<p>At every college in this country students encounter drugs and alcohol and have to learn to navigate the pitfalls of both, with varying success. From everything my daughter tells me–and she’s a sophomore–there is plenty of both at Whitman, but not significantly more or less than anywhere else. There also seems to be a general sense of well-being on campus and she does not feel pressured in any way to drink or smoke pot. I believe that she does both, in moderation. The hardest thing for her to manage was finding a good balance between social activities and work. It wasn’t about heavy partying, it was just that there were lots of things she wanted to do and lots of studying she needed to get done. Getting enough sleep her first year was her biggest issue. I get the feeling there is a wide variety of kids at this school doing all kinds of different things and that the odds are highly in favor of finding a good group of supportive like-minded friends.</p>