College students are infamous for their wild, drunken shenanigans during Spring Break; their loud, drunken taunts at school sporting events; and their weekends spent recovering from long nights of partying, but this is not the case for every campus across the country. There is a large difference in how Utah students socialize compared to students on campuses outside of Utah.
Justin Taylor, a senior at UVU, grew up in Fort Collins, CO and attended one year of college at Colorado State University before transferring to UVU. According to Taylor, there is a large difference in how students at CSU and UVU socialize.
“CSU has a huge party scene. There are always parties going on every weekend and sometimes during the week too.” Taylor said.
According to Taylor, he transferred from CSU to UVU to get away from the party scene and to be around students who share his same interests and hobbies.
“It has been a good change.” Taylor said. “I really like Colorado, but as far as college goes, UVU fits me better.”
According to Taylor, students at UVU go bowling, hiking, have game nights, play intramural sports and go on more dates compared to students at other universities.
Of course parties with alcohol can be found on the majority of college campuses, but they are definitely far less on campuses in Utah.
“When I was at CSU, I never had to search for parties; they seemed to be everywhere, which is fine if that’s what you’re looking for, but I was looking for something different.” Taylor said. “Of course there are still those kinds of parties here, but they seem to be a lot harder to find.”
There are other students, opposite of Taylor, who have left Utah in hopes of having a different college experience.
Tina Houk, a Junior at the University of Las Vegas, grew up in Provo, UT but chose to attend a college outside of Utah because she wanted to experience a social atmosphere that was different than the one she had grown up with.
“I really like Utah, but since I grew up here and went to high school here, I wanted to go away for college and have a different college experience.” Houk said. “The parties at UNLV are different than parties here [in Utah] because there is alcohol.”
Houk comes back to Utah each summer, but looks forward to returning to UNLV.
“I’m so glad I moved away from Utah for college because it has given me new experiences and perspectives that I know I wouldn’t have gotten if I stayed here.” Houk said.
According to Houk, the main difference between Utah colleges and colleges outside of Utah is how students celebrate Spring Break.
“Students at UNLV go to the beach for spring break and are pretty much drunk the whole time.” Houk said.
This is very different from how the majority of Utah students spend their spring breaks, especially since BYU doesn’t even have a spring break. Instead, Utah students celebrate spring break by exploring the outdoors in Provo Canyon, spending the day shopping in Park City, visiting family and friends, or simply picking up more hours at work.
