A sip of champagne at your family member’s wedding, a taste of your mother’s wine at dinner or maybe a casual beer with your dad while watching a football game are all typical occasions at which you might have had your first taste of alcohol. A harmless encounters with alcohol the safety of your own home is one thing, but this attitude toward alcohol changes when you leave home and go to college. Football tailgates left and right, sign-nights galore and wine and pizza Fridays bombard your calendar. Sometimes “inexperienced drinkers” can believe that drinking is what the college experience is all about. However, this is most definitely not the case.
Drinking is seen in many lights, but the most common is social or escaping from all your problems. It is important to always remember that alcohol cannot numb your feelings from your break up with your boyfriend or girlfriend, it cannot solve the bad grade on an exam you received and it cannot be your solution to your shyness. Many times alcohol is seen as this evil liquid that ruins lives, but this doesn’t have to be true. Drinking socially is the way to go. Your body, mind, and liver will thank you for it. If you are a newbie to the world of alcohol or feel you have had drinks for the wrong reasons, here are a few helpful tips to guide you in the right direction.
1) Go With Your Gut
Feeling peer pressured to drink alcohol at your first college party? Don’t do it. Since when has doing anything under peer pressure made anyone happy? If you want to drink, go for it, but don’t make a decision about your drinking based on people chanting “chug.”
2) Find Your Drink Of Choice
Don’t drink just to get buzzed, find something that actually tickles your taste buds. There are so many options to choose from. Sweet, sour or even savory. Itcould take a little while to find the right drink for you, but when you do, you’ll be glad.
3) Don’t Forget To Eat!
Unfortunately, there is not usually food at college parties, only booze. It is important to remember not to drink on an empty stomach and make sure you ate enough to equal out your drinking. If you don’t eat, you are more likely to get drunk too fast and feel sick.
4) Make A Game Plan
It’s easy to lose track of time at a party as well as how much you drank. Instead of wandering off into the night not knowing where it might take you, make a plan. Plan out how much you’re going to drink and when the night might end. However, plans could change if it is a good night, which tends to happen. If this does happen just be sure that you and your group of friends are on the same page.
5) Make Smart Decisions
Don’t regret your decisions like anchorman Ron Burgandy, make the right ones. If you or the person who drove has had too much to drink, call an Uber or a taxi to take you home. Don’t take a chance on your life or someone else’s. The world of alcohol and partying can be a scary place if you don’t make the right decisions. Instead of regretting what you did the previous night, set an example for others to drink responsibly.
Alcohol doesn’t have to be a source of stress for college students. Just remember to follow your instincts and drink responsibly!
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