Every high schooler dreams of going off to college. They're so excited to move away from home, make new friends, and yes, go out, party, and drink. Here's the deal, guys. We're away at college to learn. This is a learning experience. Yeah, you should go out and have fun, but that doesn't mean that you should be getting drunk off your ass every single weekend. I've seen way too many students in college, who are good students, but all they do is drink every weekend. This doesn't set them up for success, but only for failure.

I know quite a few people at my college that spend 80% of their time partying and drinking, or smoking whatever it is they may smoke. In those rare moments that I see them completely sober, I see them struggling, dragging themselves to classes, and having a difficult time to finish projects and papers. These are the people that I almost feel sorry for. These people have so much potential in life and in the careers that they want to go into. I don't want them to go down that dark path. Only because we go to such a small college, our professors will be there for us as much as we need them to be. However, if we were going to huge university, like the Ohio State University, we wouldn't be getting that extra bit of help. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE keep yourself above the water. Don't drown yourself in alcohol.

I, myself, do not go out and party. I'm not going to lie, I do drink, but I'm not going out partying when I drink. I do my work and I get it done. Again, I'm not going to lie, I do put most of it off to the last minute. However, I don't spend my time partying and being drunk off my ass. Please, do not go and get drunk all of the time because you WILL lose track of time and, quite honestly, you may lose more than just time.

I don't smoke. I couldn't even if I wanted to. I'm asthmatic. I struggle to breathe when someone smells like cigarettes or marijuana. I know a few people in my college who are always smoking weed or cigarettes. Here's my question to you: why do you do that to yourself? Why are you ingesting these toxins? Please, I beg you to stop hurting yourself. I promise y'all that it's not worth it. I promise that your education is worth more than putting all of those nasty toxins into your body. Remember, college is a learning experience. It helps when you're sober to be able to retain everything that you learn.

I'm not here to tell you how to live your life. I'm not here to tell you that you should or should not smoke cigarettes or weed. I'm not going to tell you that you shouldn't go party, but I'm not going to say "hey yeah! You go get shit faced!" No, I wouldn't ever say that to anyone. Please take care of yourself in college. Remember, your parents (or whoever) are paying your tuition. They're giving you the gift of knowledge. Please, don't waste your time. College is a learning experience. Take it all in strides and keep pushing to your career goals.