I don’t drink/smoke/do drugs etc. I don’t have a problem with people that do, it’s just a personal preference. I simply don’t enjoy it. From what I understand, Michigan has a prominent partying scene–especially alcohol and marijuana.
I’m just the type of person who prefers staying in and watching movies and chilling. A party every once in a while is cool, it’s just not always fun as the night progresses and everyone around me becomes drunk. Is it easy to find people like this at UM? I really just don’t want to become the weird outcast or whatever…lol
Does anyone have experience trying to find their place at college while not drinking/doing any major partying?
Sure, I do. I do not drink or do drugs. I had no trouble fitting in at Michigan. There are thousands of students just like you. Obviously, the majority of the students like to drink to varying degrees, but at a university with over 25,000 undergraduate students, you can easily find your niche. You can ask for a dry floor or substance-free roo, which should make things easier for you.
Well, for what it is worth, I was similar to you and I attended Wisconsin for undergrad. As there were so many people and groups to choose from, I found no problem fitting in, nor finding academic and cultural stimulation with like-minded friends. I think you could be very comfortable and find your niche at Michigan. It may take a little time, but it can be worth it.
My D and a bunch of her friends do not take any alcohol or substance. They hang out all the time though. The school is so big that you can easily find your niche.
You just need to leave the party before it gets to that stage, unless of course, you’re trying to pick up some desperate engineer.
“I really just don’t want to become the weird outcast or whatever…lol”
If you didn’t learn this in high school, college/uni is definitely the place to learn how to NOT be a sheep.
Q: Why did the monkey fall out of the tree?
A: It was dead.
Q: Why did the other monkey fall out of the tree?
A: Peer pressure
The campus has 43,000 people on it, if you want to be straight-edge or whatever, you’ll have plenty of company and won’t have to look very far.
My D had friends that drank and friends that didn’t and they all hung out together just fine. No one thought it was weird at all. Everyone’s choices were respected. And they often chose to hang out in the dorms and play a board game or watch netflix rather than go to a mixer.
You don’t need to drink/smoke/do drugs to have fun at Michigan. Just find a few close friends with the same interests as you and you’ll have fun! I’m a Junior and I’ve never been to a party 