Popular groups on campus are Campus Democrats, Men’s Soccer, the Greek system, Associated Students and most ethnic clubs. Freshman year, my floor was really close so dorm rooms had people in and out of them all the team. Athletic events are a fun way to take a break from studying and an excuse to drink on a weekday night. Dating is tricky at UCSB. Mostly there’s random hooking up or friends with benefits but there’s the occasional story of that turning into a relationship. For the most part, though, it seems almost taboo to actually like and start dating your hookup buddy.
At 2am on a weeknight, if I’m up, I’m at a party, at a local bar or downtown at a club. I met my closest friends on my floor freshman year or they are in my sorority. At the end of each year, AS puts on Extravaganza, a free concert with lots of popular artists. Last year T.I. came. Other traditions are tossing around tortillas during graduation, streakers during the Soc 152 Sexual Education final, Halloween on DP (Del Playa Drive – the street on the beach).
Those who do party, start their weekends on Thursday, sometimes Wednesday. Under-aged students stick to IV parties, which you usually hear about through a friend or friend of a friend and are big and usually open. When you turn 21, you head to downtown Santa Barbara or “DT”, which has bars and clubs. IF you don’t feel like drinking, you can go out to dinner (SB has wonderful restaurants), go the movies, rent movies, go bowling. There are definitely alternatives to drinking.
There are pros and cons to being a sorority. The cons are that you’re instantly put into a box – I got a lot of flak from my dorm friends for who claimed I was “buying friends” and sometimes you just don’t want to participate but feel obligated. But the pros definitely outweigh the negative stuff. I’ve met some great friends, always have something to do and it’s great for networking. The Greek system is fairly prominent on campus but doesn’t dominate the social scene but any means. Lately they’ve been getting a bad rap because of a couple of frats getting in trouble. It’s true that frat parties are crazy and can get out of control.
Many people call IV a bubble because if you needed to, you could get everything you need right there. I try to escape at least once a week, just to remind myself that there’s a world outside of IV and college. I like to go downtown, go shopping, have a quiet lunch, go the SB Mission. Also, LA is just an hour and half away and I have a lot of friends that go to school down there so I visit them sometimes.
Since there’s a stocked kitchen and dinner 5 nights a week included in living in the house, most of my money is spent on going out, coffee and eating out occasionally. I probably spend $100 a week on average.