From Friday Night to 8 AM: The New Freedoms of College

The night has been great. You and your friends make an appearance at the Friday night football game, hit a movie, grab some grub from the nighttime diner, and one of you gets a text from the high school’s star quarterback. He is having a victory celebration at his house and you and your friends are all invited. Then you get a text. Though it is not from a football player or one of your friends; it is your mom reminding you of your vastly approaching curfew.

Now flash forward to college, a “work hard, play hard” environment. As a student, your job is to excel in classes and earn a degree with in a four-year window.

But there is more, much more. What would college be without the late-nights, frat parties, varsity sports, and new people?

Attending a university offers a whole new bag of opportunities for freedom. No longer can your parents tell you what to do, when to go to sleep, or when to be home each night. At Miami, Uptown offers a number of clubs and bars that students can go to on weekends, and even during the weekdays.

In high school, fun nights were confined to Friday and Saturday. But here, there is nothing and no one stopping you from attending 90’s Night at Brickstreet on a Tuesday evening…

…Well, maybe your 11 o’clock (8 A.M for freshmen) class. Though no one is making you go to that either …

Not only does college increase freedoms outside of the dorm, it also applies inside them. When snuggled up in bed or staying up to study for exams, there is always a decision that is up to you to be made. Should you get up and go to class? Maybe you will order greasy pizza or go to the dining hall. Perhaps you’re the kid that reads tomorrow’s microbiology chapter or the one dying to go Karaoke Night.

Then there is the whole new, 110 percent better, dating scene. You are now in school with people from all over the United States; some are even from overseas. Bottom line, dating has become loads more interesting. When your date comes to pick you up from your dorm, your dad is no longer hiding behind the door with his shotgun. Not only does the extra freedom provided in college allow students to have more fun by going out on dates, the lack of worry of what your parents will think or say, gives you more time to focus on that special someone, and maybe even start a new relationship.

Your class schedule is also a new freedom in college. No longer are you confined to the normal math, science, social studies and English classes. Perhaps you decide to take a dance class, one on fairytales, or even a class on sex! Seventeen Magazine surveyed college girls to find out what activities were recommended to have the best freshman year ever. One of which was to just take a random class.

Miranda Crossgrove commented that she is “excited to take this lecture called ‘Beatles,’ all about the band. [She] grew up a Beatles fan and… can’t believe there’s actually a whole class dedicated to their music!”

Though college allows you to be free from the discipline of your parents, it does not free you, however, from the discipline you owe to yourself. Freedom teaches you your limits, how to manage your time, and how to be the driving force behind your own success.

“It teaches me to be responsible during a more structured part of my life,” thinks freshman Jacob Smith.

Though the urge to skip class is always hanging over your head, the goal of college is to strive to achieve much greater than average. That skill comes from attending those annoying eight A.M’s or deciding to stay in and study for that tough exam on Monday.

“If you miss a class, you miss a class and you get a bad grade. But if you miss a day of work, you probably get fired,” Smith continued.

In other words, college is training for a successful future in the “real-world.” Freedoms that were not available in high school are parts of that essential training. And, surely, so are the late nights.

Despite the lesser parental restrictions in college, the most important freedom of all, exclaimed by freshman Bethany Corbett is “doing what I want!”