Chilling in the bar with my friends, I picked up a shot of Jäger from the bar table. Right before I passed the shot into my throat, I hesitated for few second, I smiled and drank up the last drop of the cup. I’m not in America and fortunately I don't have to be 21 to drink.

I took drinking limit as a serious thing when I first got to America. I went to a bar, but I refused to drink liquor. I sat on the sofa at a frat house and watching girls who were underage drinking and dancing in the pool. I held a cup of “punch juice” with my friend and “yelled” at each other under the loud music. We were like two newborn birds in a nest with angry birds. Soon two girls started to approach us and offered liquor from a bottle, I was so afraid of being reported and I refused. The girl went away and gathered with her friends at the corner of the house pointing at me, with judging eyes. I was so embarrassed and I felt like everyone in the house was judging me. I dragged my friend and ran away as fast as I could.

I heard about how serious the drinking age is in America more than once before I actually came to U.S. However, the longer I stayed here, the more I doubted the seriousness of the saying. Because people don't really care about the drinking limit!

I’ve seen people at the frat party drinking alcohol like a guy who had been in the desert for a week and saw a small pond of water. I knew some of those drinkers were in the same college year as me and they seemed to not caring about it.

I’ve taken binge-drinking education. The girl speaking at the course addressed how dangerous binge-drinking is for college students. Everyone knows how bad hangovers can influence people no only emotionally but also physically. However, most students are still going to be in college even after turning 21. Does that mean students cannot drink before their junior year but suddenly they would be free to drink after their 21st birthday? What would be the difference to let students drink after 18 and to let them drink after being 21?

I’m not urging all of the students to drink, neither am I judging how unreasonable the drinking limit is. I have to share my experience of drinking for about 10 years and what I benefited from that. My grandfather gave me a cup of beer when I was six and that’s where my drinking journey began. In China, people believe that drinking skills are essential for businessmen, who often go to eat with clients and need to get the contract signed. I have to admit that after drinking a little bit a few days a week for about 10 years, my tolerance of alcohol was raised. So I assume allowing students to drink at their 18 birthdays would help them to gain their tolerance of alcohol better rather than allowing them to drink after turning 21.

Alcohol as a supplement helps add some fun to the atmosphere. It helps people to get into the mood while celebrating. Allowing people to drink at 18 would no longer be a big deal because alcoholics are still gonna drink, no matter what the drinking limits are and liquor haters are still going to refuse drinks, no matter how much you try to persuade them. All I believe in is that you only live once and so enjoy life while you are still young!