Upperclassmen share their personal views on having fun without drinking
Wyatt Smith
News Editor
At Wooster, like so many other colleges, it can seem incredibly difficult to find social activities that don’t center around alcohol. Yet staying sober need not lead to boring weekends, as Rachelle Brenner ’15 and Mamoudou N’Diaye ’14 can vouch.
N’Diaye and Brenner are both extroverted and involved upperclassmen who choose not to drink. Neither see this decision as a social handicap; they can keep their weekends busy without getting drunk.
However, Brenner’s and N’Diaye’s perspectives differ when it comes to Wooster’s party scene. N’Diaye dives in while Brenner likes to keep her distance.
N’Diaye’s DJing, membership in Men of Harambee and sociable personality ensure many late nights at the UG or house parties.
“I feel like if I was on a news team, I would be the weather man,” he explained. “Like they’d throw me on to the field, and I’d be in this storm of music and drinking and drugs and people being ridiculous and doing stuff. I do have those nights when I’m like Arnold from the Magic School Bus, ‘I should have stayed home today.’ But usually I can find one thing that was really fun from the night, and it’s usually just being around my friends.”
Brenner, on the other hand, is rarely out past midnight, preferring to avoid most of Wooster’s party scene on weekends.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m always a little curious,” she said. “I do some social experimenting by going to parties to check things out and say hi to different people, but I have a time frame in which I know I’m going to be comfortable being there.”
Instead, Brenner takes full advantage of Wooster’s earlier offerings, such as Scot Lanes, Covers and WAC events. She also emphasized the importance of making her own fun.
“You have to get creative,” said Brenner. “I think what’s good is going back to basics; doing things that you haven’t done in a long time, whether it’s playing cards or activities along those lines.”
“I take the time I have at Wooster as an opportunity to meet and build new relationships with a wide range of people,” she added. “Sometimes you do that through the strangest, silliest activities. … I have a friend where we once competed by holding a ‘Wooster Olympics.’ We played different games like foosball or air hockey around campus, running from place to place. When we get together, it’s like we’re 10 years old all over again.”
For his part, N’Diaye keeps himself busy with stand-up comedy, filmmaking and a range of physical activities, from soccer to parkour.
Yet when it comes down to it, the specific activity isn’t all that important.
“It is not as much about what you do,” said Brenner, “but more so finding the people you enjoy and are comfortable in your own skin with.”
“There’s more than one way to have fun,” said N’Diaye. “Don’t let the fact that you don’t drink define you; all too often not drinking is synonymous with being boring. There are many people who prove this claim false.”