Most college students can agree that having one great carefree night is worth getting in trouble for. This isn’t proven through the words spoken by college students, but instead the actions of most college students.

I don’t believe that anyone goes to college wanting to party all the time. The intentions of receiving an education for a career are most prominent at first; however, the urge to excessively party comes shortly after most likely due to the many questionable outside influences.

Many college students with a “party prioritized lifestyle” can argue that they deserve to have fun in college. Instead of constantly studying all the time — therefore becoming stressed out— most can probably agree that drinking and socializing at a party provide that much needed escape from burying your head in American literature and deterministic algorithms.

Yet consequences in the aftermath sadly aren’t apparent to these students, until they get their test scores back and realize the harsh realities first hand.

Take Isla Vista for example. The local and regional news cover large events such as Halloween or the infamous ‘Deltopia’ every year. Masses of college kids come from around the country to attend these events due to the crazy stories they’ve heard, and the YouTube videos documenting the chaos.

Each year after the dust settles, the headlines portray the madness. The stories highlight the arrest numbers and hospital lines, yet people keep coming back.

They want to boast to their friends and family they “survived IV”.

Before most even attend college, they’re sure to have already seen countless television shows or Internet videos glorifying partying and drinking. Of course in most of these cases, partying is displayed in a positive manner, where any negative occurrences are dumbed down or made out to be funny for the viewers amusement.

Temptation is everywhere even when no one is around you. Everyday when I get in the car and decide to turn on my radio within the first five minutes of me flipping through stations, a song that makes me want to dance comes on.

“Dubstep” is a common genre played at parties, and now you can find it on the radio. The new wave of music that comes on can make someone want to party. Every new song is played over and over again so everyone can memorize the lyrics, and most of the time the lyrics in songs are about drinking, “turning up” or “letting loose”.

Nowadays Facebook and Instagram have become the go-to place for someone to express themselves. It has become common for people to use these social networking sites to portray themselves at a party having the time of their life.

The negative things that happen at parties although aren’t posted as much for all to see. The classic phrase “Kodak moment” has been replaced by the phrase “insta-worthy”. People who see these fun pictures on social media are, in a sense, being lied to and therefore are being drawn in continuously.

The opposing side of this argument is for people who believe everyone is responsible for their own actions regardless. There are many people who shake their heads after they hear about a party turning into a police raid (mostly people of older generations) especially if it’s a college party.

It’s understandable for them to not understand why partying is so attractive because most of these people didn’t have mass social media growing up to influence them.

Most college students party for no real reason other than wanting to have fun. It can be a spur of the moment decision brought on by friends or oneself, or there’s just the common reason “why not?”

I think in this day and age it has become impossible for someone to escape being exposed to partying because of the constant exposure through the media. People in general have become dependent on checking Facebook and Instagram.

Going to the movies, and even listening to the radio on a daily basis doesn’t cut it anymore. College students shouldn’t be blamed for their amount of partying they do. Outside influences are real, now more than ever.