I am told I am not having fun or that I am not enjoying college simply because I do not drink. I am strongly against the thought of putting alcohol into my system. I ask myself, "Why should I drink something that will make me act differently than I should? Why would I want to not remember the events of the night?" I can find ways to enjoy my time whilst remembering the events of my life. I know this seems like the same old spill, but I have seen too many friends get completely messed up just to have a "good time." I hope I am not the only one who sees the senselessness of alcohol.
Blacking out is definitely not how I would want to end my night. I just cannot see the actual fun in drinking to the point of blacking out. According to Jon Jackson, "Alcohol interferes with the receptors in the hippocampus that transmit glutamate, a compound that carries signals between neurons. During this interference, alcohol prevents some receptors from working, while activating others. This process causes the neurons to create steroids that then prevent neurons from communicating with each other properly, thus disrupting long-term potentiation (LTP), a process believed necessary for learning and memory" (1). To clarify, when people reach the point of being black-out drunk, they loose the ability to create memories. Some people can remember events after being told what happened, but there are those unlucky ones who remember absolutely nothing. Please be careful if you consume enough alcohol to reach this point.
Another thing I do not understand is why anyone would get into a vehicle after consuming alcohol. Following DrinkingandDriving.org, "In America, on average, nearly 11,000 people die every year in DUI-related accidents" (2). The same site did a study on how many people per 10,000 people are killed by DUIs in each state. The statistic for Virginia was 44 out of every 10,000; the site furthers the study by breaking it down by counties, and Wise County accounted for 65 out of every 10,000. It amazes me that people would actually try to drive after knowing all the things that could go wrong while having alcohol in their systems. Of course, you could make it safely to your destination, and I could be completely wrong about your drunk driving abilities. I just know that I would never take on the risk of driving drunk, but I do not drink to begin with.
I suppose all those preventative movies they made us watch in high school worked on at least one person. People accuse me of being a completely boring person because I do not drink. I always ask them why they need alcohol to have a good time. People are surprised when I tell them that I do not drink, and I stand firmly upon my beliefs.
I may not have many friends to hang out with, but at least we can remember the good times we had and not put ourselves at risk of any danger. I am not saying that all people who drink are bad; I just do not understand the point of drinking, and I hope I might have brought up some points to consider if you do drink.
Resources:
Jackson, Jon. "What Happens To Your Brain When You Get Black-Out Drunk?" Gizmodo. Gizmodo.com, 22 Feb. 2013. Web. 6 Oct. 2015.
"Teaching and Inspiring the Prevention of Drunk Driving." DADO. DrinkingAndDriving.org, 2015. Web. 6 Oct. 2015.
