Schoolies for me personally, was like being on a train that was travelling very fast, headed towards a train wreck, although the beach view outside the window was a beautiful location to watch the train wreck occur.
To be frank… it’s seven days of tiredness, grumpiness, day drinking, long nights, heat stroke, sitting around and doing a whole lot of nothing. Now, don’t get me wrong I have some super fun highlights and schoolies definitely is a different experience for everyone, but I have come to the conclusion after experiencing it for myself, that it comes down to two factors of whether or not you will enjoy your time. I write this to provide tips on how to prepare for these two factors before going to schoolies.
Disclaimer: my schoolies experience was quite different to usual years seeing as it was during Co-vid restriction times. Also, this is all based on personal experiences and I am sure many people have the week of their lives at schoolies.
In some ways what I am taking away from my schoolies experience is similar to what one may take away from losing their virginity… Firstly, one should take on the advice “low expectations are good expectations” and secondly, both events should be experienced with immense respect by all parties involved.
This leads me to recommend, not listening to the hyped-up schoolie’s experiences gone before you. I understand schoolies is the first time for adolescents to be fully independent and I personally loved the feeling of having an independent week. I loved the morning beach trips and how the days were filled doing a whole lot of nothing with such little responsibility, but the part I didn’t enjoy at Noosa schoolies was the lack of music at beach parties, lack of opportunity to have parties if you are staying in a place with strict security and the high chances of becoming very sick. I got super sick halfway through the week of schoolies leading me to go to bed at 8:30pm one night and preventing me drinking 3 nights of my schoolie’s week. Also, who knew heat stroke from being at the beach all day was a thing? So, maybe have low expectations but also prepare for these events…
It is inevitable for you to become sick of your friends that you’re staying with as you’re living with each other on top of being tired, drunk or sick. All I recommend for the week to avoid arguments or petty fights is to have mutual respect for each other and one another’s belongings. If you want to bring your friends or someone home, ask your friends if that’s okay before you do so. Borrowing and sharing things with your friends respectfully, will go a long way and will maintain a civil household. Finally, try and bounce between friends as much as possible. Visit friends from another circle, remove yourself from a situation where a close friend may be annoying you or even spend some time by yourself (normalise going to the beach by yourself), this will avoid awkward moments of getting sick of the same people or having your social battery run out.
So, it’s pretty simple. Approaching schoolies, have low expectations! This way, whatever happens, your expectations of schoolies will always be beaten! Prepare to be sick because if you didn’t get sick at schoolies, you didn’t do it right. But maybe if you do feel a cold or tonsilitis coming on, drink less rather than more, as you can’t drink away the pain of a sore throat, trust me… I tried… Finally, have mutual respect for your friends and their belongings. If you’re visiting a friend, be respectful of their house, if you’re having people over, just double check it’s okay with the people you’re staying with. And to avoid a social battery run out, get some alone time if you can or better yet, as much sleep as possible.
That’s my ramble.
Ruby x
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