A short letter on the reality of staying sober as a student, in recognition of STOPTOBER season
Many of you may associate being a student with hangovers, crazy parties and clubbing all night long. Some may also associate it with five bottles of beer or cider. But you can also be a student and enjoy the student life without even one sip of alcohol. That does not mean that you are boring and rigid. I have been sober for the last three years and the last three years I have also been a student in the Swedish student town: Lund. I would say that I enjoyed it as much as my non-sober friends. Even without drinking alcohol you can still go clubbing or to pubs but drink non-alcoholic beers, soda or water. You can enjoy times with your friends and get the energy from yourself to carry on.
You can also do other kinds of activities for socializing such as movie nights, board games, discussions and coffee. Or you can be active within an organization or a student union. I´m sure that you’ll be able find your cup of tea.
I´m not saying that every-one needs to become sober, but instead, that you can drink but also take responsibility and care of yourself. You can also try to remember that it´s ok to have just one beer or a glass of wine over dinner. Just remember to take care of each other.
The next month the charity MCMILLAN is encouraging people to go sober for October to raise money for cancer support. I would like to challenge you to be sober one night out and to try some of the non-alcoholic or low-alcoholic options. In the student bars here on campus they serve Brewdog,nanny-state which contains only 0.5% alcohol.
Did you know? Beverages with below 1% of alcohol is considered non-alcoholic.
By Klara Bengtsson
Exchange Student in International development and Anthropology
