Last Sunday, freshers all over Cambridge experienced their first ever swap, and for others the first one is just around the corner. These occasions present an opportunity to see the wild side of Cambridge students: the epitome of ‘work hard, play hard’. But before I begin to explain what they are, I must warn you that swaps vary a lot. Some are actually very tame, and it all depends on who you’re swapping with. I am here to tell you what can happen, not necessarily what will happen every time.

So what are swaps? The basic principle is that 15 girls from one college and 15 guys from another college (or more: we’ve had over 70 before) go and have dinner at a restaurant in Cambridge. Sound okay so far? Now add a bottle of wine or two per person, or three strawpedoed in an hour if you’re one guy I know. Add in fines (tales of your friends’ sexual debauchery), add in challenges, add in a naked person (there’s always one), and with that you have the carnage that is a swap. There have been naked sit-up competitions, blow-up sex dolls and dead fish. I know one person who woke up the morning after in a greenhouse on the edge of Cambridge with just his pants on. As for challenges, I have seen people doing stripteases, licking whipped cream off someone’s bum, and acting out sex positions with someone they met minutes ago. Now you see why these swaps would be the ultimate jackpot for the Daily Mail. I can just see it: ‘The brains of the future or philandering hooligans? What Cambridge students get up to when nobody is looking’.

And then there are the ‘fines’. What stories could possibly be shared amongst a group of people who have only just met? I have heard of people having sex in a cemetery and at a bus stop. People have been fined for being fingered in the back of a taxi and having slept with a porn star. It turns out nothing is impossible for a Cambridge student. It is one thing that these things have actually happened, but something else entirely that they are shared so openly.

With swaps I think you either love them or you hate them – or you grow out of them. The novelty does wear off after a while and you can definitely see why people wouldn’t like them. Firstly, they are very forced, which is epitomized by the alternate guy-girl seating arrangement. Between all the fines and the challenges you really have no hope of actually getting to know the person next to you. Swaps really only give you a friend who you say hi to when drunk at Cindies, or a one-night stand. They also put people in a situation filled with peer pressure and excessive amounts of alcohol where they are encouraged to do things they wouldn’t normally do and drink more than they usually would. Moreover, there have been instances of misogyny and swaps present the opportunity for a sexual consent catastrophe. And of course, some swaps just aren’t that fun; some are very boring really.

Then again, an event with that many extreme things happening can be incredibly entertaining. Most people are just doing these stupid things to let off a bit of steam and have a laugh, and to be honest, it is very funny. You must remember that you don’t have to take part in the challenges and no one forces you to eat food off people’s torsos or drink till you drop, at the end of the day you still have a choice. Besides, they’re not all as extreme as the stories I have mentioned. I spoke earlier about it being impossible to actually meet people properly on swaps, well this isn’t technically true. I actually went out with someone I met on a swap for six months, so you know, it can happen. And after all, who ever objected to having more friends to say hi to when drunk?