Personal Narrative: Frat Party Culture

In the United States today, culture shock is a relatively common phenomenon. Citizens gradually learn to adapt while being constantly challenged to accept the millions of changes that the world undergoes on a daily basis. However, I refuse to believe that while there is an infinite number of experiences that may be considered new to somebody, there is any even remotely comparable to the very literal culture shock that comes with visiting a new country for the first time. I found this to be true in July of 2015 when I traveled across the pond on what would become the most shocking and enlightening adventure of my life. One of the most exciting parts of the trip was the pre-culture shock that we I felt on my overnight flight. The itinerary called

After hearing the music from a few buildings down, we arrived at approximately 10:45 to an overwhelmingly full house. I was unable to make out the face of anyone more than a foot away from me due to the mob of people and the strobe lights that flashed repeatedly over us. Everyone was either drunk or in the process, so it was difficult to even have a conversation with anybody.
2. Frat party culture is immensely different than my typical lifestyle, most prominently in the sense that there were roughly two hundred, heavily-intoxicated kids dancing (stumbling) around. Another different component, also induced by alcohol, is how aggressive and outward everybody was about their feelings. One girl told me I was “much more likeable when I was drunk.” This caught me off guard for two reasons: 1. I hadn’t been drinking, and 2. I had never met this girl before.
3. There were ultimately two factors that led to me choosing to go to the frat party last night, the first of which was convenience. I live on the far East side of downtown, so fraternity row is a manageable walk. The other factor was having two friends as brothers in that particular frat – even if I didn’t enjoy myself, I figured it would be better to have a familiar face or two than be completely on my

As I mentioned, how vocal my peers were (especially some of the girls) blew me away. The rooms were coated in a thick blanket of empty beer cans. If I could describe the language and mannerisms being thrown around, I would say the atmosphere was a large swamp made of beer and profanity.
5. If I’m being totally honest, although the shock was pretty significant, this experience really did not have a huge sway on my opinion other than reinforcing what I already knew: social frat parties aren’t my preferred weekend plans. The entire night was a blur of chaos and noise and something that I probably won’t do again for a while.
6. Looking back, I really have no regrets about going with my friends. Although it certainly was not the most enjoyable experience, it at the very least confirms the culture shock that I felt as soon as I walked in the front door. Because this was an environment I hadn’t yet encountered during my time here at Penn State, I was willing to let myself “test the waters” of the Greek life social scene. Needless to say, it’s something I found to be more surprising and unenjoyable than not, and I don’t see myself doing that again in the near