KRISHNA KUMAR: One of the most common gripes students have with Northwestern is the lack of nightlife.
JOHN KOWALSKI: But we’ve always found that a strange contention; after all, we always manage to find something to do at night.
KUMAR: So we took it upon ourselves to experience a Night at Northwestern in its full glory.
KOWALSKI: Our preparations for the intense endeavor we had ahead of us began with a late dinner at one of two of the latest dining halls open on campus: Plex East.
KOWALSKI: Look, I’m John Kowalski.
KUMAR: Krishna Kumar.
KOWALSKI: If you can’t tell, we’re having a good time. We’re currently walking over to Plex.
Krishna: The seating area was bustling…
[nat sound: plex sound]
and immediately upon our entrance, I was greeted by a familiar face, Weinberg freshman Peter Platosh.
KOWALSKI: We interviewed him about his take on the nightlife situation.
PETER PLATOSH: I don’t think it’s as bad as people make it out to be. {2:20}
KUMAR: He elaborated further:
PLATOSH: I would say it’s definitely something that people can be part of if they want to. I don’t think if anybody’s forcing anybody to be a part of it, I think it, it strikes a good balance, especially for some people who want to actually like, you know, unwind after midterms.
KUMAR: Do you think there’s options; do you think there’s stuff to do at night?
PLATOSH: I think there’s options, yeah.
KOWALSKI: After we bid our farewells, ate some dinner and discussed our plans for the night, we conversed with another diner, freshman Messiah Fiase, on our way out to help inform our future directions.
KUMAR: Do you have any suggestions, any destinations?
MESSIAH FIASE: Probably hit up Chipotle, get food.
[laughter]
FIASE: Because, cause you be hungry, be hungry.
KOWALSKI: This suggestion of grabbing some more food really spoke to us, so we followed up our dinner with a visit to 847 Late Night at Fran’s, probably the biggest late-night attraction in all of South Campus.
KUMAR: I mean, it is in their name. They know what they’re doing.
KOWALSKI: You know, we fancy ourselves Fran’s connoisseurs, if you will, but tonight we were approaching our beloved institution with a more evaluative eye.
KUMAR: I mean, obviously we’ve been to Fran’s before, but a lot of people suggested Fran’s as a, as a premier destination.
As we walked into the grand entryway of Willard, we were engulfed by the hustle and bustle of the café.
[nat sound: fran’s sound]
KOWALSKI: We asked fellow patron Shreya Saha, a freshman in chemical engineering, about things to do at night.
KOWALSKI [on mic]: Is there like places to go, or things to do at night, or is it just kind of dead?
SHREYA SAHA: I think [that there are] a lot of places in dorms [and that] the lounge areas are kind of lively late into the night because there can be people playing pool in there or doing homework as well. Yeah, lounge areas of dorms, like anything could happen.
KOWALSKI: Having satisfied the mandatory Fran’s visit portion of any great late night at Northwestern, we decided to follow up on Shreya’s suggestion and headed back to our dorm. It was a very relaxing couple of hours; we watched some television and hung out with friends.
KUMAR: But, of course, the night beckoned us and we had to set back out on our expedition.
KOWALSKI: Our next destination was Lisa’s Cafe, the North Campus equivalent of Fran’s.
We’re heading up to Lisa’s right now, so I hope all goes well with you all.
KUMAR: [We had a] nice time at Fran’s; we’re on the trek up north; maybe we’ll see something interesting.
KOWALSKI: Chip, chip, cheerio.
KUMAR: Cheerio.
Krishna: On our long walk up Sheridan, we ran into Weinberg senior Bobby Axelrod and asked him, in all his wisdom, what he thought of Northwestern nightlife.
BOBBY AXELROD: I mean, I think, you know, Northwestern, I feel like in many ways there’s a reputation for being kind of quiet, compared to a lot of schools. You know, they don’t call it Nerdwestern for nothing.
John: We chewed on this while we trudged up north, and before we knew it, we’d made it to Lisa’s.
