Thank goodness for the three-day weekend

There are lots of things I will miss about college when I start working next year: Uwe Reinhardt lectures, beirut tournaments and seeing every single person I know walking on Prospect Avenue after meals to name a few. However, there is something I will miss more than anything else: the glorious, magnificent three-day weekend.

Unless you've managed to score some amazing job with a four-day work week, in which case I hate you, college is one of the only ways to pretty much guarantee yourself three consecutive days off ... every single week. Sure, I, along with my fellow engineers, had physics quizzes every Friday morning freshman year. Still, it's not like that should stop you from partying on Thursday nights. After week three, it became pretty clear to me that I was going to get the same grade no matter how hungover I was (a note of caution to freshmen: I did not do very well in freshman physics).

If you are lucky enough not to be forced to take a Friday class or wise enough to realize that you probably don't need to attend it, you have done yourself a huge favor. Pat yourself on the back. The three-day weekend begins as soon as the last class ends on Thursday, probably around 3:00 p.m. Sure you may have sports practice or dance rehearsal, but come on, it's the weekend. Grab a nice relaxing dinner, watch "The OC" with 20 other people (I guess the fad is now "Grey's Anatomy") and get ready to rock it out. This is Princeton, and we don't wait until Friday to get the party started.

So I admit it, Fridays at Princeton are kind of strange. Most people think Fridays here are kind of lame. Says Matt Kireker '07, "Friday nights at Princeton are like every night at Yale. Nothing to do."

I, however, disagree. So does Scott Wolman '07, who responded to Kireker by describing Friday as the "cream in the Oreo cookie sandwich." Wolman makes a good point, but, you might protest, the cream in the Oreo is the best part! That's why they made the Double Stuff cookie after all.

This is a valid point. However, Friday can become truly the best night of the weekend because it simply is a time to relax and hang out. Undoubtedly, Friday is a time to catch up on homework, do laundry, get a work out in and clean up your room. More exciting, however, is the fact that on Fridays you never know what to expect. Maybe Jim Williamson '07 will organize a senior class event with fine beers and an extremely racy comedian — an awesome event, in case you missed it. Maybe you'll go to New York City for a night. Or maybe you'll wind up hanging out with a group of close friends on a winter night, watch a movie and sip some hot chocolate. I mean, that's what college is for, isn't it? You gotta form those bonds that will last a lifetime.

Even if Friday is lame, you have Thursday to remember and Saturday to look forward to. Saturday nights are quintessentially college. Make yourself some memories. I say no more.

So now that you've put off all this work until Sunday, you're kind of screwed, eh? Well, maybe, but hope is not entirely lost. With several hours of concentration in one of Princeton's 43 libraries, even the wildest of weekends can be salvaged. Unless, of course, it's Lawnparties weekend.

College is a place for to develop personally and academically, and to figure out how you can best contribute to society. But it's also a place sit back, have fun and savor just how good your life is. Four days a week for the first part, three days for the second. Sounds fair to me! Neel Gehani is an ORFE major from Summit, N.J. He can be reached at ngehani@princeton.edu.