There are those who drink for fun and to express themselves,
but there will always be the students who drink endlessly. These are the
students who fruitlessly drink to fill the hole that rests inside them. Go into
the bar and see what types of customers appear. In the corner is the
gaggle of girls doing shots. At a table a couple is enjoying their beer,
talking animatedly. Then there is the one on the corner of the counter, slowly
enjoying their beverage.
During
college I saw, and experienced, both worlds. My friends and I would make our
way out of the Healthy Lifestyles floor, and settle into one of the seedier
dorms. Drinks would be evenly distributed, and each of us would keep an eye on
the other. Even when a close friend hosted a wine party, there was a sense of
organization and safety. We were surprisingly responsible, for the
drinking college stereotype. So what would fuel the drinking that the media likes to explore? Perhaps it is time to look closer at college students lives.
There
was always a tradition of seniors drinking on the first day of classes for
celebration. The image of a senior was one hand with a pen, the other with
their drinking mug. Stress was so overwhelming for the thesising students that
it was accepted, even supported, that they would go drinking. Often the seniors
would say how they were going to treat themselves to a drink or several after
they reached a certain goal. Drinking was a group activity, and the most
relaxing way to distress besides taking other drugs.
Yet for
every day that there is a party on campus, there is at least one student who is
sitting by themselves with a bottle. As the workaholic seniors focus intensely
on their work -abstaining from friends or the pursuit of friendships- they
become isolated. Each student has to rely on their own abilities to get through the day.
But since some students have never been so overwhelmed, they have poor coping
skills (if any at all). That single senior tries to always have a drinking group ready, but will always have something in their room in case there are no groups to join for the night. So they are left alone, with their
drinks. Even if the campus is dry, the student will find a way to acquire the
needed drug.
Alcoholism
and addiction can be enhanced by genetics, but the students need to be taught
good habits before they reach critical mass during college. I remember feeling
so overwhelmed by thesising, personal issues, dirty politics, mass abandonment,
and damaged self-esteem that I tried to drown the pain with numbing salve. Each
day was a struggle to exist, to muscle up the façade that would get me through
the day. I would hear stories of others drinking unthinkingly, somehow enjoying
the evening and letting go of stress. All that I knew, and remember, was a
costly journey into long nights and sunrises, hearing the life around me wake
up as I fell asleep. When colleges take the time to address the needs of the
students, then we may be able to eliminate the need to drink and reduce the
amount of alcoholic incidents on campuses.
