Arriving to Washington University as a freshman in August, the event I most looked forward to was WILD. A free concert on campus with an actually relevant act was just too good to be true. When Social Programming Board announced Icona Pop as the headliner, I wasn’t even disappointed because while bubblegum electronic pop is not my thing, I knew that the band would still put on an amazing show regardless. I didn’t care—I loved it (sorry, had to).

Yet, come WILD week, I started to worry. I was still excited to go, but I was also incredibly concerned about whether I would enjoy the concert or if it was even worth going. You see, I don’t drink, but people were all saying it didn’t matter who the headliner was—they would be too drunk to care anyway. Or even better, some upperclassmen would “advise” me unknowingly that going to WILD sober was a waste of time.

Mary Richardson | Student Life

Caroline Hjelt of Swedish duo Icona Pop performs in Brookings Quadrangle on Friday night.

I worried, because even though I’m comfortable around drunk people, the rumor was that most freshman don’t even make it to WILD. All I heard were stories of people who had gone to WILD sober and drunk, but no one ever went sober more than once.

Come Friday morning, I was still planning on going to WILD despite all I had heard, but now for an additional reason as well. No longer was I going just to have fun—I also wanted to prove to myself that WILD sober was not only do-able, but enjoyable. For anyone who had the same worries as I did, here is a guide for how to do WILD sober come spring semester.

1) Check social media often during class hours.

Yik Yak and Snapchat were flooded all of Friday morning with stories of day drinking and day parties, in-class drinking games and professor’s aphorisms on WILD. There’s nothing quite like a teacher telling his freshman seminar he would assume they were all 21 or a student starting his day with a Budweiser in the shower making it to the top of the hot list.

2) Go to a pre-game.

I know for many sober people, pre-games can be daunting, but you need to remember that half a pre-game is still just talking to people. You might as well just go to a pre-game with your friends and drink water. It’s better than showing up to WILD alone hoping to find someone you know.

3) Don’t stay toward the back.

Regardless of your state of drunkenness or sobriety, Icona Pop and GRiZ both put on amazing sets. Both were high-energy dance sets that catered to anyone, no matter their level of intoxication. So go to WILD and just have fun: talk to friends, dance with people (consentingly) and don’t be awkward. I know the default for sober people around drunk people is to withdraw and just sit back and watch, but don’t do this.

While you can stand at the back and just listen to the music, WILD is so much better when you’re involved. Whether you stick with friends or just meet random new people, remember this is a free concert. Just because you’re sober doesn’t mean you have to stand in the corner. WILD is specifically a night to have fun, not necessarily drunk fun.

4) Help anyone who needs it.

This last step is possibly the most important. At a concert where people intend to get blackout drunk, there will be some people in bad shape. In those cases, you are the (possibly only) sober friend, which means you are the most coherent and able to help in that situation. The first image I had of WILD was a girl being carried out on a stretcher. Don’t let that happen to your friends or anyone around you in general. WILD is not the time to be a bystander. Help anyone and everyone.

While daunting, WILD is completely do-able sober. Don’t be scared by people who only focus on the drinking. You can gain many enjoyable memories even without the added alcohol.