Disclaimer: I am over the age of 21 and do not condone underage drinking or drinking irresponsibly.

College is typically the time when people start to explore, come out of their shell, gain new experiences, learn new things and have fun.

When I came to college, I became a hermit.

Now don’t get me wrong—I still love to explore, experience new things and have fun, but I do it from the safety of my own home or quietly in an inconspicuous way.

Part of me wants to blame the fact that in high school, I was rowdier than most and outgoing all the time. During my time in high school, I was captain of the water polo team, elected class clown (I graduated in a class of more than 600 people, so this was no easy feat) and had other silly side quests like being on homecoming court. I was always in the public eye and felt like I needed to be this prominent and robust figure in not only my life, but for the watching eyes that were always upon me.

I got burnt out.

There’s no other way to put it. When I got to college and realized I could slip through the cracks and become unnoticeable, I did, and I found that I loved it.

It felt like a part of me had died. I started to mourn the ghost of my past, and it walked alongside me, waiting to be seen again.
In small aspects of my life, the less-isolated version of myself would come out occasionally, but not often. I found myself worrying about what others thought of me when I would let the “old Meg” slip out of hiding.

All of this changed one night, Thursday, Jan. 30.

My roommate, some friends and I went to Drifta for weekly trivia again… we lost. Maybe next week! But to cheer ourselves up, we decided to go home and play euchre. This turned into the idea of making a home movie to the 2016 smash hit “Finesse” by Cardi B and Bruno Mars (this song is, in fact, not a smash hit and is somewhat underground.)

While figuring out props for the video, my roommate suggested wigs, and I brought out my swim caps to be used under said wigs.
Instead, this turned into our ragtag group of four wearing swim caps and goggles to the local bar in town, The Wooden Nickel.

I hadn’t partook in such an oddity in so long that I felt a rush like no other. Something about being goofy with your friends and not caring about what the other Wooden Nickel attendees thought really loosened a girl up.

We titled ourselves the “Swim Team” and took our business to the bar, where we got some strange looks, applause and overall confusion from other people.

I loved it.

This activity woke up the “old Meg,” and instead of her walking alongside me, she was me, and I was her.

I don’t want people to think I don’t enjoy my life as a hermit—I actually quite enjoy it. But the rush I felt from participating in such a goofy act with some of my closest friends gave me a thrill like no other. Not once did I think about what others thought of me, and if I did, I couldn’t have cared less because of the fun I was having.

What I learned from this experience is that putting yourself out there doesn’t have to be scary, and being goofy in public is OK. If people judge you for being who you are, then they are the ones with a problem.

Being yourself is something that can be hard, and it’s easy to be reserved. Pushing yourself to do things that make you uncomfortable is what life is about, and if that means getting a ragtag team of goons to wear swim caps in a public setting, then I say do it!

We only live once, and we have to make the most of the time we have.