<p>I’m spending my last year of high school on exchange in Poland where the only real source of entertainment for young people is to go to clubs and get wasted or to go to house parties and get wasted. I loved it at first, when I was reveling in my newfound freedom, but now getting drunk isn’t that fun. Getting drunk, not necessarily wasted (which happens sometimes if you either a) haven’t thought out your drinking plan and drink too much or b) are in the mood for a wild night), with a good group of people who are your intellectual peers is, however, a really good time. </p>
<p>That’s where I think the maturity issue comes in. I don’t think any upperclassman in college would say freshmen are mature. It’s because they haven’t gotten past the point of thinking that alcohol itself is fun. They’re treating parties like rollercoasters and getting drunk just so they can experience the thrill of all their senses swimming around in liquor and of not having any social inhibitions, the latter being especially important to awkward freshmen going through their “adjustment period.” They’re not treating parties as social events where a stimulating conversation is as likely to happen as a drunken hookup. I prefer the former, but my best friend is a Brazilian who lives for drunken hookups. Does that make him less mature than me? I don’t think so, because the phase of obvious immaturity - getting drunk for the sake of getting drunk - that newcomers to the drinking/partying scene are guilty of is over with him. </p>
<p>What I’m basically trying to say is you can’t base maturity at all on someone’s interests. The only real way to judge it is on experience. These people that the OP sees as immature are, I’m thinking, just inexperienced drinkers who will be immature for awhile until they start to get a bit wiser and treat alcohol like adults.</p>
<p>As for me, I prefer sitting outside a cafe with a thick, dark beer, a cigarette, and a book. When Friday night rolls along, though, I feel compelled to go out and party and meet new people because I can’t stand feeling like I’m missing out on life, something that the OP might very well be doing.</p>