It’s hard to be a Miami University student around spring break without hearing about Green Beer Day (GBD). It’s the biggest drinking holiday of the spring semester, full of all-night ragers, darties, borgs and overall shenanigans.
Or at least that’s what I’ve heard.
As a senior, this will be my fourth GBD at Miami, and I have yet to participate in a single one. There are a couple of reasons why I’ve opted out.
First, I didn’t turn 21 until April of my junior year, making me underage for all of my previous GBDs. When I was a first year, this was devastating. I wanted to take part in such an honorable tradition, but my fear of the police kept me in my dorm.
In the years after that, I just got less and less interested in partying. I would much rather be watching a Barbie movie in my living room with my roommates and a glass of wine than at a bar or in a frat house.
But now, this year is finally my chance to get out there, right? As the day goes closer, I’m not so sure.
I wouldn’t be hurting anyone if I went out. It would be completely legal, and I would just be doing whatever everyone else around me was.
But honestly, it just seems like so much work.
I already work in the western center in Peabody Hall for hours on GBD, serving snacks and watching “High School Musical,” “Step Up” and other Disney classics. By the time I get off, am I really going to want to put on a silly little outfit to get drunk where a bunch of people are already drunk and have been drunk for a long time?
I feel like GBD is this rite of passage that I need to complete to be a true Miami student. Every year, I see my peers out having fun and connecting with each other. Part of me longs to put on a stupid little outfit and carry around a suspicious mixture of vodka, water and Mio in a gallon jug. But everyone I see going out for GBD isn’t like me. I have no one to go with, I don’t really even know people in Greek Life.
But this event has been so hyped up my entire run at Miami. Even professors and staff complain about it, adding to the mysticism.
Maybe going out for GBD is what I’m supposed to do, but would it be so bad if I just spent another Thursday night at home?
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Gina Roth is a senior majoring in individualized studies and journalism from Springfield, Ohio. She is an undergraduate assistant for Journalism 102 and Western 231, a reporter for the Oxford Free Press and a Western Center student worker. Her focus is popular history and its effect on society and politics
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