Fair enough - each to their own, although I'm sticking to March for at least another few weeks ...
Massey vice-chancellor Steve Maharey was recently asked on the Farming Show about the fact his students engage in gumboot throwing and other such rural activities during Orientation Week as opposed to couch burning and balcony jumping that seems to embody the Otago experience.
I can't remember his answer, but I'm sure it had something to do with tradition, or at least it should have done.
The antiquated term "scarfie lifestyle" is one way to describe tradition at Otago; kids come to Dunedin because they know it's synonymous with shenanigans.
The university hierarchy is trying to stamp out this perception as overseas students are worth a lot more coin than local ones, but images of flame-fuelled riots and reports of injuries do little to convince hard-working parents overseas to send their kids to the bottom of the world so they can drink away their formative years and possibly end up injured. Leave that to the locals.
I was a merciless boozer, like many, and being a boy was also prone to doing stupid stuff.
These factors combined regularly but came to a head one night when I took on the challenge of a mate to knock off a dozen cans of cheap lager as quickly as possible.
As far as intellect goes, this is about as cerebral as the drinking game "Next".
But I proved to be a worthy participant and knocked the bastards off before venturing outside.
When I say outside, I mean on a fire escape as we were in an old converted warehouse.
I went to join a group of mates who were partying on a neighbouring roof but didn't realise there was a gap between the two buildings.
I fell about 15 feet and landed in an open rubbish skip, shattering my ankle into a thousand pieces and requiring emergency surgery.
It's a grand story to tell now and I can always tell you when the temperature's going to change, which may or may not have something to do with the titanium pins holding my ankle together, but the bottom line is it was a stupid thing to do and a ridiculous state to be in. I shudder to think what my three lads will get up to in their teenage years ...
But tertiary study can be a wonderful thing. Whether it's Massey, Lincoln, Otago or any of this country's other institutions, there are always characters and always great stories.
My experience, as alluded to earlier, was largely alcohol-fuelled. It wasn't uncommon for me to ditch lectures and head to the campus pub for a "wet lunch", i.e. a burger and eight pints.
I would sometimes get up a good head of steam then go to rugby practice and wonder why I was slowing down ... Didn't matter - I was still playing for the greatest rugby club on the planet.
There were also occasions where I would deem it useful to purchase a box of beer to consume while writing an essay.
Not smart - instead of it aiding my critical thinking it generally resulted in a decision to pull out of the paper, thus adding time and money to my university career.
All in all I spent a ridiculous amount of time and over $40,000 on a degree.
This week I paid off the remaining $500 on that loan and can honestly say I don't regret it one bit.
It finally feels like my qualification. I can say I'm a historian by trade, working as a broadcaster and can bore for New Zealand when it comes to reeling off irrelevant historical anecdotes.
I wish the Massey vet science students all the best with the second half of their degrees - it'll be worth it when you're 40 and finally paid off your loan.
Just a wee bit of advice though; a few less nude blokes in the next calendar would be good. Cheers!
- Dominic George hosts Farming First, 5am-6am weekdays on Radio Sport.
