Facebook Groups Bring Back Embarrassing Memories of Frat Parties, Bad Behavior, and Crazy Hairstyles

Do you ever wish you were young again?

Every once in a while I see a meme on social media that has some variation of “I’m glad I was young before we had camera phones and social media”.

I always chuckle when I see one of those posts, thinking of all the crazy stuff that we did when I was younger. I would hate to have a Tik Tok video of some of the antics my friends and I were involved in during high school and college.

It turns out the even if we didn’t have camera phones back then, there were a lot of photos being taken when I was in college. I know this because recently someone from the class ahead of me in college created a Facebook group for those of us who were at my college in the late 1980s.

When they first started the group, it was a frenzy of uploading old pictures on the site and there’s one thing I can say for certain: we all drank A LOT back then. I mean seriously, almost every picture includes alcohol.

The photos are particularly concentrated on fraternity and sorority events, and time spent at the local pubs in our college town that turned a blind eye to our obviously altered IDs.

Seriously it was so easy back then; our driver's licenses were laminated cardboard. All you had to do was very carefully peel it open, change the year of birth, and re-laminate it again. You just needed to do something like change a 7 into a 4 or an 8 into a 3 and you were instantly older. Not that I ever did that (wink, wink).

I remember one of the bars in my college town of Rock Island Illinois had a ladies’ night with “two for one” drinks for the female customers. We would of course get Long Island Ice Teas because that was the most alcohol bang for your buck, especially when you were drinking them two-fisted.

Ah, the good old days. It’s a miracle our livers survived.

It’s also a miracle we survived the trip home because there was no Uber or Lyft back then. Either the least drunk person would drive, or you would walk back to your dorm in the middle of the night.

College was the last time in my life I was filled with hope about the future. The last time I could be irresponsible and hedonistic. The last time I could just let go.

You can’t blame me for missing it, can you?

“I wish I could go back to college. Life was so simple back then.

What would I give/To go back and live/In a dorm with a meal plan again

I wish I could go back to college/In college you know who you are

You sit in the quad/And think oh my god

I am totally gonna go far.” — Avenue Q by Robert Lopez & Jeff Marx

Of all the things in college, the parties were the most memorable. I’m not sure how it is now, but back then there was some big party every weekend. And holiday. And whenever people felt like throwing a party.

One of my former classmates and fellow introverts posted on the Facebook page that after seeing all the pictures she could not believe she had missed so many great parties.

I have to admit, I felt the same way. Don’t get me wrong, I partied a fair amount in college (see previous Long Island Iced Tea story) but not as much as I wish I had.

I’ve never been one for a huge crowd, so I was never completely comfortable at a big party, although I went to quite a few in my time.

I did not have parents who were willing to help pay for college, so I worked multiple part-time jobs to cover the difference between my loans and scholarships and the actual cost of college.

And the rest of the time…I studied. I studied a lot. And periodically got a couple of hours of sleep.

If I knew then what I know now, I have to say quite honestly I would have studied way less. It turns out absolutely no one has ever asked me for my undergraduate GPA; even my graduate school program admission wasn’t dependent on my GPA.

I busted my butt in college to maintain an A average when I could have got along in life just as well with a C average. And had a lot more fun while I was still young enough to enjoy it.

Who knew that college was the last time I’d have such a high alcohol tolerance?

Who knew that was the last time I would be able to travel around the globe with only a backpack and a few dollars?

Who knew that was the last time I would be surrounded by so many people my age, and have such a large and diverse group of friends?

Who knew that someday I would be in my fifties and wishing I had dated more, partied more, and had more adventures when I was a kid?

Don’t misunderstand me. College was awesome. I had a blast.

I made some great friends. I studied and backpacked in Europe. I edited the newspaper and interviewed the visiting Queen of Sweden. I drank Long Island Iced Teas and did test tube shots of tequila and danced until the wee hours. I was kissed under the bell tower. I ate Thai food for the first time. I went to football games and art exhibitions and political events. I smoked pot — and I inhaled.

But if I could go back to that bright-eyed little freshman who moved into the dorms in 1986, I would tell her to do all of that and much, much more.

I would say, “Young Rose, relax and enjoy these four years before you have to be a grown-up. Live large. Say yes to every adventure. Go to more parties. Push your boundaries. Be a little sluttier. And for god’s sake, use less toxic Aqua Net.”

An earlier version of this story appeared elsewhere.