Alcohol in College

Since beginning college, I have come into much more contact with Alcohol. Being in college, alcohol is much more available and consumed by the people around you. While alcohol might be more available and common, the fact that it is illegal to possess and consume for those less than twenty one years of age does not change. In the state of South Carolina and every other state in the United States of America, one must be at least twenty one years old to possess and consume alcohol. Although this is the law, everywhere across the United States of American minors take part in under aged drinking. Under aged drinking is especially more common on college campuses. Even though youth are away from their parents and begin to enter the adult world by living by themselves on a college campus, rules still apply. Alcohol is a serious substance. It has very serious effects and can be very harmful if it is abused. For this reason, each state in the United States of America has set the age for citizens to obtain and consume alcohol at twenty one years of age. The states have made this age the limit because they believe people can make responsible decisions when they reach this age. Everyone under the age of twenty one has come up with hundreds and hundreds of reasons why the drinking age should be lower. While there might be hundreds and hundreds of reasons why the drinking age should be lowered, they are the same amount, if not more, of reasons why the drinking age should remain at twenty one years of age. The states have made a law; it is enforced by the law enforcement division, and should be obey by everyone less than twenty one years of age.

My first alcohol experience came at Clemson University after the Duke football game. A friend had come down from Wake Forrest and spent the night with a few friends that also went to the same high school I did. After we watched the football game we split up but later returned to their dorm in the Shoeboxes. One of the guys had obtained a case of beer. After we watched the Virginia Tech and Miami football game, we went to the room next door. Once we arrived we set up and began to play beer pong. One of the guys took the pins out of their closet door so we were able to use the closet door as a table. We laid the door on top of two chairs. After the set up was complete, we made a triangle with plastic cups at each end of the table. The triangle was composed of six solo cups, each filled with one third of a can of beer. We then proceed to play beer pong. Beer pong consists of two teams with two people on each team. Each team member has a ping pong ball.

The object of beer pong is to throw the ping pong ball into the other team's cup triangle from your end of the table. If you are your teammate is successful in throwing the ping pong ball into one of the other team's cups, a member from the other team must drink the beer in the cup the ball went into. The team that makes their ping pong balls into everyone of the other team's cups first is the winner. We had just begun to play that night and it was pretty early Sunday morning. Although we had not drunk much, we were making too much noise for that time in the morning. About the time the first game ended, we heard a knock on the door. One of the people in the room opened the door but quickly shut it when they saw the person at the door was a security guard. After he closed the door, there was a big hurry in the room to get everything cleaned up. Once we hid the alcohol we opened the door for the security guard. The security guard said the reason he was there was because he was making his rounds and heard loud noises coming from the room we were in. At this point he said the room smelled like alcohol and asked us if we had been drinking or had any alcohol in the room. At first we denied having any alcohol but when he called a resident advisor we admitted to having the case of beer. At this time the campus police department was notified. After they arrived the case of beer was confiscated and our information was taken. The following week we were notified we would have a meeting with the student conduct office. At this meeting I found my punishment would be to attend the Lifestyles class and write a five page paper. When I first heard this punishment, I was relieved that I would not lose my scholarship, but did believe that the class was going to be very boring and useless.

When I first arrived at the Redfern Health Center, I was not in a very good mood because I really did not want to be there. I thought that the class was going to be the most boring two hours of my entire life. I had already had a long day of class and was not looking forward to sitting through another two hour lecture and the end of a long, hard day. After I signed in at the front desk, I went downstairs and filled out some paper work. As I filled the paper work out, the rest of the students that had to take the class began to arrive. I was surprised that there were only about seven people, including myself in the classroom. We began the class with short introductions and the reason that we were there. Everyone in the room had received an alcohol violation of some sort. Over the next two hours, my thoughts about the Lifestyle class completely changed. We still learned about alcohol and its effects, but the class did not seem as long or as boring as I thought it would be. I also thought I knew a lot more about alcohol and its effects than I actually did. The class was a great way to inform students of the dangers of alcohol.

While I have always have known alcohol can be a very dangerous substance, I was not aware of exactly how dangerous that it could be. Every year students from different campuses across the United States die from alcohol related accidents. Alcohol is one of the primary causes of death for youth in the United States. It is not necessarily the consumption of alcohol that causes the fatality, rather the actions taken by those who have consumed too much alcohol. Alcohol hinders one decision making and will cause people to do things or act in ways that they usually would not when they are sober. These decisions made while under the influence of alcohol can not only negatively affect the person who consumed it, but it can also negatively affect anyone that comes into contact or gets near the person who consumed the alcohol. Some people get lucky and do not harm themselves or anyone around them, but others are not so lucky. Alcohol can end the life of people who consume it or the innocent bystanders that are in the area of the person who consumed unsafe amounts of alcohol. The people who are harmed from the negative affects of alcohol are not the only ones hurt, the families of those negatively affected are also greatly affected. These family members' lives can be ruined because someone consumed an unsafe amount of alcohol. Alcohol is a very dangerous substance and can become even more dangerous if it is abused or not used properly. This misuse can result in very serious or even fatal accidents. Each State in the United States has set an age limit for alcohol because they believe people at this age are mature enough to make a mature decision to reduce amount of alcohol related accidents.

Although alcohol is dangerous, people of age and even those under the legal drinking age still consume it. The lifestyles class gave the students in it valuable information on consuming and being around alcohol. The main thing taught by the Lifestyle class was increasing safety and decreasing risk. Students were told not to drink until they were of the legal age but when they come of age, they should use these valuable bits of information. We were given charts that showed what a safe level of alcohol beverages to consume in one hour was. To my surprise, the level I thought was safe was very close to the level that the chart suggested was safe to consume. We were repeatedly told that when we attend parties or consume alcohol, always to have a game plan. This game plan should include two people that do not consume alcohol. One person will be the designated driver while the other person will monitor the other people in the car that have consumed alcohol. While at the party or consuming alcohol always stay with a friend and make sure you know what you are drinking. The advice given in the Lifestyles class will be very valuable to me once I turn twenty one years old and will be able to consume alcohol.

I honestly can say I have learned my lesson not to consume any type of alcoholic beverage until I am of the legal age. This experience added a lot of stress to my life because I had to fit the punishment into my busy schedule. I also was very ashamed when I had to call my parents and inform them of what happened. I was also very lucky that nothing bad happened to me or my friends after we had consumed the alcohol. I have learned alcohol is more dangerous that I originally thought, and we will not always be lucky enough to not have anything bad happen. In conclusion, alcohol is a very dangerous substance, should be regarded with great caution, and not used by anyone under the legal age.