Every parent has a different parenting style, you have helicopter parents who watch your every move and then you have the more laid back parents who still hold you accountable for your actions.

My entire life I had the laid-back parents who still held me accountable for my actions. It was nice to be trusted and have a later curfew because my parents knew I would (for the most part) tell them where I was going and who I was with.

I never started experiment with alcohol in high school until the very end of my junior, I was so dedicated to my athletics that I didn't want anything to jeopardize my chances of becoming a D1 athlete. My friend group knew I was passionate about my dreams and never pressured me to drink.

Once I did decide that I want to start socially drinking with friends I only did it at a good friends house and would never drive home. We would all stay in together and watch a movie, have some wine.

There was one instance that got out of hand and I was sick the entire next day, it was then that my parents knew I had begun to experiment with alcohol outside of our home.

This led to the conversation of "We knew you are going to do it, so be honest, never drive, and be safe". Having parents who didn't scold me for experimenting with alcohol and opened up a safe space to talk about the effects of alcohol.

I am now ending my junior year of college and I can honestly say that having my parents keep the lines of communication open about alcohol and drugs for that matter, really put me ahead of a lot of people once I came to college.

It was easy to tell within the first week of school who had drank before and knew how alcohol affects them and who had never had a sip before they were finally out of their parents' watchful eye.

After two years of reading about college students dying from over-consumption of alcohol, it's time for parents and students to change the way we feel about experimenting and understanding our limits before we are thrown into a situation that has limited boundaries.

I'm not saying that drinking underage is acceptable and that we have to do it. However, it is not realistic to expect your 18-year-old to know how alcohol affects them and how to be safe if they've never tried it.

College is a world of opportunities, and with those great opportunities comes the chance that you could be put in a situation that you have never been in before.

Parenting isn't just about restrictions and keeping your kids in these bubbles that they could do no wrong.

Parenting is accepting that once your child goes off to school there will be temptations and how are they going to respond to them. How are you going to teach them and let them experience those temptations within the controlled environment of your home.

I am less than 50 days to my 21st (but who's counting) and I know my limits with alcohol. I know how to handle myself, but more importantly, I know when too much is too much.

I'm glad my parents took the more untraditional route in raising Nate and I because I believe it set us up for the most success once we left the safe Johnson County Bubble.