Second Floor, High Numbers

Nostalgia week continues here with day four-

It's Friday night. Excitement for the weekend has been building all week. As you walk down the hallway of McEwen Hall, second floor, the high numbers (as we liked to be known) one could feel the humidity in the air from at least ten different showers all pouring forth their hot steaminess. A million various sweet smells from perfumes, hairsprays and competing scented body lotions all mingled together at once to dizzy your senses. That was the point, right? Passing by each room you could easily hear about ten different types of music from southern rock to real country, disco, rap and those drinking songs you never forget. Girls scurried across the hall, throwing clothing from Contempo Casuals and J. Crew back and forth, scrutinizing every detail of their chosen outfits. Should I really be tucking that sweater into high-waisted jeans tonight? Accessories were borrowed too. Friends did each others hair and make up. There was a shortage on brown lipstick.

Both ends of the hallway is were the drinkers congregated. Smokers must hang out the windows so that your friends 'bed in a bag' didn't end up smelling like your Winston Lights. Pre-drinking could last for hours if your friends took too long to get ready. It didn't matter though. You could always reapply your lip gloss one more time. Besides it was the getting ready for the night that was always more exciting to me than the actual evening out. Truthfully, standing around at a frat party was never very much fun to me. I would have rather hung out with my girlfriends all night in the dorm than swill 'beast' and play asshole with some boys who could form a mosh pit for the 'Magic Carpet Ride' song.

Those nights were all about anticipation and possibilities. Our laughter seemed endless. We took care of each other no matter what the night brought upon us and couldn't wait to rehash the details the next morning over a leisurely dining hall brunch. Our adult lives were just dawning before us, expectations were strong and we were full ourselves and what seemed to be our bottomless and overflowing youth. The friendships created from those nights have lasted a lifetime and can be picked up and treasured at a moments notice even today.

And now for the song- Oh What a Night. It played continuously in almost every room on those nights where it seemed wearing just the right shirt could turn your whole night around. Whenever I hear it I'm taken back to my freshman year dorm and all the memories of us girls getting ready for a night out.