[nat sound: Lisa’s]
Krishna: Even though we walked in 15 minutes before closing, the scene was lively and active.
John: Not to mention, their food had no right to be as good as it was. The whole experience was almost enough to sway us away from our status as diehard Fran’s defenders.
KUMAR: I feel like [in terms of] the Fran’s vs. Lisa’s debate, I was, we were Fran’s believers but I feel like [this is pretty great].
KOWALSKI: This is pretty elite, I can’t lie.]
KUMAR: Once we finished, I came to the realization that the night was getting away from me and my math homework was calling my name.
KOWALSKI: So we, of course, headed to the premier late-night study spot on campus: Mudd Library. There, we’d be surrounded by fellow brave soldiers on the frontlines of the never-ending struggle to keep our workloads at bay.
KUMAR: Our journey was uneventful, and once we got there, we regrouped:
KOWALSKI: [We’re] currently working on Krishna’s playlist for jazz in the morning.
KUMAR: We are also editing the script. We’re also [doing] math homework. I gotta lock in.
KOWALSKI: I’m gonna maybe do some work and then probably take a little bit of a nap.
KUMAR: Yeah.
KOWALSKI: I think that’ll be good, yeah.
KUMAR: Yeah.
John did follow through on his word.
KOWALSKI: I slept for 5 hours, on one of the couches within Mudd. You know, it was a rather comfortable experience, all things considered.
KUMAR: As a result, he ended up missing my interview with third-year Mechanical Engineering student Kamsi Ndee about the Mudd experience:
KAMSI NDEE: [Mudd’s] very, it’s very lively, like in the midday, I guess, like at night, like it usually thins out a lot, like, especially like, past like, past, past like, midnight, it thins out a lot. So, like, people are a lot more spread out like in their little quarters of the library once more spaces are freed up. So, like, because, like, most people who stay overnight are probably, like, studying for something that’s tomorrow. So, yeah, they probably just go to little corners and just hunker down.
KUMAR: This was followed by a lot of uninteresting labor, so we can skip forward to the conclusion of our odyssey.
KOWALSKI: I woke up around 6:15, and both of us opted to leave Mudd to head to our final destination, the top of the Segal Visitor Center parking garage.
KUMAR: It’s Krishna. I’m here with John; [he] finally woke up.
KOWALSKI: Hey!
KUMAR: So we, we made it through the night. No one’s left in Mudd; everyone is gone, at least as far as we can see.
[laughter]
KUMAR: [We’re the] last people left, which is pretty impressive, I feel, and we’re heading out to watch the, the sunrise at Segal.]
KOWALSKI: And once we arrived, …
[nat sound: parking ticket]
KUMAR: we could feel the excitement building.
KOWALSKI: We’ll let our firsthand reactions speak for themselves.
KUMAR: So we came up to the roof of Segal to see the sunrise and, and, there is no sunrise.
KOWALSKI: Not only is there no sunrise, but the loop, so it appears, is covered in, like, a small amount of fog and mist.
KUMAR: It’s all, it’s all grey and blue, and, and [pause] greyscale. There’s no, there’s no, no sunlight.
KOWALSKI: It’s quite serene, really.
KUMAR: Yeah, the sky blends with the, with the lake.
KOWALSKI: It’s giving alternative indie.
KUMAR: It is giving alternative indie.
KOWALSKI: Yeah.
KUMAR: It’s pretty cool.
KOWALSKI: It’s grand.
[bgmusic: John’s Lush Life arrangement]
KUMAR: So, after our intense night of adventure, what were our conclusions?
KOWALSKI: It seems like maybe we do live up to the Nerd-western moniker. A large majority of the people we saw late at night were studying or completing work.
KUMAR: But the people we met were also mostly excited, cheerful and having a great time. And isn’t that what college nights are really all about?
[music ends]
KOWALSKI: For WNUR News, I’m John Kowalski…
KUMAR: and I’m Krishna Kumar.
