Don't believe the hype.

MSU isn't a party school.

Well, at least that's what I've learned after spending my freshman year here, and I'm sticking to it.

I can remember sitting in my high school English class as my friends and I shared what colleges we were going to. Their responses ranged from Wayne State University to Hampton University.

Finally, my turn came to speak.

"What college are you going to?" one friend asked.

"Michigan State University," I said proudly.

Then, she responded as a Miss Know-It-All: "You're going to that party school?"

"Yep," I replied.

I had heard this many times before from my family members and even my teachers.

There are people who think differently, but after spending a year here, I truly believe that MSU is more than a party school.

When I arrived at this beautiful, large campus in August, I thought the same thing as everyone else.

After unloading and waving a tearful goodbye to my parents, I was ready to hang out with my friends and check out all the cute dudes, and we did just that.

After meeting new people and seeing old faces, my friends and I decided to check out the list of events that were planned for us.

All the events were fun, but we wanted to do something better.

We asked the upperclassmen the Nelly question, "Where The Party At?" We were advised to cruise down Grand River Avenue, and we were destined to find something - we did.

Walking nearly four blocks, to a street that I still don't know the name of, we arrived at a house party.

There was a large crowd outside, drinking and standing around chatting.

There wasn't any music playing, and the people standing around talking didn't quite grab our interest, so we kept walking.

Then, we came across another house party.

Then another one. The more we kept walking, the more house parties we saw.

At one party, a couple of clearly drunk students threw beer bottles into the street and beer canisters on the ground, screaming in excitement.

I thought to myself, "These people are crazy," and maybe my friends were right about my college being a party school.

But eventually, this all died down.

The parties that I had seen nights before were gone and so were the rowdy students.

Student organizations, such as Bombsquad Productions and Black Caucus, began to throw parties, but this became repetitive.

My friends and I wanted to do other things with our weekends and found out that there were numerous events planned for students every week.

The Residents Halls Association offers students a chance to check out movies every weekend at Wells Hall, with free admission.

The snack bar might break your wallet, but it's worth it.

Some movies the association showed last year included "Meet the Fockers," "The Notebook," "Spider-Man 2" and many more.

The University Activities Board has plenty of arts and crafts nights and Noontimes events at the International Center and Union, where you can check out the best poets and musicians on campus.

We have a bowling alley right here on campus, located at the Union, and the U Cue, which is a pool room with video games located outside of that.

The UAB also brings local bands to campus, putting on concerts for students.

Last year, the UAB put on its version of the popular TV game show, "The Price is Right," which my friends and I attended.

There also are fashion shows that the Student Apparel Design Association puts on every year and other fashion designers host.

After attending all these events and experiencing life at MSU, I can finally say that it's more than a party school.

Spending time as a Spartan is about having fun and creating lifetime memories.

Yvette Lanier is a journalism freshman and proud Spartan. Reach her at lanieryv@msu.edu.