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New Year's

Beginning with back-to-school Lawnparties, almost every occasion has a corresponding Princeton celebration. Midterms can’t stop Princeton Halloween. Thanksgiving merits a Tuesday night “Dranksgiving” on Prospect. December brings Winter Formals and ugly sweater parties to celebrate the holiday season, and Houseparties has been a Princeton staple for generations. Princetonians love celebrations so much that they even came up with the three-day extravaganza we call Reunions. But this Monday night, like many other Princetonians, I will return to my old social stomping ground and ring in 2013 with high school friends. With the high school experience that unified us now past, I can’t help but feel distanced from the social circles that dominated our four years. As we relive our shared memories, I’ll giggle half-heartedly at the tired inside jokes from senior year that are slowly losing their humor. When I run into acquaintances that I haven’t spoken to since August, we’ll swap stories about school, struggling to find commonalities to keep our conversation alive. As I pretend to laugh at the antics that I thought I left behind at graduation parties, I know I’ll wonder: What if New Year’s Eve took place at Princeton?College councils and USG would do their best to provide some clean fun on such a notorious evening. With no classes, we’d start our festivities with the night still young, with plenty of time to hit those campus events and the clubs on Prospect. Here’s how the evening would probably play out:5–8 p.m.: New Year’s Eve dinner at the dining halls and eating clubsIt’s hard to top the Thanksgiving or holiday dinners, but the dining hall staff would make New Year’s a culinary tradition of its own. I’m imagining a multicultural vibe to the affair, which would feature “lucky” foods inspired by regional and international traditions. From good-luck pork from Germany to traditional Grecian cakes, the dinner will be a welcome step-up from the usual grilled chicken and salad bar. The eating clubs would host dinners of their own, undoubtedly featuring champagne toasts.8 p.m.: Residential college events beginUnderclassmen would then warm up with some sort of ’zee group craft competition inevitably involving disco balls, balloons and glitter. This would likely be the place where we make the New Year’s resolutions we won’t keep.9 p.m.: USG-sponsored New Year’s Eve party, probably with “Fest” in titleIn typical Princeton fashion, it would probably be raining, snowing or hailing, but undeterred, us girls would face the elements teetering to the Street in our too-high heels and sequin bandage dresses. Conveniently located at Frist, a USG-sponsored affair would provide a good stopping point to rest our tired feet, warm up with some hot chocolate and kettle corn and grab a free sequined “2013” party hat before finishing the trek to the Street. 11:30 p.m.: Reach the Street in time for the ball dropNew Year’s Eve would bring everyone to the Street, so you would even run into that kid on your hall who never leaves his room. Each club would have a different vibe, from the champagne-toasting Ivy affair to the more raucous Cannon festivities. If you couldn’t get on the Cottage guest list, you’d stop by Quad for glow sticks before joining the group huddling outside TI for passes. Whether you’d head to Terrace for late night festivities or decide to charge a couple slices of hot Frist pizza to your Prox, odds are by 2 a.m. you’d have already broken those New Year’s resolutions you made earlier in the night. Even if your Princeton New Year’s Eve wouldn’t turn out perfectly, it would still beat spending the night in a high school friend’s basement — or worse, watching the ball drop alone on your couch at home. You would end the evening confident that Princeton had made the occasion a night to remember.  11:00 a.m.: Wake up and remember you still haven’t taken finals. Happy New Year!

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