| You're right. Remove "stay sober" and substitute some other "good behavior," and what I said would still hold true. But you were asking for advice on drinking, not whether or not you should swing by Taco Bell on the way home from school.
My problem with teenage drinking lies in the fact that you're fourteen, fifteen years old and already declaring that you "need a break" and are choosing to accomplish this escapism through the consumption of a psychoactive drug. But if you're making that sort of decision now, how do you plan to manage stress in the future? You seem to be ambitious and hard-working, but trust me -- and I believe anybody else on this board a few years older will back me up on this -- the stress only increases as you go through high school. You claim that straight-As demonstrate "responsibility and perseverance," yet you are arguing with people that as soon as the general burden of school is off of your shoulders, you are justified in allowing for destructive decision making.
Furthermore, I don't understand where you saw in my reply a "contradiction to the idea that moderate drinking will impede [one's] success." The same students I was referring to who started partying and drinking early were the ones who fell through the cracks and are no longer living up to their initial potential.
If you are the type of student you are busy telling everyone that you are, precocious enough to begin taking college courses at age 15, why does this idea of not being the best that you can be not horrify you? It was not the alcohol which led my peers to underperforming, it was the accompanying practicing of poor judgment and rationalization of bad decisions which undermined their success.
I take this topic so seriously because I've seen what sort of damage a lifestyle such as this can cause. One of my closest friends was top of my class all during freshmen and sophomore year, fell into drugs and alcohol by junior year, and came dangerously close to permanently screwing up her life. She's still intelligent -- reads more than I ever could, 1600 M/V SAT, brilliant writer -- but she has managed to alienate so many teachers and mentors and lose so many friends along the way. She'll be successful, but not as successful as she could be. Why risk that?
I feel bad for you, because I think you are hurting for attention and have some true self-esteem problems. You've managed to generate 3+ pages of attention, but you are still acting as if you are waiting for someone to say the magic words which will completely change your mind. Most of the people taking time to reply to your post are writing because they are concerned for you, not because they are looking to enter into some sort of petty debate.
Set some goals, and try to live up to them. Walking across the stage at graduation and being able to say that you overcame the odds and never turned to alcohol feels really good, better than you might believe right now. In the end, you are responsible for your own behavior -- and if you are truly that mature and intelligent, you would realize this. |