`College has changed me.

whatcartoget

I started college in September 2011 and before this I was a quite nice boy who wouldn't say boo to a mouse. Since I went to college this has changed before college I would barely drank and now I am drinking almost every day of the week on average I consume about 80 units of alcohol a week.
Also before college I would never even have thought of taking drugs and now I'm smoking weed and taking cocaine and ecstasy regular and I am always will to try something new.
Also I am taking risks such as being over loaded cars, with drink/drug drivers, no insurance and with people driving at over 120mph. Even on nights our I've got myself into fights with complete strangers this is completely unlike me.
All this a side I've excellent attendance at college I've only missed a 3 days due having the flu and this was genuine because a lot of people in my course caught it and one day out of 40 only 6 made it in.
So is my college lifestyle dangerous or it just normal?

LegacyUser

Even with good attendance, how are your grades? Why are you experimenting with drugs? Drinking too much? Is it the friends you hang out with? Is this the first time away from home? Did you live a very sheltered life with very strict parents? Something happen in your life that is making you act out this way? Are you able to cut down on your drinking and stop taking drugs? Sorry for asking so many questions maybe it may help you discover why you are doing this.

There is not much more I can say except go to your college counsellor and talk further about this with him/her. Your college lifestyle is very dangerous. I am sure you want your parents planning your graduation party instead of your funeral.

LegacyUser

No it is not normal. Lots of people have a lot of crazy fun at college but what you are describing sounds very extreme. It is very dangerous. Follow the advice of the poster above and go speak with your college counselor.

whatcartoget

Thanks.
Well to begin with I was very shy at school and college gave me a chance to reinvent myself a little. My parents were never strict but I never wanted to disappoint them. It is the people I am hanging out with but I've never got om as well with people in my life I feel they a true friends in a way and I can be myself around them. I can say no to drinking with these people and I have and they have no problem with it. My results at college are good enough I have done well in all exams and assignments so far. There is one subject that has a high failure rate but so far I am getting on well in it.

LegacyUser

Hi, your thread reminds me of exactly what happened to me in college. I didn't drink until I started and was drinking (binging) every weekend. I also smoked pot and got into overloaded cars.

It was stupid and now, many years on, I accept that my drinking spiralled out of control and continued to do so for many years. I can't get those years back, so my advice is to be very careful here.

Beruthiel

whatcartoget wrote: »

So is my college lifestyle dangerous or it just normal?

Are you looking for confirmation that it's normal so you can carry on?

Personally, I don't see any harm in smoking the odd bit of grass, but taking harder drugs could lead you down a path you will regret later.

Getting into a car with a driver who is under the influence is just plain stupid.
If you could visualise yourself in a wheelchair or worse, dead, would your future self look back and wonder what the hell were you thinking?
You are not immortal and will only live a longer life if you use your head where it counts.

Getting into fights with people proves that you are not in control of yourself.
There is no excuse for idiocy.
You can have great fun and enjoy college without acting the fool.
Keep up this behaviour and Darwinism may come into force.

Jo King

A single fight can lead to arrest on public order charges. There is also the possibility of serious injury. Finding yourself blocked from jobs and trouble with visas going abroad and carrying some physical handicap arising from injury, all of which was completely avoidable is a recipe for lifelong misery.

Dangerous. Very dangerous. You appear to be getting on to a path you're going to regret much later on. What job are you think of getting involved in? If it's any sort of a career path, you should know that a lot of business do random drug tests. Are you intending on travelling? A lot of countries will not let you in if you have any sort of a criminal record.

BattleCorp

You are in college so you are supposed to be intelligent. You don't need us to tell you the dangers of your current lifestyle.

College should be fun, but maybe you should just row back on the fun element a fair bit until you get things back under control.

saa

Is this normal/okay for college?

No

1st year is easy its only been one semester, prepare for burn out
If you over do it on the drink you will regret wasting college rather than striking a balance and enjoying both sides, I wouldnt rely on your attendance as an indicator.

Talk to your Welfare officer, more productive than talking to boards but anywho
I've been in college for 4 years now which in college years is an eternity and any college I've been at I see the same thing its only a minority of people who do hard drugs and they are not the party people who drink loads but not enough to flunk, less smoke grass, even less do harder drugs occasionally, and even less do harder drugs regularly, and I know it seems like everyones doing everything all the time, mad craic but the people who will go for sessions with you and complain about how much their not doing and are just going to laze about are studying the next afternoon, "yah I was so messed up I'm going out again tonight and the next night I don't even care if I have exams I'll just wing it" BS most of the time. and the party people even regulate their drinking so they can still function,

You're going to try drugs, don't let it get out of hand, try not to risk your life or safety that is not part of the college experience (except for trying drugs for most people)

Most people definitely come to college and change, I got down my sister went manic with it, was doing badly is repeating, not sure how much she controls drink or drink controls her and has decent credit card debt, that is not the normal college lifestyle

qwertytlk

To be honest, and im speaking for experience here, you need to cop on now before its too late. When you first start leading the lifestyle you are now its all easy and fun. Everything is a buzz as its all new. You feel like your on the ride of your life and that all the new experiences your having are the making of you but trust me your on the fast track to nowhere. At the moment your drinking/drug use isnt affecting your college work, friendships or relationships but sooner or later little things will start to happen. Late assingments, sleeping it out in the morning, arguments with friends, barely speaking to family. You woll shrug it of at first but before you realise it your going to end up in a situation that is very difficult to get out of. I know now you could never even imagine, or think it could happen to you....but do u have any clue how easy it is to get addicted to drugs and drink? It happens so easily. Its ****ing scary how easy it jhappens. Try and cut down at least cos drinking every night is too much. Even just do weekends. As for the drugs, well i dont know how much your taking or how regurlarly but you need to think twice about these too. Especially the coke. And pills. Coke is really addictive.
Like i said im speaking from experience so i really hope you get what im trying to tell you.

DaveDaRave

I dont want to give the wrong idea or anything. But tonnes of people drink and drug their way through college, but still get good grades. Now im not saying its ideal but its quite common. A friend of mine and all his classmates did a lot of E and cannabis and probably drank every day, and they all got good degrees and are now doing phds or working in labs.

You just have to be smart about it. Go to lectures. Make sure you're up on your classes, study hard and stay away from stuff on the lead up to exams. Enjoy yourself but always keep an eye on your grades and make sure you're on top of your work, the last thing you want is repeating exams or the entire year or even dropping out coz you just wanted to party.

fungun

i think its reasonably common that people go a bit mad when they start college - then realise they have gone too far and pull back to a more normal acceptable level where it is fun but not dangerous and they can still function. Finding this balance that suits you is really finding out about yourself.

Sounds to me like you might have gone a bit further than most but you need to pull back from that now - posting here is a sign that you are realising that this isnt quite the right balance. Anything in that list that is dangerous needs to be cut out. Aside from that, Id also say to think about what parts of it you actually enjoy versus what parts of it you do because 'you want to try it' or lack of willpower.