The Gray Area | My personal AlcoholEdu

“I remember when I had my first beer.”

This Will Ferrell line from the movie Step Brothers has always fascinated me. When Ferrell uses it, it is meant to point out the immaturity of John C. Reilly’s character. He is implying that those who haven’t yet had a drink aren’t mature.

He’s wrong.

Last Thursday, I turned 21 and, for the first time ever, I had an alcoholic beverage. That’s right — you read it. It was my first drink ever.

When I told my friends that it was the first time I’d had a drink, they were shocked. Why did I make this lifestyle choice?

When I was in high school, I made the decision to wait until I was 21 to drink.

I’ve pretty much always thought about becoming a lawyer and public prosecutor. Those who are going to spend their lives protecting the law and expecting others to follow it should be examples of following the law themselves.

The law itself just makes sense. While many at this university may disagree, requiring individuals to wait until they reach a certain maturity to drink is good for society. Especially when many students are just beginning to drive, it ensures that younger drivers don’t pose as much of a threat to others.

Most importantly, I had also seen the negative impact that underage drinking had produced in the people around me and didn’t want to open myself up to those effects.

Anyway, the point is that I set a goal for myself. I wasn’t going to drink until I was 21.

Reaching that goal wasn’t always easy. When I was sitting at City Tap House with that Coors, I couldn’t help but think back to all the times when it became difficult for me to uphold my personal pact once I got to college.

It seemed that every weekend, there would be an event where I was one of the only people who hadn’t taken the alcohol plunge.

During my first year in college, I felt out of place at parties and often just went home.

And that was part of my problem. Too often it’s easy to buckle to societal pressures and fail to do what we think is right.

But even though I was able to avoid these pressures, I at first did so by ignoring them — not confronting them. Going home and ignoring the issue felt like the greatest defeat of all.

However, I concluded over time that I couldn’t be afraid to stand behind something that I believed in. The minute I lost my individuality by being pressured by others was the minute I would lose my freedom and free will.

And that’s the greatest loss anyone can ever have.

The alcohol culture simply became a challenge that I needed to confront, and self-control is the only way for us to overcome that pressure.

After a while, I started going to social events but carried out conversations without a drink in my hand.

Speaking up for yourself and standing up for what you believe in is a valuable quality.

If you don’t agree with something your professor or friend says or does, contest it. If they’re mad about it, it’s their loss because they’re not being open to other points of view.

As Ferrell suggested, I’ll always remember my first beer. But I have a completely different interpretation of why it’s an important event in my life.

It was not that I felt mature or like an adult because I’d finally had a beer.

Rather, avoiding that beer for so long taught me what being an adult is really about — the benefits of self-control and the ability to stand up for what you believe in.

Charles Gray is a Wharton and College junior. He is a member of the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education. His e-mail address is gray@theDP.com. The Gray Area appears every Tuesday.

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