I'm the first to admit now that 21 hit me hard. I didn't spend my time in high school going to parties, drinking or doing anything other than going to the drive ins on the weekends or going on occasional outings with my closest friends. That being said, I also didn't really do much partying until my sophomore year of college, so when 21 hit during my junior year, it hit me hard.
If you had asked me a year ago, I would have told you that I was perfectly capable of handling myself on a night out. Hell, I was 21, what couldn't I do on my own? One night in March 2016 taught me that I wasn't capable of everything that I thought I was and changed my life forever, and it gave me the wake-up call that I needed.
I was the girl taking a tally of how many house shots she could take on a $2 Tuesday and partying on a Saturday night despite breaking her foot earlier in the day; I thought that nothing could stop me. Then I realized something could stop me, and it wasn't 6 shots, it wasn't 4 drinks, it wasn't shot gunning a beer. It was one drink. It was one single drink, offered to me by a guy that I couldn't describe to this day even if you paid me.
I thought that it was OK to accept a drink, while out in a town that I wasn't familiar with, from a stranger, even though my mother had taught me much better than that. I must have taken my eyes off of my drink while dancing for a mere second for him to slip something into it, but one second and one drink was all it took. I was too busy having a good time to realize that I would soon no longer have any control of myself or any realization of what was going on.
I think that sharing stories is important for not only women but for everyone. However, I do not believe that sharing every detail in a story is needed to have an effect. What I know is that I woke up the next morning with no recollection of the night before, extremely nauseous and foggy minded, only learning later on what had happened that night.
What happened that night occurred because of one drink. One drink that I thought was OK to accept from a stranger. One drink that I thought was OK to take my eyes off of because I was dancing and having a good time. One drink that I had because I was 21 and didn't have a care in the world.
$2 Tuesdays are fun, Happy Hour is a great time and if you're lucky enough to have events sponsored by your school, they're a hell of a time. What needs to be known, though, is that all it takes is one drink to change everything. I'm not saying don't accept that drink from the cute guy at the bar, but keep your eye on it, and have a friend that you trust make sure that you get home safely.
Don't take 21 for granted like I did. Also, always, always, take your mom up on the offer to pay for your Uber ride if you need a safe ride home.
