Choosing not to follow the crowd

By Emily Volz
College students who make the choice to abstain from alcohol have puzzled their peers for decades. The decision not to drink can lead to misunderstanding and alienation.
“It gets really old hearing, ‘Oh, you don't drink? That's awesome man; I wish I could do that.’ Or ‘Man, I really respect that,’ only to have that person immediately stop talking to you because you're not on that level,” said Kyle Hannon, an 8th semester business management and communication sciences major.
Hannon is a former member of the non-drinking minority at the University of Connecticut. He decided to abstain from alcohol until his 21st birthday.
“Originally it was because it was what the cool kids were doing, and I wasn't friends with them so I didn't want anything to do with them,” said Hannon, explaining why he didn’t drink when he arrived at UConn.
A study by the U.S. Surgeon General and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services shows that one in five college students abstain from alcohol.
That number is also rising, from 15 percent in 1993 to the current report showing that the level is now 19 percent.
Although their numbers are growing, these students are still part of the minority on college campuses, and they are very aware of that fact.
Making the decision to abstain from alcohol can leave non-drinkers feeling isolated from many of their peers.
Hannon said his first semester at UConn was awkward because drinking alcohol is a means for many freshmen to bond.
While Hannon became friends with other non-drinkers, he found that they too eventually began experimenting with alcohol.
“It became something I was mildly afraid of because I had waited so long to do it and had no idea how I would act when I was under the influence,” Hannon said. “Like six months before I turned 21 it was sort of me just having waited so long at this point, why not push it until 21 so the birthday would be a blowout.”
Hannon said he now spends his weekends going to the bar or drinking at his friends’ off-campus apartments. He is satisfied with his decision to abstain from alcohol until his 21st birthday.
I completely respect the decision to not drink, or to wait until you turn 21,” said Ashley Yalof, a 6th semester communications major. “But that doesn’t mean it’s something I want to do.”
Yalof began drinking in high school. She said that there was some peer pressure involved, but she doesn’t regret her decision to drink before turning 21.
“I’m not saying it’s something I can’t live without, but I think [drinking] makes college, especially parties, a lot more enjoyable,” said Yalof. “People do funny things when their drunk, it just lightens the mood and everyone loosens up.”
Students who drink often entice their peers to join in the festivities. But belligerent students can deter others from drinking; especially students who are uncomfortable losing self-control.
“I’d be pretty happy if I never drank,” said Michael Mitchell, a 6th semester economics and political science major.
Mitchell is only 20, but he doesn’t intend to drink alcohol, even after his 21st birthday.
“It's really just not my style,” said Mitchell. “I like to know that, at all times, I'm in control of myself. You always hear people excuse their actions by saying that they were drunk. I'm not a fan of that.”
Although the majority of his friends drink, Mitchell said he doesn’t consider them “party types.”
Mitchell is studying in Washington this semester, but when he is at UConn, he finds things to do during the weekend that don’t involve drinking.
“Fridays, [I] go to the gym and get food at the [Student Union],” Mitchell said. “This past semester I had a car on campus, so my friends and I did whatever we wanted… bowling, movies, restaurants, dates with my girlfriend, etcetera.”
Yet Mitchell finds that alcohol and its effects are inescapable on a college campus.
“The worst parts are when all your friends are drinking and they unintentionally alienate you,” Mitchell said. “Sometimes the nights you want to hang the most are the nights they end up drinking the most.”
Mitchell doesn’t believe there are many great benefits to abstaining from alcohol, but he is nonetheless proud of his decision to abstain.
“The best thing is that I’m comfortable enough with myself to know that drinking isn’t something that I really want to do,” Mitchell said.