I thought I’d do you a solid and share a couple of drinking tips to help you stay safe. 

Only bring what you need. 

If you’re going to a party, or even if you’re pre-ing in your room, measure out all the alcohol you’re going to drink for the night.  That way, when you’re tipsy and prone to making questionable decisions, you won’t be able to unknowingly drink your whole bottle because you didn’t bring your whole bottle with you. 

Shoot out of shot glasses, not bottles. 

Shot glasses come in a wide variety of cute designs that you should be eager to show off to your friends.  A great way to show off a shot glass is to shoot something out of it.  Don’t take shots directly from the bottle because you won’t know how much you’re drinking each time. 

Get sophisticated and make mixed drinks to sip on. 

Instead of throwing back gross shots that taste like bug spray, experiment with mixing drinks with juice and ice.  If you dilute your drink to about 5% alcohol content, you’ll enjoy the taste much more, your expensive alcohol will last longer, and you’ll be more hydrated so you’ll feel better the next day. 

Drink water 

For every drink you have, whether it’s a beer, a shot, or a glass of wine, drink 1 cup of water.  It may sound like a lot of liquid in your stomach but you’ll thank your responsible self the next day when you’re up and feeling ready to conquer the world. 

Surround yourself with people that don’t pressure you to drink more than you’re comfortable with 

Friends are great, and sometimes they’re really fun when they’re down to party, but a friend should always have your best interest in mind, and having you drink until you’re sick is not something a real friend would do.  Find yourself some friends you like to party with (if you’re into partying) but who also respect when you don’t feel like partying or don’t want to drink large amounts of alcohol. 

Explore fun activities that don’t involve drinking 

I get it.  People go to parties, people go to bars.  It’s a thing to do!  But bars are expensive, lineups are long and cold, and you don’t even like dancing!  Explore ideas that aren’t parties or bars.  What about a cheap restaurant, a snowball fight, a walk along the river, or playing sports in the yard.  What about axe-throwing (at a registered establishment for ax-throwing), or a movie night.  There are so many under-explored opportunities that could be super fun, way cheaper than the bar, and won’t leave you feeling like garbage the next day. 

You are growing up, and if you choose to drink, learning your alcohol tolerance is part of growing up.  There may well come a time that you make yourself sick from alcohol; it happens to many people, but you have to live with your decisions that night, and more importantly, learn from them so it doesn’t happen again.  So if one bad night leaves you with an unsolicited label of “The Drunk One”, you just have to show people that that is not your personality by consistently being more responsible in nights to come.  Drink responsibly, or don’t drink at all, my friends.