If you do not want the highlight of your spring break to be a trip to jail hundreds of miles from home, contracting an unwanted souvenir from a nameless hookup, waking up in a gutter with a new tattoo, or coming home with a third-degree sunburn, these tips may help you to stay safe throughout your 2011 spring break conquests.

 Millions of students each year travel to various destinations across the Gulf and East Coast beaches, all seeking the same mindless getaway from the daily grind of their busy lives.
 However, many people find themselves looking back on their adventure with regrets that often times could have been easily prevented.

 We all know that college students on spring break are going to drink alcohol, often times lots of it.  One has to know their limits when drinking or they may be faced with circumstances beyond their control.

 If you’re going to drink, hopefully you are of age, but at the very least, do not drink and drive.  The number of DUI’s issued throughout the South skyrockets during the spring break months.  Not only is drinking and driving extremely dangerous to yourself and to others, but the last thing you want is to end up in a holding cell, still wearing your bathing suit with nobody around to bail you out.  Regardless, getting arrested for a DUI is a quick way to cut your vacation short and can be easily avoided.

 It is also a good idea to keep the company of a group of trusted friends around you when you drink.  They may be the ones who keep you from drowning or stop you from getting that piecing that you thought you wanted so badly at the time.

 Going hand-in-hand with the alcohol usually comes the frequent sexual activity in which spring break has become so infamous for.  If you are going to participate in sexual activities, please be safe about it.  Take all of the necessary precautions and remember that abstinence is always a foolproof way to make sure you don’t come back to school with something that you didn’t have when you left.

 Even if you manage to steer clear of the local law enforcement and avoid the looming threat of some disease, the sun is still out there to get you.  The many hours spent on the beach very often result in heavy duty sunburns that can make it hard to even put on a shirt. Especially in cases where you plan to drink on the beach, definitely don’t decide to take a mid-day “powernap” on the sand as you will undoubtedly wake up the color of a lobster. 

 Of course sunscreen would be a logical answer to this problem.  The most commonly recommended strength of sunscreen is SPF 15, but why take a chance?  Go ahead and get the strongest stuff they have to ensure the sun doesn’t turn you into a miserable, blistering mess.

 Wherever your spring break destination of choice is, be sure not to go overboard with your antics.  Keep your head about you and make wise choices.  Plan ahead, have fun, and you will be sure to return to VSU in one piece.