Opinion

Being a Homebody at a Young Age

I have a confession to make: I hate going out. A Saturday night spent in yoga pants, eating warm, gooey chocolate chip cookies, hanging out with my fiancé and my kitten while watching a marathon of Entourage episodes sounds like an ideal night to me.

When my best friend, who is a crazy party-girl calls me up, she knows to offer a night of going to the diner and hitting the mall or movies ver­sus a night hitting the dance floor.

Don’t write me off as a wet towel just yet. I have tried the cliché college girl thing. Early in my four years at Monmouth, I went out most nights, stayed out late and partied. My grades suffered, I was always tired, I gained five pounds, and I was all around miserable.

It was not for me, so I started do­ing things that I enjoyed, such as staying in with a carton of Chinese food and a good book, going home on a weekend to hang out with my mom, laying out on the beach with friends or going window shopping. Simple things like that make me happy.

To me, going out takes money, time and energy, all of which I often feel I do not have enough of. If we are being honest, I have always been the little girl sitting at home, reading a Judy Bloom book or helping my mom make dinner.

I have always liked knowing exactly what I will be doing next, where everything is and the lack of expectations that staying in holds.

In all honesty, I feel that more people are, or want to be homebod­ies. Unfortunately, we feel that we need to go out, party, get crazy or else we’re not living.

Homebodies are judged as boring and lazy losers or having no friends. Homebodies simply enjoy the com­fort, peace, and simplicity of staying in more than the unpredictability, loudness and insanity of a night out on the town.

This is not to say homebodies never go out. On my 21st birthday, I went out, complete with a sparkly, sequined dress and a tiara. On Cinco de Mayo, you can bet I will be at a Mexican restaurant drinking a mar­garita.

When I am on vacation, I will venture to the local dives and have some fruity drinks, but more than anything, these are the nights that remind me of how much I love the comfort of my own home.

I have admitted the fact that I am a homebody and I have accepted all of the backlash that comes with it, especially from my brother, a junior at the University of Vermont and a party animal who likes to call me the oldest college student in the history of the world.

Usually I roll with it, joking around with people and poking fun at myself. I am well aware that as a 22-year-old college girl, how I choose to spend my time is a sharp contrast to what society expects of me.

However, sometimes I get ner­vous and second guess myself. Am I weird because I do not like to go out? Is there something wrong with me?

In all honesty, there have been a few times that I have cried to my fi­ancé or my dad asking if I am weird, or if people will not like me because I do not like to go out. Would it be easier to just get over myself and be “normal?” Will I be able to make friends in the “real world?”

My dad gave me the best ad­vice. He said, “Morgan, you have never want­ed to go out, be it to a birthday party or even prom. You are who you are, and you need to just be proud that you swim against the current and do what makes you happy. Anyone who can’t accept that doesn’t deserve your friend­ship, much less your attention.” It is things like this that have stuck with me during my times of self- doubt.

So go ahead. Be yourself and do what you want to do. Do not go to parties or bars or nightclubs because you feel that you are expected to do so. Feel free to stay home with your roomies and watch a Gossip Girl marathon and eat sushi.

Hang out with people who accept this and forget about the ones who do not. Just think, you are ahead of the curve. When you are an old woman and all of your friends are looking for the best early bird special, you will be the one in the know.