Assuming everything goes well--you and your friends have made it in and had your fun--you need to coordinate the exit. Whom do you leave with? Is it rude not to leave with the people you came in with?

Going to a party in a big group is fun--it's like the party has already started if there are a bunch of people heading to the same place. But it can be difficult to coordinate the return of the same group. People inevitably split up, but making sure that there are always groups of two and no one's left alone can be a problem.

Who wants to go where becomes the big debate. "Let's go to Tommy's," says one friend, after a party. "No way, let's go to Adams to hang out with people there," says another. "Let's just go home," says a third. Clearly these people will be separating, but they first need to figure out how and who and when. The most amusing struggles with the art of compromise play out late on Friday and Saturday nights somewhere along Mt. Auburn Street.

When it's that late, it's hard for me to follow someone else's argument, much less make my own. We usually just end up saying "I want to go here and you want to go there, so let's just talk later."

So then we know where we want to go. For almost a quarter of the upperclass population, getting there is the next concern. Those of us who need to go home the Quad end up waiting at Johnston Gate at obscene hours of the night, or morning. The other option, similarly disheartening, is checking our e-mail and the shuttleboy program in the Science Center. I think that's probably the worst. I'll be standing at an email terminal, probably not feeling 100 percent alert, and to top it off, it's 2:30 a.m. on a Saturday and I'm in the Science Center. The indignity is just over whelming.

When I'm finally at home, snuggled in bed with my glass of water beside me, I'm glad I ventured into the wilds of the Harvard social scene. Not only was it fun, but I feel like I've been through the rough and back again. It gives me more to talk about over brunch than writing a sophomore paper, working on a chem problem set or sitting around watching a movie.