Am I the only college student who doesn't drink?

[Congratulations]

Well, Cran and I both qualify, I suppose. Still, I feel like a bit of a stick in the mud when people assume that I "party" all the time, and wake up in strange places that I can't identify on a regular basis. I do not. I stay up late reading or playing World of Warcraft or talking to Mark (my bestest-ever friend and also roommate), but that's as "wild and crazy" as we get. And it's not like I'm overly concerned with academics. My GPA is a solid B, and I put in just enough work to keep that.

I bring this up because the other day I was talking to a family-friend, and he asked me what I did this past weekend. I told the truth: I spent some time in the library researching for a paper, I read Berryman's first 77 Dream Songs, and I spent some time on the computer. He winked and said something like, "Oh, okay..." as if to say that I had really spent the weekend in the hospital with alcohol poisoning, and Good Job! I was just waiting for him to nudge me in the ribs or chuck me on the chin or something and call me "Sport" or "Ace." How ridiculous!

[emmline]

Not everyone does. Some go nuts. Others try drunkenness on for size and decide they don't really like it enough to make it a habit. Others may have a small drink on rare occasions, and some don't drink at all.
I know it can seem like you're the only sober person around at times.

I have 2 college girls. The junior falls into the second to last category above, and the freshman has experimented a bit, but prefers a group of friends who generally have fun without altering their minds.

Forget the sleazy winking knuckleheads.

btw--I just read your avatar! That was me. I never did all-nighters. Couldn't have. I needed sleep too much.

[TelegramSam]

I managed to get through four years without getting drunk once, so no, you're not. Though, admittedly, you're by far in the minority.

As for your family-friend, a lot of it was probably his own fantasies about college life. I wouldn't be bothered to much by it if his own life is so unfulfilling that he has to vicariously live through others, even in delusions.

[Nanohedron]

He winked and said something like, "Oh, okay..." as if to say that I had really spent the weekend in the hospital with alcohol poisoning, and Good Job! I was just waiting for him to nudge me in the ribs or chuck me on the chin or something and call me "Sport" or "Ace." How ridiculous!

I know all too well that sort of thing. I find I cannot trust such a person, as they apparently expect that others lie as a matter of course. Pots and kettles black, is my opinion.

Maybe the family friend thing makes a difference, though.

[peeplj]

I drank very little in college.

I saw many students come to "party."

I saw many students go home with their tail between their legs after flunking out.

Some people go to college to get a degree and hopefully a head-start on a good career and thus, a good life.

Other people go to college because they feel they can finally do all the stuff their parents wouldn't let them do. The irony here is how many of them wind up living with their parents well into their thirties (or beyond), as they discover the rewarding career in fast food preparation which awaits them in the real world.

Of course, sometimes there are other reasons folks live with their parents, and it's not always an ill reflection on them or their abilities. I don't want to paint with too broad a brush here.

If you're in college and you stay sober, you hold your head up high and proud.

--James

[missy]

well, if you are the only college student, my son must be the only sailor that doesn't drink!

He doesn't like the taste of alcohol, no matter what it's in. Plus, he'd rather watch the others get drunk (and then sick) than experience it himself.
He's following in my footsteps. I can't taste bitter, so never drank beer. Back in the days of "3.2" - I was always the designated driver.
I do drink wine, and the ocassional margaurita, but I still only have a glass or two at a sitting. I just don't make a good drunk!!!

[cfrederi]

what others do or don't or assume or think what's cool or not cool is unimportant. Just stay true to yourself.

[peeplj]

Well, for all my self-congratulatory rant, above--and I do believe what I wrote there is true, don't get me wrong--drinking takes money. Serious drinking takes serious money.

Like many others, I had very little disposable income in college.

If I had drank there would have been other things I couldn't do which I felt were much more important:

--I couldn't have hit a burger joint or ordered a pizza if the gletch that they were serving in Schutlz Cafeteria was worse than usual;

--I couldn't have watched the occasional movie with friends.

--I wouldn't have been able to buy gas to drive my car. (In my second year of college; in my first year, I didn't have a car.)

