For a variety of reasons I never really drank much as a teenager. I only went to a club once before staring university and didn’t have the best time. I assumed that, once I started uni, I would start going to clubs more. But the pandemic stopped that happening in my first year, so my first time clubbing didn’t happen until the start of my second year.
Instead of going to an actual club, I went to Fab’n’Fresh, which is the club night in the University of Birmingham’s Guild of Students. None of my friends from first year were going. But I had tickets, so I arranged to go to pres at the house of a couple of people who at the time I’d only met once. I was really nervous before going to the pres because, as well as going clubbing for the first time in years, I was going to a house full of strangers, most of whom would already know people. I considered not going, but decided that I would go to pres and then decide if I actually wanted to go to the club night.
When I first got to the pres I felt quite awkward. Everyone seemed to know everyone but I didn’t want to spend the whole night following around the two people I knew. To make up for this awkwardness I drank a little too much wine and eventually started playing beer pong (a combination I do not recommend). As the night went on, I started to open up and got chatting to a few people. By the time we were leaving to go clubbing, I knew there was no way I was going home.
Vomit vandal!
By the time we left pres I was quite drunk, but still on my feet and happy. Once we got to the club, things were pretty much as I had expected: dancing, drinking, seeing old friends for the first time in years. That was until we were dancing in a big group and felt an unknown liquid splash us: someone chundered on us!
We rushed to the closest loos and washed our clothes and skin as much as possible. But some people were beyond saving. Luckily I was further away from the vomit vandal than most and was wearing a sleeveless top. So the little vomit that got on me could be washed off pretty easily. The same couldn’t be said of most of our group, whose clothes were covered in a stranger’s sick. At this point, most of the group left but a few of us persevered.
Once the vomit ordeal was over, those of us who stayed continued to have a good time and kept dancing for hours more. I’m so glad that I ignored my natural instinct to leave at every opportunity I had, because that night really opened me up to the world of clubbing. Compared to some of my more recent experiences at clubs, that night was pretty tame. But it really felt that I was finally getting the student experience I’d missed out on in my first year thanks to COVID.
I know it isn’t for everyone. But I would encourage anyone who thinks they might like clubbing to try it at university, even if you’ve had bad experiences in the past.
See also: My first time in a lecture