Every Friday, as another week of school comes to a close, masses of backpacks abruptly smash onto cluttered dorm and apartment floors, stowed away for the weekend along with all scholarly and worldly concerns. With the troubles of academia safely disregarded, students undertake an entirely new affliction'drinking until they puke.
Living on a large campus where binge drinking is such a dominant force in social interactions, it is difficult not to observe the diverse effects of alcohol on student life, unless you happen to be too drunk to notice the ridiculousness that surrounds you.
I definitely appreciate that one of alcohol's main appeals is the uninhibited sense of freedom brought about by drunkenness, allowing people to break through the shell of repression and reveal their true selves. Although something that could stimulate uninhibited self-expression should be positive, a real problem arises when people expose a true self that is completely moronic.
To understand what I mean, simply take a sober visit to a party or a bar on a Saturday night. Do you see that person over there? The one from your psychology discussion who you always thought was a perfectly sane and likable individual? Now, after just a few drinks, he's drooling like a basset hound and screaming the words to the \Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"" theme song.
If alcohol could cause such a dramatic downward spiral in one of your sensible acquaintances, imagine the incredible impact of alcohol on a more immature individual like myself, who already drools and sings cartoon themes without the excuse of intoxication. Certainly, we've all had experiences with imbecilic drunks that make us wonder if inhibition isn't such a bad idea after all.
In addition to spawning unfortunate social situations, drinking can lead to more concrete and disgusting incidents of unpleasantness. One of the most potent examples of the negative effects of alcohol is the mess that often remains after a night of excessive consumption.
While it would be a lie for me to claim that I have never gotten a mysterious thrill out of urinating in an inappropriate locale, the line has to be drawn somewhere. Before I enrage all the free-pee advocates, I must explain that your viewpoint on the issue alters when you are woken up in the wee hours of the morning and informed that there is a giant puddle on the living room rug.
Even with the negative effects of drinking, alcohol remains a fundamental aspect of college life for various reasons. Most notably, after a long week of microbiology or whatever other inane subject students are pretending to study, getting smashed and making a pathetic attempt to dance to Jay-Z is both amusing and therapeutic.
In addition, alcohol is made more appealing to underage members of the community by the ludicrous drinking laws. Somewhere along the line, the geniuses at Anheuser-Busch realized that by denying college-aged customers the right to drink legally, they would make drinking a whole lot more alluring. It's just like Adam and Eve and the forbidden fruit, except instead of getting banished from Eden, you have to sleep on the bathroom floor.
It is unlikely that the presence of negative consequences and pointless laws will do anything to change the fact that drinking retains an inextricable tie to student life. My only advice is, just try not to act like a jerk. And, oh yeah, the toilet is that way. Cheers.