--I wouldn't have been able to buy nudie mags at the local convenience store. (Ok, so there go my claims for moral superiority...)

--James

[Cynth]

I don't know how many students do and don't drink, but I'm sure there are many who don't get bombed on a regular basis. I have noticed that sometimes people who do extreme things or not very good things try to make those who don't join in feel like jerks.

A couple of times when I was in college people asked me to cheat on something and when I declined (very politely and non-judgementally), they acted as though I were a real dope and they said sarcastic things like "Oh, I had no idea you were so honest.", and I found myself feeling very embarrassed and apologizing profusely for not cheating with them . Well, I was a dope, but not because I didn't cheat. I was a dope because I somehow fell into their tricky way of turning things upside down. They were the ones with the problem, not me. So, just go ahead with what you are doing and don't waste any thought on those that are so silly. Who cares what people like that think anyway.

I don't know why the family friend didn't believe you, but don't let him bother you. He's probably justing acting in a way that seems friendly and sort of with-it to him---I assume you don't have to spend much time with him.

[Jack]

For all practical purposes, yes, you probably are.

And so am I.

Alcohol is great because it can temporarily solve so many problems, and that's why a lot of people in college turn to it on the weekends, to "unwind," to "have a good time," and in the process forget about the week behind and the week ahead and to forget about their boyfriends and their families which are falling apart. If you can just get drunk with all your friends, that's such an amazing escape to a hectic life (or so I hear).

But it can only solve your problems temporarily. It really is a false cure in that regard. And it can kill you, as the thousands of college students who die of alcohol poisoning around the world each year prove. In the end it does nothing but kill people and damage lives, it is a false hope and you are one of the few people who recognize that alcohol is not all it's cracked up to be. Don't consider that a curse, consider it a blessing.

[Redwolf]

I got bombed exactly once in college. After that, well...I'd have a beer occasionally, or go out for pizza and pool (with beer, of course) with friends, but never drank heavily (and that only on the weekend nights when I didn't have any kind of major test or paper due). I was pretty much then as I am now...I enjoy going out for a few, as part of a night that includes good conversation (and, these days, perhaps a few tunes!) with good friends, but I've never exactly lived to get wasted.

Redwolf

[peeplj]

It's been many years since I was in school, but I'm still only an occasional drinker.

I like a beer at session--I "nurse" one beer all night taking sips between tunes.

I've been known to drink a cold beer at supper, but it's not often...I go through maybe a six-pack of beer every three to six months or so.

I do like to drink single-malt Scotch...I'm fond of the Glenlivet. The last bottle I had I bought in 2003 was a 375 ml bottle and lasted until the end of 2005.

When my mom died last month, my coworkers all chipped in a bought me a 1.75 liter bottle of the stuff...I'll probably be drinking on that for years to come.

--James

[anniemcu]

No, thankfully, you are not, but it must seem that way on frequent occaisions.

I have two in college, one 18, and living at grandma's where he doesn't get the chance, and one just turned 21, who has had all of one bottle of a wine cooler, and took hours to finish that. They aren't much into partying, either one of them, but they both do tend to feel a bit lonely because of that sometimes.

[mamakash]

Still, I feel like a bit of a stick in the mud when people assume that I "party" all the time, and wake up in strange places that I can't identify on a regular basis.

Yea, college age "kids" may regale you with stories of how drunk they got on the weekend . . . I knew it was" wrong" to purposefully get intoxicated, but I couldn't help wondering if they were having as much fun as they said they were. Thank goodness I figured out these were nothing but tall tales. In the past ten years or so we've learned that you can die of alcohol poisoning so binge drinking can be deadly and is certainly not harmless fun.
Now that I'm in my 30's, I consume one serving of an alcoholic beverage and no more because that's my limit . . . and never when I have to drive. I also tend to have migraines and the alcohol does make them worse, especially wine. I did have one time where I think i had three glasses of wine with dinner and it was a bad idea but I won't waste your time on that. I got a really bad headache. Bleh.
But the merlot was fabulous.

[Walden]

I'm a college student who doesn't drink.