“House Party Weekend”- What Really Goes on at College!

What a weekend. Random. Enlightening. Never to be repeated.

Although I do not usually write about my personal emotional state, to put things into context, last week had been an exceptionally rough week for the travelling dietitian from a personal sense. With the weekend ahead of me nothing more perfect could have fell into place than when I received a welcoming and kind invitation to join my new friend Saun on what could be summed up as nothing less than a random adventure down to Pennsylvania for what Bucknell University calls “House Party Weekend”.

I had no idea what to expect, but all I know is, it certainly wasn’t anything like I have seen in my life.

Travelling almost 5 hours to our destination I somehow managed to squeeze into the weekend:

• Sleeping inside a sorority house with the sweetest bunch of girls I have met in the USA to date! With one girl even being such a sweetheart to actually invite me to sleep on a mattress in her room so it was quiet for me. She actually ended up telling me she wanted to be a registered dietitian and having a conversation about her dream career at 3am.
• Literally stuffing my own toy monkey to take home at an indoor carnival.
• Watching girls dancing around without any underwear on to try and attract the attention of the beer pong obsessed boys (and yes, I did suggest she close her legs and put some underwear on..although my suggestion was gracefully rejected!).
• Listening to live country music being played on a front porch with hundreds of students dancing in gumboots in the deep puddles of mud.
• Venturing around a fraternity house that appeared like a jail cell with a night club in the basement.
• Being introduced to the most horrendous alcoholic drink I have ever seen in my life, ever clear, which is 95% ethanol.
• Inviting myself in to play pool and have some drinks backstage with famous rappers and their management teams (who ended up loving the Aussie so much they invited me on stage and dedicated a song to me).
• …and last, but definitely not least, who could forget having my shorts literally sliced off my body down the side of a fence (and yes, my hand sowing skills did come into play immediately following this event!).

Wow!

As you can see, this was no ordinary weekend. As I said for Spring break, not something that will ever need to be repeated. However again, it was worth a look to see what really goes on at college parties.

Although beer kegs were the drink of choice, and the food offered by the host school to the
partygoers was nothing short of unhealthy, I couldn’t stop myself from playing dietitian a couple of times and do a little bit of research as I ventured through the kitchens of the different sorority girls houses.

I was awfully impressed at one group of girls kitchen where they actually had a fridge packed with berries, low fat cottage cheese and milk; a shelf filled with Special K and fresh fruit..and a guest who caught me taking photos and suggested I take a photo of him to show the world that not all Americans are obese! …I graciously obliged.

So there you have it, house party weekend, random, light hearted, and a definitely needed for this travelling dietitian.

Back to classes and work today, we put my more professional cap back on. I met up with the most delightful

dietitian from Sodexo for breakfast who again helped to inspire me and show me not only the many different paths dietitians can take in their career, but also in their personal lives. Brenda, thank you.

Where will I go next weekend and what will I find out…we will have to wait and see!

For now, the travelling dietitian x