I Lived It: My Fourth NSO Without Losing a Toe

Wow. I never thought this day would come. After hearing the news two years ago about a freshman who managed to lose his big toe during Pool Party, I always thought I'd be next. After all, I had already lost two Penn Cards, my pants, and at least a few brain cells during NSO.

But as a sophomore, I made a promise to myself that I would never lose a big toe at an NSO party. A pinkie finger at St. Paddys? Sure. But I had standards.

It took a lot of strength, I will admit. Do you know how many times I wanted to just say "Screw it" and let my big toe loose? Even when I was gone in every other sense of the word, I was still present enough to keep the promise to myself. I periodically looked down at my feet to make sure everything was still intact. And every time, I smiled, knowing that I was that much closer to getting through all four NSOs without losing a toe. 

I want everyone to learn from my strength, hard work, and perseverence. I want people to understand that they should not give in to temptation. There were days I was tempted to go to not two or three, but seven different NSO parties, but I knew that the likelihood of big toe loss increases exponentially past the fifth. Know your limits. Don’t let anyone peer pressure you at Penn, and maybe you too can black out every NSO without losing an appendage.