I spent a year at the US's top party school and learned 1 unexpected lesson about success

"The first time my new roommates and I walked down Del Playa, UCSB's oceanfront street, it quickly became obvious why the college had a reputation as a haven of hedonism, where students go to study a little and party a lot. To a soundtrack of Drake, students lined up to get into frat houses as paramedics loaded a girl who looked like she'd had too much to drink into an ambulance. It was barely 7 p.m. and the Septembersun was still out."

"It looked like a scene from a teen movie, far removed from my experience at university in Scotland, where weeks before, I'd been in black tie at a ceilidh. Almost a decade on from my year abroad at UCSB, Niche recently naming it the US's top party school came as no surprise. "Deltopia," the notorious post-spring-breakblock party, still draws thousands of students each year, and police citations are handed out as readily as red Solo cups."

UCSB's Del Playa and Isla Vista present a dominant party culture characterized by frequent fraternities, block parties like Deltopia, visible police citations, and medical emergencies. The beachfront campus and year-round warm weather encourage a relaxed, shorts-and-flip-flops lifestyle with abundant sunlight. The student scene contrasts sharply with experiences at the University of Edinburgh, where historic architecture and formal social events coexist with cold, dark winters. The shift from Edinburgh to UCSB altered personal priorities, revealing that collegiate success can include social experiences and lifestyle enrichment as well as academic achievement and future career goals.

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