get off on giving. Like most people, I get off on getting.)
I just felt accomplished to have just spent an entire week with a group of my peers without the presence of illicit substances. We actually hung out — co-ed bonding, omg — and didn’t drink, smoke, do coke, or hook up for seven entire days. (God created Earth in seven days.) That doesn’t happen very often, especially at Penn. (I’m referring to sober boys and girls, not the story of creation.)
Maybe my perception is skewed because I live with eighteen girls, but I rarely see groups of males and females coexisting if they’re not drinking or already drunk. I’m thinking that we might be scared of the opposite sex. Something like the college comeback of the cooties?
With alcohol as our crutch, we’ve managed to regress to a middle school-esque era. No more tag at recess (because that’s what kids play in elementary school); we’re too scared to look silly.
Liquor is an obvious social lubricant. That being said, I question our abilities if alcohol is most always present at college gatherings. Wouldn’t it be disconcerting to discover that, for the most part, we’re too uneasy to soberly spend time with people our own age?
Tags: awkwardness, Florida, spring break, volunteering
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March 18th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
Our Bible studies are co-ed and we have lots of fun.
March 19th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
“We actually hung out — co-ed bonding, omg — and didn’t drink, smoke, do coke, or hook up for seven entire days.” Sounds awful.
March 24th, 2008 at 12:01 am
i think anyone who thinks it does sound awful is proving the point of this article… and demonstrating a real lack of social skills… sad.