The Death of a Student Night Out

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at DCU chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

The college experience is one thing we were all promised as we were growing up. Watching films about college parties and having fun at the club was an exciting thing to dream about as we were growing up. However, once we entered college and the reality of prices struck in this day, the dream of the stereotypical college experience started to fizzle. As the prices go up, students slowly stop going out as often as they did ten years ago.

Pre-drinking, or more commonly known as ‘prinking’, has become a major aspect of going on a night out in recent years. Most people wouldn’t even consider going to the club before having enough drinks at home to keep them going until the end of the night. According to the Irish Examiner, ‘Drink prices are up 4.7% in the past year, says CSO’. As the prices keep rising at ridiculous rates, it’s almost impossible for the average college student with a part-time job to afford a night out regularly. 

Drinks are only a small thing to consider when a night out is on the table. We also have to factor in the expense of a taxi at the end of the night, cloak rooms, and the cost of nicotine products for those who smoke. It gets to a certain point when we realise the expense of one night out in a night club with horrible music and creepy men is not worth the expenses to get through the night. Many college students, however, do resort to other forms of nights out besides the club. A casual night in the pub has become very popular since COVID. Only a couple of drinks need to be bought, and there is usually no worry about taxis when the night comes to an end, as the night is usually over while public transport is still running. Adittionally, many colleges have pubs and events on campus, as DCU has Nubar, UCD has The Clubhouse, and Trinity College with The Pav. There are usually great deals in places such as these to accommodate the college students and their lifestyle. Similar to this, student deals and events have become increasingly more popular across the country, making nights out easier to justify.

Although clubbing culture has begun to die out since Covid, for as long as colleges exist, I believe students will find a way to make the most out of their college years and will find a way to have a night out one way or another.