The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

Weekend wanderings

You’re four or five beers deep (and of age, of course), it’s below 10 degrees and you have just heard the worst words possible – “Yeah, I think my friend knows of a place.”

As soon as you hear this, you know what the night is going to entail. 

Wandering, wandering and wandering until you find a spot – a jam-packed spot in Burlington’s hill section with dozens of people. 

With your liquid layers on, you and your friends begin your march. If you’re too far, maybe you catch the off-campus bus, but why wait when you can be walking toward the party your friend “knows” about?  

So you and the rest of your crew walk downtown, getting rejected left and right, no one wanting to tell any other group where they’re headed. 

You hear murmurs of the lacrosse and frisbee houses.  But you know no one is going to let you in without a ticket. 

You stare down at your phone, only to realize that it’s already midnight and you’ve been all over town. 

Venturing as far as the North End, you are in front of Pearl Street Beverage waiting for the damn bus once again. The circle of Burlington’s nightlife. 

Students tend to express discontent when asked about whether or not they participate in The Wander. 

 “It’s not worth the cold for a shitty party I might not even get into,” first-year Tom Noberto said. 

But one senior, who preferred not to be named, shed light on the other side of it. 

“It’s where you go to school, man,” he said. “You know, I don’t remember it as being that awful. Drinking some beers and walking around with your friends. It’s UVM.” 

And this is UVM. It’s a cold and dreary place at times with nothing going on. 

But along the long jaunt you spend commiserating with your friends, perhaps even sneaking sips of beers on backstreets where cops aren’t around, you slowly begin to realize that you’re still having fun even without a party. 

And maybe you no longer care that you didn’t find that awesome destination, but you’re just happy to be hanging out with your friends, cruising around Burlington and doing things that you’re going to outgrow in a few years. 

So keep wandering. One day, you’re going to miss it. 

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Weekend wanderings