LETTER: College Life Once the Bell has Rung

By James Richon, Accounting

“Yo, you need to hit this.” How could I refuse a drink in this new world of opportunity and experimentation? Wall to wall people and everyone had one of those red cups in their hands. A silver drum over on the side had a hose that went from cup to cup until foam hit the rim. I was handed one of these full cups and drank, then went back for more to play one of those games I had never played before.

People were drinking then, flipping cups over on the edge of a counter. There were cards being flipped over, and crazy gestures with drink to follow. With Matt as my partner, we ran the table for almost an hour. Walking around from room to room to see what was going on elsewhere [sic] in the house I saw dancing, girls that were going to make poor decisions shortly and people stumbling over other people. After mingling around to meet a few of the attractive girls there, we decide to head back to our room. The entire walk home became even longer as Braddock road never seemed to end, and the possibility of being stopped grew with every step we took.

Being new at this whole college-drinking thing, we left our IDs back in the room and only brought twenty bucks. Being afraid of not having the money for a cab, and not knowing anyone who had their car there, we decide to walk. I had lived in Fairfax before, and remembered it was pretty much a straight shot. After passing four or five neighborhoods, the walk proved to be a lot longer than I had remembered it. Luckily, we made it back to our rooms that night and safely into our bunks. Not everyone is as lucky as we were that first college party.

“Oh wow,” the sun seemed to melt the curtains and cause the blood to start pounding in my head. Sitting up, the blood was playing Beethoven over and over again in between my temples. Pushing down on my knees just to be able to stand.

Reaching into the mini-fridge for a Gatorade so I could once again feel human. Not wanting to do anything but watch a few movies in bed I stumbled across a paper on my nightstand that read “Writing assignment due the next day on a life changing experience.” I lay in bed pondering that for a bit, finally deciding that the previous night would be an appropriate topic from this paper.

“College Life Once the Bell has Rung,” was the most fitting title for the report. Before I bore you with statistics like 44 percent of college students admit to have binge drank before in a 1993 study collected by Columbia University. As a part of that statistic, I’d have to defend myself the same way that the freshmen are side me, “it’s not alcoholism, it’s college.” This frightening statement flourished throughout campus is terrifying to those that care about us. Could you say that to your parents? What about how your first year you spent $900 on alcohol instead of the books or the sober social life they hear on the other end of a biweekly phone call.

Parents know you’re not a little child anymore, whether that is said out in the open or not. Our parents were our age once and remember what is available with a phone call or two. George Mason University the second most diverse university in the country. That is something to be proud to be a part of, and the fact that the nation’s capital is 15 miles away. Are you going to be part of the 70 percent or students that has a sexual encounter primarily from being under the influence of alcohol? Over 20 percent of those who engage in sexual encounters while drunk do not use protection, even if they normally do sober. Next time you’re in the JC when it’s busy or walking around in between classes, look around you, some of them will not make it through college because of an alcohol-related accident. As Mason Patriots we represent the largest university in Virginia. 300,000 current college students will have the effects of drinking in college catch up to them and be the reason for their death.

Not trying to scare anyone out of having a drink every now and then or for special occasions, but binge drinking is its own category. It’s probably a good thing that computers and the way that we communicate both have changed so much since out parents was in school. “A good friend cuts you off but a true friend passes the bottle,” “lets get bombed,” and “Puking means no hangover man, keep drinking” are the very phrases that are open on Mason student’s Facebooks for the world to see. Just because our parents are not Facebook users, many professors and administers are. Just a thought when trying to get a job while in college or that paid internship that is considered gold to so many of your peers around you. Going out with a large group of your friends is fun, but where do you draw the line?

Just recently I attended a “Mason Strong” meeting in the Johnson Center. The people that give the safe sex talks to Greek life and the talk in the park to the freshmen about sex, drinking, and rape. All of these things coincide with one another. Sitting there at first just listening a little intimidated to speak up to the small group, I found that drinking was a huge thing with relationships. Drinking is not consent to try something new even if you are in a stable relationship with the other person. It could start with something like a little persuasion that can eventually go to unwanted touching. Unwanted touching could be completely unintentional and just be a miscommunication.

In a relationship 90 percent of the communication is [sic] non-verbal meaning that body language says a lot. Sometimes it doesn’t say the same thing that your communication verbally. When you are under the influence of a controlled substance you and your partner more at risk of leaving your comfort areas. One of the major parts of a healthy relationship is communication. Alcohol could cause something to happen that was unintentional and forgotten.

If someone blacks out and has sex it is possible to get pregnant and possibly not even know when it happen. The shows you see on television when a young woman is having a baby tested to see who the father is, that could be someone you know. “Friends don’t let friends binge drink” is what I say. If you’re [sic] free on a Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m., on the second floor of the Johnson Center in the African American study area is the Mason Strong meetings and I’m sure you could learn something as well as teach them something as well.