It’s not a secret that the most exciting time of your student experience would not be the studies you did, but the drunken nights you can’t remember.
Being a student, you are automatically associated with alcohol, whether you like it or not. And it is true what they say – no great stories start with “I was having a glass of water”.
But what’s wrong with trying something new and extraordinary? Why not give your body a break and try an alcohol-free night out?
The most important thing to remember is the fun doesn’t have to stop along with the alcohol – I promise!
I asked some students from the University of Lincoln whether they would consider making the change.
Amy Dobson, a second year journalism student said: “I went out a couple weeks ago and didn’t drink. I had such a good night, and felt fabulous the morning after. No alcohol=no hangover”.
Pharmacy student Chloe Coleman even went as far as to replace alcohol with another very addictive substance – chocolate.
She said: “I didn’t drink once, but I had a share bag of Minstrels in my clutch, which made it a lot more bearable.”
As a student myself who loves going out and ‘having a few’, I can confirm, hand on heart, that you can indeed have a good night out. Sometimes not consuming those ‘few’ can work out in your favour.
Through not drinking, I lost quite a lot of weight, I felt a lot healthier and, although I had spent four hours dancing and singing to my favourite songs , I managed to get up in the morning and be productive without feeling the usual ‘about to die’ kind of feeling. Just because I wasn’t drinking, it didn’t mean I had to stop going out.
But one second year student did raise an excellent point,
Laura Callaghan said: “I’d be able to have a good night not drinking if the people I went out with didn’t drink too. Seeing them off their faces whilst I’m sober would either bore me, or make me want to get as drunk as them.”
What helped when I tried it was the fact that I wasn’t the only sober one in the group. My friends and I all went out without any alcohol in our system, we all still enjoyed the night just as much as everyone else in the club.
Sometimes it really is about the people who you are with, not the number of double Russian Standards and lemonades you have (or spill down yourself).