A College Freshman's Story: A Drink Too Many

I am a college freshman. This can mean lots of things, but above all, it means that I have two personalities. The first personality is the alcohol and drug free, heavily engaged intellectual, who relies on the resources available to her to get the best education and college experience possible. This is the personality present at meetings, in classes, with teachers, with parents, and with other 'adults' or persons of authority. The second personality is one that engages in smoking and drinking, or hangs with people who do, or has a wide knowledge of the subject without participation; the personality that can chill at a party and talk about every possible aspect of sex, drugs, and bodily functions with just about any person considered a friend.

My personalities cannot mix. According to general, mutual consensus among students, drinking is alright. Smoking is alright. We do not tattle, and we do not speak of what goes on beyond closed doors. When a teacher asks how the weekend went, we are expected to say "good" or "I studied a lot," not "I went out clubbing, got drunk, and threw up all over my best friend's bathroom," or something similar. If one of us comments about drinking or other illegal activities to authority figures, we are effectively banned from all conversations devoted to that subject.

I can't, I'm sure, legally admit I have consumed alcohol. My college, my R.A., my parents, and I could all get into trouble. But hypothetically, if I have consumed alcohol, and people around me have, as well...its not all bad. Some people don't drink in excess. Some people just have a beer or two, once a week. Some people just really like their Watermelon Smirnoffs.

College drinking is a fact that most 'authority' figures have accepted. It seems like the military's "Don't ask, Don't tell" policy. Some teachers are bold enough to ask about it. Most just smile a little when they see hung over students cringing at loud audio presentations. I don't have a problem with consuming alcohol at college. Personally, I could care less about the occasional drink. Its the chronic, excessive college drinking, which so many students engage in, that I personally find a problem.

You know something? Here's the reality of the situation. I pay well over $5,000 for a semester at my college. For my family, probably considered 'middle class', that's a lot of money. I'm sure plenty of other students here are in the same situations - their families supporting their 'education'. I watch a good percentage of my classmates miss their Monday, Thursday, and Friday classes because they're either drunk or hung over. Drinking here, starts on Wednesday and goes until Sunday.

That's not it. The partying compromises their immune systems. We live in close contact. Their weakened immune systems makes them get sick - colds, flu, mono, strep, etc. They live on my floor, they come into my room, they sit with me in classrooms, and so do their germs. Their partying and general college antics keeps everyone awake until at least one or two, and some classes start at eight; sleep deprivation lowers immune systems. Hey look, now I'm sick, too.

You know something? I've seen all the statistics, and the commercials, and the pamphlets. But listen up, you baby boomers, Generation X, or whatever you 'authority figures' are. You can't get to us that way. The only way you're going to get to us is through the media. Change the social perception of alcohol to that of being social drinkers. Instead of the role model getting so drunk that he can't remember his own name. And slowly, our opinions will change too.

Comedy, which is what my generation seems hooked on, can still be present without excessive alcohol. The practical jokes, the stupid stunts - they can all go on without getting drunk. Trust me - I have seen people moon each other, duct tape doors shut, put butter on car door handles, cover stuff in flour, draw on sleeping victims, all while being 100% sober. Stop making us laugh about it, and maybe you'll ease the problem a bit.

And you know one more thing? I'm not a teacher. I'm not a mother of a drunk driving victim. I'm not a cop, or an administrator, or even an RA. But your generation, your generation is what makes it alright to drink excessively. I'm not focused on the morality of the issue. I don't care about the legal issues, or what people do in their own rooms, as long as its quiet. It just seems ironic to me, that what is approved of, socially, through a medium that my generation can understand and connect with, is 'disapproved' of by all of the authority figures. We'll serve jail time, or pay fines, or write apology letters for what we have been taught, all our lives, is expected of us. Talk about a double bind.

I am a college freshman. I am not able, by my peer standards, to write this reflection. But you know something? I just did.