For some, college is all about the experience. The friends you make are everything to you, your social status is finally paying you homage from suffering as a high school nobody, and you’ve more than likely found a new ally in your war on class: alcohol. While your social and personal life are important to maintain, your drinking habits in college can wreak havoc on your later years beyond the basement frat parties.
Just five days before my 20th birthday, I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. This caused my joints to fill with fluid, and I lost the ability to have a normal life. As if college wasn’t hard enough, I was juggling the inability to write, walk, lift my backpack, and even open doors that had been so seemingly effortless for years before. I’m in recovery now, and I’ve began a new medication to stop the swelling and manage my pain.
Every new medication comes with its set of rules. Mine was quite simple; eat healthier, get active, take it easy. But then my doctor stopped and addressed a more serious aspect of my life. “College,” she says, “now you cannot drink on MX because you could suffer liver failure.” Methotrexate is the drug used in chemotherapy, meaning it gets filtered through my liver. She explained a night of heavy drinking could cause my body to shut down.
I’m only 20. I’m a struggling college student just trying to pass class, and this whole situation hits me like a freight train derailed. Stop drinking? I had barely started! No bottle of champagne New Year’s? No bottle of wine on my future anniversaries? No 21st birthday extravaganza? It was a rite of passage just taken away from me.
Since this incident, I began looking at my life and myself a bit differently. I enjoy my health—I earned this. I don’t believe in today’s toxic preservatives, and I enjoy fueling my body with healthy foods and drinks. I thought about the health benefits related to my alcohol avoidance. I won’t have to regret my Saturday night decisions on Sunday morning, and I won’t fear any weight gain from guzzling beer or sugar-packed mixed drinks. My body will thank me that I’m not filling it with a toxic substance, and my skin will still glow and thank me at age 45 because of it. Sure, I stand out like a sore thumb at a party with a water bottle in my hand, but this just makes me the most dependable DD and best friend a drunken bestie could ask for. I can’t be a dangerous alcoholic in my later years, and my grades and future can only shine brighter from abstaining from a toxic substance. Plus, think of all the money I save. Talk about a cheap date. Most importantly it's crucial to understand that it is OK to choose not to drink during college. You can party without the alcohol, trust me.
Sure, you could say my social life is thrown for a loop. I won’t fit in at the bar on my 21st birthday, and I can’t chip in for the pitcher of margaritas at our favorite Mexican restaurant, but you only get one body. It’s important that I make that decision to be healthy and stay away from something that could shorten my life by mistake. Partying for the social aspect is one thing, but be careful and know the dangers of what you put into your body. Drinking isn’t everything you should learn freshman year. Think twice before you shotgun.
