Over the past couple of weekends, students here at Ohio University have celebrated the beginnings of fest season. As a freshman, this was a very exciting — as well as worrying — experience for me, having no idea what to expect. So I went out anyway.
What a stressful yet relieving experience fests are. This is the earliest I have found myself waking up on a weekend since I can remember. Getting to be outside with my friends until 3 or 4 in the afternoon is about all I’ve needed before I head back to the dorm and pass out for a few hours. For those few hours that I am usually during out for these fests, a lot of time is spent walking from party to party trying to find one that isn’t dead or will actually let people in without having to pay for them — which is where things can get kinda stressful.
As the day goes on though and we eventually stumble upon a party that’s popping, the stress begins to melt away. Dancing and just standing talking with friends and people that we just met is a great feeling, especially when the weather was as nice as it was for this past weekend. When you’re at a party with more people than the amount in your graduating class, things can get kind of surreal where you just stop caring about what’s going on around you and just start living in the moment.
I found that it’s these moments that fests are made for: just getting lost in the crowd of people where no one really cares what you look like or what you’re doing (as long as you don’t try to start a fight). This aspect allows for people to unwind and enjoy the weekends in ways that not many people get a chance to do outside of college.
As the university tries to work to remove the stigma around partying here, the fests have been shut down earlier into the day than in the past. Because of this, it allows for a lot of recovery time during the evening. This way, on Sunday, you’re able to do any of the homework you put off in order to go out and you didn’t waste your whole weekend by being out.
So while fests can be intimidating for freshmen, they are definitely something that everyone should experience at least once. If it is something that they want to keep doing, then they definitely should. The party culture here at OU is not for everyone, and that is completely understandable. However, if your friends are trying to get you to go out, I would absolutely recommend that you check it out.
Logan Carr is a freshman studying anthropology at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to talk to Logan? Email him at lc300918@ohio.edu.
