It's Saturday morning. You wake up with a bird's nest for hair, makeup running down your face and one heel still on your feet. You search for your phone, only to determine you must have left it at the bar where it can at least keep your dignity company. Your money is gone and God knows where your other heel is, yet, you still have a goofy smile on your face. You get out of bed thanking the alcohol gods that you're still drunk and reach for your vodka -- that's pretty much a mimosa, right? Cheers!
We're all guilty of mornings like these and nights we can't remember -- it's college. You probably take more shots than you do tests, but at what point does the drinking stop? Are we creating a culture where drinking is the only way to have fun?
Don't get me wrong, an alcohol-fueled night can make for some great memories, or stories for those of us who can't remember anything that happens. We all look forward to letting off steam and working off a little stress by downing a bottle or two, and if you're really ambitious, three or more. But what happens when this is our default -- to go out and drink as a way to relax? What happens when we do this multiple times a week, every week?
Everyone likes to joke and say it's not alcoholism until you graduate college, but if this is the behavior we practice for four years there's no guarantee that it will stop once we graduate. We like to think we'll be responsible adults once graduation comes around, putting work before partying and drinking, but do you really think Keg Stand Kevin or Blackout Betty will live up to that expectation? Just look at the names and you'll get your answer.
The whole goal when we go out, now, is to get drunk. We don't take shots of Crystal Palace because we like the taste; we take them because it's all we can afford and we want to get that great fuzzy feeling of drunkenness -- no matter the cost to our health. To put it simply, we binge drink. Hell, we constantly hear stories of people trying out inventive, and dangerous, ways to get drunk faster -- and at what cost?
Yes, alcohol can be fun. But it can also be dangerous, especially when we consider the amounts we're consuming. We should all just apologize to our livers now; they've been real troopers. Half of our classmates' BAC on the weekends is probably higher than their GPA.
You meet a lot of people in college who put alcohol before their academics, and this isn't something that's just going to magically change. Alcohol can become a staple in a college student's life, and that's not healthy.
I'm not saying don't drink; by all means -- take that fireball shot, drink that vodka sour that Mike from bio class buys you. But don't turn drinking into a coping mechanism for the everyday stress of college. You're always going to have stress in your life, and while alcohol can be fun, it can also become a source of negativity in your life. Keep control of yourself, and remember that there are other ways to have fun, too.
