I need to provide some very brief context so the story makes sense.

I go to a public university in California. It's part of the UC system.

Some UCs like UCLA and Berkeley and Santa Barbara are much bigger, while others like mine

are much smaller.

Most of the big ones have their own version of what's known as a dedicated tour day, where

all the incoming students go to that respective campus to tour it.

But really, it's just an excuse for all the current students to throw

crazy all-day parties. Berkeley's is called Cal Day and Santa Barbara's is called Deltopia,

just to give a few examples. Now, my campus is about a two and a half hour drive from Santa Barbara,

but it's sometimes customary for students from other campuses to make the drive to bigger schools for that one day.

I've never really been one to party like that, so it was never something I did.

But a few months ago, I realized it was my senior year and I'd never get the chance to go again.

So when they asked me if I wanted to come with them to Santa Barbara's Deltopia,

I decided to say

screw it and just went. We drove down that Friday afternoon, the day before all the major

festivities. The car was completely packed out. Hunter was driving, and the other friends

joining us were Damon, Benjamin, and Armand. We're all above six feet tall, so the journey was painfully

cramped, but it went by quickly with some good conversation and music. Once we got to Ila Vista,

we spent the better part of an hour looking for parking with no luck. I'm not exaggerating about the

parking situation. That's how popular Del Topia is.

Just as we were about to give up, Hunter activated his charm and convinced a sorority girl to let us

park in her designated spot. We all got a good chuckle out of that.

...