You only turn 21 once!

I took a walk down memory lane last Friday. I volunteered, more like sat around, at the Alumni Reunion Kickoff party on the Quad and met up with FOM, a college buddy who I haven't seen in at least a year.  We had a drink at Lindy's Red Lion—the site of my first legal drink.

I remember renting (free!) movies at Tower and ordering pizza on my 21st birthday.  Very lame, yes, but I had just finished a stressful exam and wanted to give myself the night off before ramping up for another marathon day and night of studying.  That's the problem with early May birthdays: they run right into reading and exam periods.  Every year, I'd spend my birthday taking an exam or frantically trying to finish a term paper.

Thankfully, one of my roommates didn't have an exam the following day and suggested that we go out for a drink.  We started with cider and beer, and soon graduated to shots in Georgetown.  Hey, you only turn 21 once!  I enjoyed mooching free drinks from the bartenders that night (the bartenders at the Rhino bar were the nicest). 

Hours later, I returned to the dorm without having consumed 21 shots, but with the happy realization that I wasn't so drunk that I'd miss the next morning's study session.