Alcohol & Drug Information
Part 3

The first part of this exercise asks you to carefully go through some of the behaviors that are often connected with the use of alcohol. Keep track of your response to each question as something you: 

Look back on the last six months or year. Don't answer what you think you should act like, but what actually happened. Sometimes things we agree with during the afternoon when we are sober differ from our actions that occur at midnight after a few drinks. 

After answering all the questions, go to the "so what does it mean" portion of this page to look at some of the discussion. 

Checking It Out... 

Have you found yourself in situations where you have driven a car after you have been drinking? 

Have you driven a car after drinking what was in your estimate "too much?" 

Have there been times when you have allowed yourself to be a passenger in a car where the driver has been drinking? 

If you are under the age of 21, have you decided to use alcohol?

Have you ever missed a class, not gotten some homework done or not been prepared as much as you normally would, perhaps even received a lesser grade because of your alcohol use? 

Has your health or body ever suffered from misuse of alcohol? Have you blacked out, been hungover all day, found bruises or cuts that you didn't know about until the next day, etc.? 

Have you ever had an incident where after drinking you've gotten violent, either getting into a fight, physically or verbally, with another person? 

Have you gotten into situations after drinking where you find yourself being sexually active with a person that perhaps you normally wouldn't be? 

Have you ever not been able to keep control in a situation because of your drinking? Think of "control" in terms of when you drink, how often you drink, or how much you drink? 

So What Does It Mean? 

Hopefully most of your answers were "never," or even "never" with an occasional "once or twice" thrown in. 

If many of your answers were on the other side of the page, in the "sometimes" or "often" categories, you need to be aware of the dangers. Being at risk means that in any one of these situations there is the potential for something bad or even tragic happening. If you are at risk, work toward lowering the potential for danger. Try to make better decisions for yourself. Know that if you get intoxicated, your risks greatly increase. Sometimes changing behavior is difficult because we have habits that are hard to break. Perhaps talk these things over with a friend or someone you trust. Have them remind you that you are trying to avoid certain behaviors. If you ask them to remind you, be prepared to listen to them - they are not nagging, they are telling you what you have decided you want to do. 

Sometimes even trying for yourself and asking friends to help isn't even enough. That's okay - it just means that you need extra help breaking the pattern of the behavior that you have gotten used to. Take advantage of the resources that you probably have on your own campus. Go to your campus counseling center. Go. It's a little scary, but not half as scary as the risks you are probably facing every week. 

Some people might say "yeah, but these things just happen. We're in college, these things are just part of having a good time. Don't take that away." Of course, this is just a cop-out. Look at the risks involved: getting arrested for drinking and driving; perhaps getting into a car accident; getting into discipline trouble at school or with the police; not doing as well as you could academically; having health problems; experiencing rape, sexually transmittable diseases and chemical dependency. These consequences are not fun. These consequences are not "part of college," these consequences "just don't happen." They happen when we make bad choices when we don't make responsible decisions. Yes, we are trying to take away. 

Most students say that alcohol is a part of their college experience. Most students have found a way to make the use of alcohol a positive part to those things that are important: friendships, relationships, experiences. Don't jeopardize those valuable things. Keep alcohol a "part" and not the focus. Make decisions you can enjoy. Make decisions you can live with.