Not drinking alcohol
I barely ever drink alcohol, which seems to make me a bit of a rare specimen as a university student. To be be specific, it鈥檚 not that I never drink. I just have alcohol really infrequently (maybe once or twice a year). Sometimes I do consider not drinking at all.
Like I said, I鈥檝e always felt that this makes me a little bit of an oddity at university where drinking seems to be very commonplace. I guess it鈥檚 possible that alcohol isn鈥檛 as prevalent as I think it is. I don鈥檛 track the people I鈥檝e seen not drinking, and it seems unlikely that someone in casual conversation would mention it.
I do know of some people who don鈥檛 drink at all, and I have a lot of respect for that, especially considering the pressures I face just being an irregular drinker. It must be even harder for people who don鈥檛 drink or have quit drinking after having been alcoholics in the past.
I don鈥檛 really know why I never picked up drinking as a part of my everyday life. I guess it鈥檚 partly for health reasons. It鈥檚 recommended that you have no more than 10 standard drinks in a week and no more than 4 standard drinks in a day (). Having less than 10 drinks a week to prevent 鈥渄isease or injury鈥 really isn鈥檛 that many, and hasn鈥檛 made me feel drawn to start regular drinking.
While I do consider my health, I think the main reason I rarely have alcohol is that I don鈥檛 have a good reason to do it. I don鈥檛 mind the taste, but I don鈥檛 love it. I don鈥檛 feel any particular urge to go out and spend my money on alcohol. The only reason for me would be peer pressure, and I don鈥檛 think that鈥檚 a good reason at all. I鈥檝e seen a lot of people be pressured into drinking, and I鈥檝e felt it for myself as well.
It鈥檚 a pretty common networking thing in the legal profession to go for drinks, and it can feel awkward to sit there with a coke or a water. I worry a lot that this decision could affect my career. Will people think I am a boring person if I don鈥檛 drink? Maybe. That being said, I鈥檝e seen people who don鈥檛 drink do amazingly well at networking events.
These people wouldn鈥檛 even know it, but they have inspired me to think there鈥檚 no reason I can鈥檛 overcome my inhibitions without the use of alcohol.聽