It’s 8 a.m. on a Sunday morning and students everywhere are realizing that they are in fact not in their own beds. As they scramble to grab clothes, keys and earrings from around this never-before-seen room, the dread kicks in. They are now a part of the “walk of shame.”

No explanation is needed when it comes to the walk of shame. Whether you have been a participant yourself or just saw it in a movie like “22 Jump Street” when Jonah Hill joins in with the other ladies, no one has to tell you what it is, because you know it when you see it.

It’s the messed up hair, wrinkled ready-to-party clothes, the faint smell of tequila in the air, but the dead giveaway is always the look on walkers’ faces. It just screams dread. Head is down to avoid a positive ID, mouth in a straight, stern line, and eyes are darting side-to-side to spot a potential peer’s gaze.

You can see that look from across campus and that makes everyone who struts down the road feel the shameful part of the walk, but I’m telling you now it doesn’t have to be that way.

Whoever decided that the Walk of Shame should be a thing, let alone a bad one, was not only crazy, but probably didn’t have any fun ever. It should never be a bad thing that you had a good time. Every student should be able to go out with friends, have fun together and if they want to have sex with someone they just met then they should be able to do that without feeling shamed by society.

Over the last couple of years there have been girls and guys alike trying to find a way to get around the Walk of Shame. There are kits, shuttle systems, buddy walks and even Instagram accounts that are trying to take the shame out of it, but really they are making it worse.

The fact that we even have to cover up that we were at someone else’s place that night destroys the whole purpose of getting over the walk. We shouldn’t have to hide around convenient inventions.

Everyone should own their walk with a confident face back to their dorm that says, “Yeah I did have sex last night and there is no way I’m going to be ashamed about it.”

So students at Linfield College, next time you have a great night and wake up in a new place don’t you dare feel ashamed. You had an awesome night and now you are going to walk back to your place with a hop in your step, because we are officially saying goodbye to the Walk of Shame.

Stephanie Hofmann
@Linfieldreviewopinion