Written by Caitlin Lyth.
As we have just entered the month of February, there may be a fair amount of celebration. Many students took part in the national event Dry January, and did not touch a drop of alcohol for the entire month.
One first year student at the University of Lincoln, Hollie Avent, had seen it advertised in line with Cancer Research’s new initiaitve Dryathlon, and was the only one of her friends and room mates that decided to take part in Dry January.
She said: “They were constantly trying to get me to drink, and it was hard to not give in to the peer pressure.”
So why would someone, let alone a university student, want to go a month without drinking alcohol? Hollie told The Linc about one of the reasons she took part.
She continued: “I had piled on so much weight during the first semester of uni and thought that could alcohol could have been a contributor.”
Since taking part in Dry January, Hollie has found that she does feel a lot more sprightly and is surprised that she now cannot drink as much as she used to in the past.
She said “I would definitely do it again and not just for health reasons. I would recommend anyone to give it a go!”
So what does Dry January mean to Hollie, as your average university student?
Hollie explained: “I think for me, it was just about realizing that I drank too much and I really did not need to. The benefits of not drinking most definitely out weighted the ones you supposedly get when you do.”