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Culture

Feeling Curious? Experimenting with Sobriety on Campus

Mayahuel Crane
The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Texas chapter.

Wellness culture has become more popular in recent years. From Chloe Ting workouts to #guthealthtok all areas of wellness and physical health have been in center focus. In these conversations, you might be hearing the term sober curious. But what does that mean? Sober curious means choosing to change your drinking habits to include either a reduced amount or completely cut out alcohol from your life. There are a lot of reasons for a person to be sober curious, and it’s far from a minority. In fact, 50% of adults are trying to limit their consumption of alcohol. 

“Even though I don’t drink, I still like to go out—mainly to house parties and such. I haven’t been pressured to either. Any time I tell someone that I’m sober, they’re always understanding about it.”

– Sober UT student

Sober Trends

Sobriety among Gen-Z has become more practiced in recent years, here are some of the trends you’ve probably seen and how you can incorporate them into your life!

Mocktails

Who doesn’t love a fun little drink? Mocktails have been blowing up this past year and there’s something for everybody! From mockmosas to mockjitos, these sober positive creators got you covered.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRtRVGNg/

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRt8qEGH/

Sober bars

Sometimes making a mocktail at home isn’t enough and frat-party bottled water just isn’t cutting it. A big part of drinking culture is just the social aspect! Being sober shouldn’t mean missing out on the college experience. Here are some sober bars (or bars with non-alcoholic options that are actually good) here in Austin!

Sans Bar

Austin’s first sober bar! Its slogan is “Come for the zero-proof cocktails, stay for the community” and it truly lives up to it!

6th Street

I know, 6th street is probably not the place that comes to mind when thinking of “sobriety”, but hear me out! Linked below are non-alcoholic drinks any bar can make for you and how to order them!

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRt8P2uo/

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRt8Fvdc/

Dry January

If you’ve been on TikTok at all this past month, you may have seen some videos about #dryjanuary. Starting in the UK, Dry January has been around for 10 years this past month!

I would rather try to find the joy out of social life with my friends and experiences, not from the effects of alcohol.

– Sober UT student

Resources

You don’t have to be an alcoholic to try out a sober lifestyle! However, if you’ve been questioning your relationship with alcohol here are some resources that are definitely worth checking out!

Al-Anon and Alateen – 1-800-356-9996

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) – 1-800-662-4357

Find an AA meeting near you – https://alcoholicsanonymous.com/ 

Sources

https://alcohol.org/treatment/hotline/

https://al-anon.org/newcomers/teen-corner-alateen/

https://alcoholicsanonymous.com/

https://alcoholchange.org.uk/help-and-support/managing-your-drinking/dry-january

Mayahuel Crane is a writer and the Marketing and Public Relations Director at the Her Campus at Texas chapter. She is responsible for all new member recruitment, organizing open socials, fundraising, designing/ordering chapter merchandise, heading a committee, securing sponsorships, communicating with companies, the creation/growth of the Her Campus at Texas mentorship program, and general marketing of the chapter. She also created “Pinch of Politics,” a Her Campus news segment dedicated to making knowledge about current events accessible. Outside of Her Campus, Maya is an active member of her community and currently works for Justice for Children and EcoRise, two non-profit organizations dedicated to correcting the systems that harm the most vulnerable. She teaches elementary school students about mental health through Project Yellow and is a member of two pre-law organizations: Phi Delta Phi and Minority Women Pursuing Law. Maya has won “Best Feature for Current Events and News” twice for her “Pinch of Politics” articles and has successfully sustained her segment for over a year. She is a second-year Government and Mexican American Latino Studies double major at the University of Texas at Austin. Mayahuel is a huge political buff and loves to research and write in her free time. She also loves concerts, being with friends, and anything pink.