Parties, dancing, drinking, drugs, fights, friends... drama! It is a cultural phenomenon of release, of not caring, of letting go of all the requirements and just living in the moment. After a hard week, Friday night is about self-satisfaction. It is the carrot on a string in front of us that keeps us going, the little prize at the end of the road. The prize itself has the potential to be anything. It depends how hard we are willing to work for what we want. How much do you want to let go? How far are you willing to diverge from your normal behavior? How much are you willing to lie to get laid?

Here is the breakdown of the Friday night as seen through eyes of a male American college student. It is divided into three sections: the pre-game, the game, and lastly the prize-the golden cup, the championship ring at the end of the game.

The pre-game has two purposes: to get drunk and to get pumped up about the game. The American college student intoxicates himself usually with close friends in the dorms before the party, or on the bus on the way to the club. It is part of our culture to expect to be drunk at a party, to expect screaming and yelling, to expect the unexpected.

This brings us to the next part of Friday evening: going out to a party. In essence, everyone knows why people participate in the game, but we must pretend like getting the prize is not our main goal. The party involves dancing, talking and more drinking; God forbid you sober up in the middle of the game! The dance floor at a party is the only place in the world where it is appropriate to, in the case of a male, dance over to a girl and without saying a word engage in what is about the closest thing to sex while still being clothed. The girl does not necessarily have to accept this-a lot of times she does not-but if she likes the way he dances, or the way he approaches her, then she will allow herself to be his for at least the duration of the song.

After this comes the most critical point in the game: courting or wooing the female. This involves skillful tactics: to impress but not to seem boastful, to listen but not be silent. It is a tightrope we walk to eventually get the kiss and take the girl home. This is the prize. It all boils down to sex. To the American college student, at least from the male's perspective, a successful Friday night is that which ends in sex-otherwise it was all for nothing.

All this description of American college students leaves us (from an outside perspective) looking like empty shells of men attached to sets of genitals leading the charge. There has to be more to this. The answer is practice: Every week is a new game, a new opportunity, a clean slate. If we make an error in the game, we always have Saturday morning breakfast at 3 p.m. to discuss it with our friends, find out our mistakes and try again next week. We have to pick the right team to play against-if it is too easy, we haven't learned anything, but at the same time, you'll never win if your first game is against a pro.

So what is the point of practicing this hedonistic event? The answer is to learn about people and how to communicate with them. To understand people is to understand yourself in the grand scheme of things. Regardless of whether you believe in the idea of a soulmate, it is undeniable that practicing sociability will increase the number of people you interact with, which will in turn increase the probability of finding the one most suited for you.

This is a much bigger game than it may look; it's not for one night, but rather for the rest of our lives. Be careful, though-starting over might not be as simple as waiting for next Friday night.