Western Courier

Issue date: 11/16/09 Section: Opinion

Skylar Partridge/Cartoonist

As college students most of us consume alcohol at some point, but we miss asking ourselves a fundamental question. Why do we do it?

It is easy to say that we want to have a good time, but the experiences the night before may lead to the realization that it was really the opposite. We have all had those drunken escapades where we wake up the next morning feeling sick, tired, disappointed or even shameful, yet we continue to drink.

For some, addiction may be the cause of continuous drinking, but how did it get to that point? Some students may not be addicted, but they binge drink on the weekends only to regret their intoxicated actions.

So if we continue to lament the decisions we've made or the consequences of our consumption of alcohol, how can we say we drink to have a good time? Getting drunk and vomiting, losing your license, breaking your cell phone and barely remembering how you got home does not fit the standard of a fun night to most.

Such things may not happen to you every time you drink; you may indeed have an excellent time, but the possibility of mistakes far outweigh the positive aspects of alcohol consumption.

Fights, passing out, headaches, having unprotected sex, damaging property and telling your friends how you really feel about them are all situations you might have encountered while drunk, and the truth is there are many reasons why we continue to knock back alcohol that often slip past our consciousness.

Conformity or peer pressure plays big role in why we incessantly drink. Think about the first time you imbibed alcohol. It was probably because of pressure from friends or an attempt to blend into your social setting, just as in a vast number of other activities we engage in as well.

Another reason students always get drunk is to fulfill their own narcissism. We all want a wild story to tell in which the attention is focused solely on us. So we drink, behave wildly and tell our friends about the night we had to boost our own morale. It's not always the case, but it happens.

Perhaps the most prevalent reason we continuously drink is to release the instincts we have been taught to suppress. When we consume enough alcohol we often behave more primitively. We revert back to actions such as uncontrollable hunger, uninhibited speech, a strong desire to mate and perhaps a lack of common politeness. We often forget that we are still mammals and alcohol helps us liberate the animal within us.

So the next time you wake up confused, broke and sticky, ask yourself if it is worth doing again.

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