People love to criticize South Bend as this po-dunk little town in the middle of nowhere where nothing exciting ever goes on. I am from New York City and I have done the bar and club scene there, but I have to admit, I have a great time every Thursday at Heartland. College night is a joyous, weekly event I don't think I could have experienced if I did not decide to attend to this glorious University.

People go out to party every night of the week, but what's great about college is that the weekend officially begins on Thursday night, and oh, what a grand night it is. I spend the majority of the day locked away in a classroom, dreaming of the moment when I first step into Heartland.

My next stop after DeBartolo is the Rolf's athletic facility to do my workout routine and get nice and healthy so I can destroy my liver via alcohol that night.

I like to show up around midnight. I am as giddy as a little schoolgirl outside, anxiously awaiting the level of drunkenness that awaits inside. And then, after displaying my identification, and paying the two-dollar cover, I walk in like a prizefighter on the way to the ring. I survey the dance floor, which is usually pretty weak around that time, and then proceed upstairs to purchase the first of many drinks that my friends and I will consume that night. We play an unspoken game of drink tag that does not end until we are begging the bartender at 2:58 am for one last sickly sweet potion to carry us into the after party.

We usually hang out on the top floor at the bar closest to the dance floor. This area is one of the most congested areas to get through during peak times, but I, nor my friends will ever desert this most sacred ground. It's our's. I don't mean that we own it or pay rent for those 12 square feet of space, but it is the one place I know I can find my friends or let them find me. We usually don't move unless you are one of us, or with one of us. Your best bet is to walk around the bar. This is our base of operations and from here we can pick people out, hide, or venture off to the various nooks and crannies that Heartland offers.

The last hour of Heartland is always the most fun as I have now achieved the proper level of inebriation for walking around and meeting the various characters that I would not normally speak with. It always feels like a great adventure when I find someone I have class with and decide to learn more about them. I think everyone is different from the image they exert in class and part of the fun of college is finding those preconceived misnomers to be false.

I am white, weigh over 200 pounds and am over six feet tall, so I am not the most nimble person on the dance floor. I was always the guy who shied away from the karaoke microphone and pretended to go to the bathroom during the slow dances, but that has all changed since I left Manhattan's Upper East Side and discovered Indiana.

There are certain songs that are played over the course of the evening that must be given my full attention. I have been upstairs in mid sentence and been forced to stop and make immediate moves to he dance floor in order to feel the full effect of the music with all the other hot and sweaty hip hoppers.

I know many people use the inside column to voice gripes about abortion, rape, the war effort, etc. so I apologize for a lack of controversial material. This is for the guys and girls who help make Heartland so much fun, and who continuously destroy my house afterward, helplessly trying to keep the party going. Thanks guys.

• Thursday is family night