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Sophie Chen
Harvard University
Delta Gamma
Class of 2010
Leaving the Kiddie Pool
We grew up with birthday parties and Santa Claus and skinned knees; then we grew up with Teen and first kisses and earth science. And then, after that, we grew up with alcohol-amber liquid spraying triumphantly across our TV screens between first and second quarter, Laguna Beach and The OC characters, gorgeous and happy under the influence; the rich and the famous popping champagne bottles left and right, red wine stored in the back of our parents' cupboards, Bud Light in the fridge, the lyrics to our favorite songs-gonna sip Bacardi, like it's yo birthday. Images of and references to alcohol are everywhere even before we head off for college and, consequently, since we are so used to alcohol and its ubiquitous presence in our lives, we think we know all there is to know about it.
Heady with newfound freedom, armed with this cocksure attitude, we head off to college, confident that we can resist peer pressure if need be, certain that we know about alcohol. We're not prepared for what we find in college, the flurry of social activity, of which alcohol is the indisputable center. Yes, there are academics and business clubs and literary magazines, forums and concerts; but parties where the shots don't stop and the kegs are full are a must if we want to have "real" fun and if we want to get in with the hottest kids on campus. Everywhere we go: "Duuuude…midterms this week sucked-time to black out!" Everywhere we go: references slipped into conversations, high-fives for under-21 students with fake IDs getting "stuff." Teachers joke knowingly with students, students brag to students about who can drink the most, partying is commonly listed as a "Favorite Interest" on Facebook. In short, we're overwhelmed-we are plunged into the collegiate world, in which alcohol has a starring role.
So alcohol, a constant force in our high school years, becomes an overwhelming reality in college. Why, though, is this the case? It has everything to do with attitudes. Because we've cultivated a comfortable sense of familiarity with alcohol, we think we already know the facts about it, and, besides, we're too proud and too cool and too worldly to even consider that we might not know the true facts. The facts, as they appear to us, are this: alcohol is as common and normal a liquid to consume as orange juice, alcohol makes you happy and fun to be with, alcohol gives you something to bond over with friends. In particular: alcohol gives you liquid courage so that you can get lucky.
Recent flyers, all with a common theme, have been peppering the campus lately. They advertise Q & A sessions and discussion panels dealing with Harvard's Hook-Up Culture. Indeed, courtship and dating are quickly disappearing trends, abandoned in favor of drunken one-night stands. Instead of committing to a relationship or forming friendships first, students of the hook-up culture have, unsurprisingly, a hook-up attitude. We go out to party expecting to emerge with a prize, just for one night-another prize the next night. It's expected, it's desired, it's what's normal. To feed this must-hook-up attitude, then, we need alcohol to lower our inhibitions, to make us more outgoing and more daring and more…fun. Otherwise, going to parties would be like going to middle-school dances, sweating boys on one side and giggling girls on the other; with alcohol, the boys and the girls come together, grind, kiss, and, visions swimming, leave together.
Thus, the attitudes we have-such as falsely believing that we are well versed in alcohol and needing to prove that we are; and going to parties with the goal of finding someone to hook up with-lead to a campus social life that revolves around alcohol. To promote a healthier environment, attitudes must change. Alcohol cannot be the only way we know to have fun: to hook up and to prove how knowledgeable and worthy we are. The way to change attitudes is through programs like AlcoholEdu that inform and educate us on what we think we already know-but, really, we have no clue, until we are pulled under in college. We rarely consider the darker side: that alcohol is a drug, a mind-altering, addictive substance that is, at best, the cause of a mild hangover and various embarrassing moments ("I called him? I peed on John Harvard's foot?"), and, at worst, a killer. AlcoholEdu makes sure that we are aware of the other sides, that we are ready by the time we set foot on campus and begin that new, exciting life, to plunge into the world of college, and of alcohol. We'll make our mistakes-drink too much and vomit but still live to boast about it, or wake up with a splitting headache and a sense of humiliation and dread in the pit of our stomachs. We'll plunge into this world, be inevitably overwhelmed, and doggy-paddle, thrash around, struggle-but, surrounded by people who care, and given plenty of access to information through programs like AlcoholEdu, our attitudes will change and we will learn. With knowledge, which clears the way for new attitudes, we will float, do the butterfly, whatever-but we will not sink!
Return to the main AlcoholEdu Media Competition page.
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