So I'm sure you get posts like this all the time, but...

AboutTheSame
Fri, 26 Jul 2013 20:20:36 +0000

I’m leaning toward saying you should look elsewhere. I’m concerned with your statement that you “freeze up around drunk people.” Are you talking staggering drunks or people who have been drinking? Freezing up comes across to me as a rather severe phobic reaction, but I may be reading too much into your post. I can’t tell if you’ve really worked through or addressed your issues with alcohol use and abuse, and I’m not sure Dartmouth is the best place for you to do so. If your reaction is a behavioral one, it might be addressed by systematic desensitization. (Bees were what did it for me for years, and I’m still not in a warm and fuzzy place when they’re around, but I’m better.) You are likely in many different settings to run into people who have been drinking – maybe not on the ski slopes but, say, among the fans at a hockey game. That said, yes, it is possible “to actively participate in DC’s social life and still manage to avoid that type of stuff as much as humanly possible.” You just won’t be able to avoid it entirely.