How to (Not) Party on a Game Day

Today was the first home football game for my university. I love football, mostly because I associate it with my Dad. He was a football coach for around 30 years, and I'm sure he will be adding to that in the future. I grew up on a football field, practicing my three-point stance before I was three years old, and using the tackling pads to build forts, while I waited at the sidelines for practice to be over.

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I remember making plays called "Chicken and Biscuits," and my Dad actually adapting them for his teams. At the end of practice, the players would make a tunnel, and I would get to run through it with a football. They called me "Coach" and one of my most prized possessions is a gameball that my Dad gave me. My parents have been married for 25+ years, and "football" is their keyword for "I love you." I think it probably started in high school or something when Dad was too afraid to say ILY in front of his guy friends. They have it engraved on the inside of their wedding rings, and every football game that my Dad coached, he would flash my Mom the back of his clipboard, which had "FB" written on it with athletic tape. How romantic :-) Needless to say, football is a huge part of my life. 

My first year of med school I did not buy season football tickets because they were pretty expensive and I didn't know how many games I would be able to attend. I learned quickly that Saturdays function as my catch-up on sleep/Netflix/sleep days, so I decided not to buy them this year either. If anyone has ever gone to a football game in a college town where football = life, then you know that the entire city transforms into a party on gameday. It is incredible!!! EVERYONE wearing jerseys or team shirts, face tattoos or paint, pom poms, and a ridiculous amount of beer. Tailgates everywhere. My landlord actually hosted a huge party in our yard today, with a stage, DJ, free beer and free food, it was awesome. His one requirement was that we didn't swim in the pond. Considering it is a thick, murky green color, and there are carp, muskrats, and who knows what else visible at all times... he didn't have much to worry about. But, one person did go in the pond anyway. Guess who it was? The landlord. Lol.

So, here is how I partied like a med student this weekend.

Friday: 

Arrive at school early and frantically search for an unoccupied study room. Lock one down for the entire day, decide I am winning, and start studying. At noon, check out some of the summer research posters... but more importantly, snag some free lunch. Fill my plate... do the slow walk backwards to the door... turn and bolt technique. At 4:30, I realize that four hours of studying has flown by and I didn't get half of what I wanted to do done... even though I really did only get on Facebook once and worked my butt off. I am supposed to be flag football practice at 4:30, so I pack up and head out. I'm the first one at practice, 15 min late, so I assume everyone else is studying, too. Big shocker there! During our hour practice, I realize we recruited the best female QB I've ever seen. Super pumped. I want to come up with a great, hopefully nerdy, nickname for her, but so far all I can think of is "Arm." This obviously needs some work. 

Go home. My roomie begs me to shower... partly because I'm covered in mud and probably smell, but mostly because she wants to go out and knows if I sit around too long I will want to go to bed. Get our game faces on, start to party, head downtown. 

Bar Number One. Boredom hits me like a freight train and I am immediately annoyed by all of the undergrads.  "When did I get so old and boring?" flashes through my mind. And then, I do it. I party like a true med student. I pull out my iPhone, open Quizlet, and start flipping through my electronic deck of micro/infectious disease flashcards. Studying at the bar because you are bored? #MedStudentSyndrome #SeriousIllness #NotCoolMan.

Saturday:

Sleep in, because I can :-) Go tailgate. Limit myself to two beers because I need to study later. Instead of going to the game, I get a gyro at the stadium vendors and walk home. Start to study. One group in my complex's parking lot is broadcasting the game over loudspeakers, so whether I like it or not, I listen to the game. Do not mind that at all. Study. Study. Nap. Seven hours later, I am studying. People still partying in the lot. Instead of the game, they are playing music. 

Party Rock Anthem comes on. Set my pen down. Get up and shuffle by myself in my bedroom. Sit back down. Resume studying. And that, is how to party like a med student. #PharmTrumpsFootball #LMFAOTrumpsPharm

 

 

"Study Rock Anthem" - one of my fave med school vids!!!