College freshman---Is it okay NOT to drink?

Hi guys:

i'm aware that many similar posts have probably been posted here, but i really want to ask again to make sure.

i'm a college freshman this year and i found that there are many opportunities to drink on campus. i have no opposition to it--in fact, i don't really care about the drinking culture.

i went to several parties during my frosh, tried almost all the drinks (not in one party, of course) , and i'm not really into their tastes. they didn't taste that good.

i'm now considering NOT to drink at all, because of the following reasons:

1) i'm a girl, i heard things can get dangerous if im not careful

2) i heard that alcohol is known to be a contributing factor of freshman 15, and i really want to avoid that (at all cost)

3) i don't like the taste that much

4) i'm not that shy. i can dance the night away without drinking, and i dont mind talking to strangers. Grinding/dirty dancing is something that doesnt really interest me anyways no matter if i have drank that night or not.

My college is not known for being a party school. it has a relatively high rank and students study very hard. of course we have fun on weekends, but it's not like any southern schools.

as a freshman, i just want to ask you guys if this will affect my social life at all. i don't judge drinking, and i know my question might seem stupid/lacking in confidence, but please dont judge my question either.

i don't want my social life to suffer, especially since this is my 1st year here.

thank you!

It's my first year in college and I've barely done any drinking.  People don't seem to care too much.  Sure, you can't play beer pong, really, but you can still hang out with everyone and laugh and watch other people do crazy stuff.  You should be fine.  If you feel pressured, though, you could just walk around with a beer can in your hand and not really do any more than take tiny sips out of it or whatever.

Good luck!

To be honest, no, drinking is not an essential part of having a good social life in college.  My freshman year I drank, maybe, a half a dozen times and still had a big group of friends to hang out with.  Some of them drank, some didn't.  Only the real jerks will try to force you to drink if you don't want to, just ignore them.

You can even go to parties and not drink.  I have a couple friends who don't mind drinking going on around them, but they don't drink themselves.  They have just as good a time as everyone that's drinking.  Sometimes they walk around with a solo cup that has water in it, but you don't even have to do that at most parties.

If you're really worried about it, find some activity that you enjoy and become friends with those people.  Generally people that have something else in common besides drinking and partying will not pressure you as much as people you meet randomly.  I'm into music and all my friends from my musical groups are like that.

So don't worry!  You'll have friends and a social life whether you decide to drink or not.  It's actually a common question, and most freshmen think they have to drink to be cool, but that's really not the case.  Just be yourself and do what you like to do, you will have people around you that are the same and you'll find other ways to have fun!

hi there girl!

This is all a matter of choice here.  There are many reasons people do and people dont, just make sure you know who YOU are and what you are trying to stand for in every aspect of life.  What image do you want others to see you as?  I'm a girl in the military and the military is known for party'ing it up sometimes worse than college kids.  They do it for the feeling of course, not the taste. I don't participate and I still have many friends who except me.  I dont drink for religious reasons but there are many things you can say to people who ask why you dont want to.  It's pretty unhealthy, fattening and dangerous. Most people dont notice your not drinking after a while because they are so wasted, infact, I tend to be more of myself and uninhibited when there are drunk people around me because I know they wont care and I like it well enough! 

But seriously, I dont want to sway you in not doing it if you feel like you want to, but just please be careful and smart...your in college now and you need to bring your A-Game of Responsibility.  You don't want to be that ''stupid broad in the dorms" all the guys talk about.  You seem like your very well rounded and have a fantastic personality so good luck, be safe, and have fun in college-however which way you choose to have fun

Hey there.

I'm a freshman is college right now. My school's really competitive (It's an Ivy League school, so I mean it's competitive). The students are really stressed, for the most part. And on weekends, a lot of them go and party. On my floor, there's a party every week in this one guy's room. I have not been to any parties with alcohol yet. I like the taste/feel of some alcohol, but I don't want to drink. My boyfriend doesn't want me to drink. And I still have so much fun anyway. I play games with my other floormates who don't go to the parties either. I talk to my boyfriend on the phone. I go out to dinner with friends. And even if I went to a party, I wouldn't drink. But it's totally up to you.

