The BIG question

A couple of weeks ago I received an email from an incoming freshman that I think merits a post of it's own. He wrote, "I'm not much of a drinker. Is drinking a big deal on campus?"

First of all, let me start by saying that after almost two and a half years in college I've learned one thing (well more than that, but one REALLY important thing) - college, and life, is all about choices and their consequences. The word "consequences" has a negative connotation, but there can also be good consequences so stay with me here.

To go ahead and answer the question - Drake is college. Drinking happens in college. You can avoid it if you choose to, but it's definitely there.

That being said, it's my choice NOT to drink. I don't like the frat party scene, being around drunk people is both annoying and uncomfortable, the alcohol I've tried has been absolutely disgusting, I like having total control of what i say and do, and I'm underage. I'm also a paranoid, jumpy type of person who would be constantly worried about getting caught with alcohol. I can wait until it's legal, thanks.

However, there are lots of people who DO choose to drink. And that's cool. They can go out and party or stay in and party. They can go from frat house to frat house bumming free booze or do really whatever they want to. It's their life and as long as I don't have to be around it or deal with it, I don't mind it at all.

But, like I said, with choices there are consequences.

For example, not drinking leads to good things like healthy livers and better general health and maybe better grades and likely safer nights out and smarter decisions... ect. It also leads to bad things like peer pressure (get used to it), feeling somewhat removed from the rest of college life, competing with alcohol for time with friends who do drink... ect.

The same thing goes for drinking. There are good things like feeling good and not so stressed and worried and frustrated with life and having a good time and meeting new people and not feeling so inhibited...ect. The bad things, well, the bad things have been shoved down our throats since the eighth grade. So we won't get into those things here.

So there are good and bad consequences for either choice.

As far as if it's "a big deal," i don't really have the numbers for you or anything. But I will say the percentage of college students who don't drink is higher than you'd think. A lot of people don't admit they don't drink for whatever reason, so sometimes it's easy to feel kind of alone if you're not a drinker. But you're not. Not even close. Plus, not everybody who drinks drinks to get drunk. There's a big difference. Some people won't consider it a good night until they black out on someone's futon. Others want to have a drink or two and just have fun. Not all college students are irresponsible drunkards - some are, but not all.

Bottom line?
If you want to drink, go ahead and drink. It's ok.
If you don't want to drink, don't drink. It's ok.