Haha, I never drank ever, basically.  It isn't something I'm interested in, simply because I've seen way too many times what it can do to people you care about.  I'm a freshman now and I don't drink... I'm alright with people around me doing it but I don't myself really.  Of course I'm kind of lame and am not really into the whole party scene anyway so you probably shouldn't listen to me, haha.

thanks for the reply everyone!

i've decided not to drink now =) of course i wont judge other people's action cuz who am i , anyways =)

calories in alcohol is definitely sth i dont need =)

I'm a freshman & I don't drink. Never have, don't plan on it.
Empty calories to me, & if I get an alcohol violation my scholarship is taken away & I can't go to college without that scholarship. So yeah, not in my best interests haha

I'm 25 (26 later this month) and I don't drink....period.  1) I hate the taste. 2) I hate the feeling of being buzzed 3) I like to know I'm in control of myself.

I have never had it hurt my social life.  In fact, I'm always welcome at parties because they know I can be counted on to be the designated driver and the designated sober person in the event someone needs help.  No one pressures me to drink although they do offer out of politeness.

Never think you need to drink in order to be accepted socially.  If people make it a 'requirement' to hang out then odds are you're going to be in for some trouble if you give in to the pressure.  Real friends wouldn't make you do something you aren't comfortable doing.

it's absolutely okay!

i came to college assuming i wouldn't drink. i'm a junior now, and i do have the occasional mixed drink, because i do like the taste.

still, i have been at tons of parties in which i was one of the few who were not drinking. i was sort of surprised, but in my experience, there isn't much pressure from others to start drinking.

the only thing is, i don't like being around people who are super out-of-control drunk. but, i'm uncomfortable in that situation whether i'm drinking or not.

have fun in college, but definitely realize that drinking is totally NOT necessary to have fun :)

syzhu,

Thank you so much for posting this! I've never liked to drink, and I've always been afraid to admit it because of what people would think. I'm always making up excuses not to go to parties and stuff. From peoples' responses, I feel so much more confident about being able to have a social life!

:)

Original Post by celtic_rose:

syzhu,

Thank you so much for posting this! I've never liked to drink, and I've always been afraid to admit it because of what people would think. I'm always making up excuses not to go to parties and stuff. From peoples' responses, I feel so much more confident about being able to have a social life!

:)

not drinking =/= not socializiing. I never understood people who correlate the two....

If you really need to make up excuses to justify it to people though, say your uncle is dying of living cancer because he was an alcoholic & you don't wanna go down that path. That's actually true for me, & NO ONE will ever pressure you if you tell them something like that.

I'm a college junior and I STILL don't drink. Just say no if someone tries to push it on you and if they have an issue, who cares? They're clearly not groovy.

*Edited to add that you can still go hang out with people at parties and not drink or anything. My friends have never had an issue with it- especially if there's music and dancin!

I think your number 4 says it all. I'm the same way. Just having a fun time makes me really wild, I don't need to drink. As long as you're not a party pooper and giving everyone a hard time about it, I don't see why it matters. (Especially if you're under age!! ;-P) But even now that I'm twenty one, I usually just have a beer to make my drinking friends feel comfortable and then just act like my normal crazy self. =) It's really not worth the calories to me.

I'm 19 and I don't drink.  If you don't want to drink, don't drink, it's that simple. 

i'm a junior, and i've always been very adament about not drinking... until THIS year, but that's a whole different story and we don't have to go there.  ;)

Anyway, it's TOTALLY fine to not drink!  Especially if there's driving involoved... people will LOVE to have you be the DD!  And like everyone said-- you can totally go and hang out and have fun without the alcohol!

if you're comfortable acting yourself without it then dont bother, not worth it!

plus if you're cool people will like you even if you dont drink :]