“Beer is the cause and solution to all of life’s problems,” Homer Simpson, The Simpsons

Changing from a school environment to an university environment can be very hard for some people to adjust to. Lynn* experienced a lot of problems in the beginning of the year but the biggest problem in the end, was facing the bottle every night.
“At school, in Matric, my friends and I hardly went out. But when I came to Rhodes, the pressure was on and everything started to change,” she says while taking a drag of the cigarette that’s elegantly hanging from her two fingers. The over powering amount of pressure placed on first years, especially during O-week, seem to take over after a while. She takes off her stylish black sunglasses while getting ready to take another drag. “I started to drink more and more. Often I wouldn’t even remember the night before. It frightened me sometimes but I just kept doing it, like it was an old habit.” Her face starts to turn to a light shade of red and it gets obvious that this is a part of her life she is ashamed at and rather wants to hide it.
Lynn went out every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. “There was a few times, once or twice, that I would get drunk every night of the week – and we’re not talking about O-week,” she exclaimed while giving a quick smile. “I often walked home after a rough night of partying, that was the scariest,” Lynn said while explaining that she lives on the far side of town, beyond the railway line. She adds, “That is quite a dangerous part of town, especially when you’re so drunk.”
Plans for the weekend of partying started on a Monday for Lynn. That’s the only thing she cared about during the first part of the year. “I wasn’t focused on my academic life at all, I was a social butterfly and only cared about partying,” she goes on, “I hooked up with quite a few guys while being drunk, most of them I didn’t know at all, and some I can’t even remember,” she says in a softer voice with an embarrassed look filling up her face.
Lynn started smoking while drinking and became a chain smoker without blinking an eye. “I started having relationship problems because I’m drunk all the time, but this only drove me to drink even more. Alcohol became the problem and the solution, like they once said in The Simpsons. I didn’t realise that I was on a destructive path until my results from the June exam came back and I also realised how much money I wasted on alcohol. I suddenly realised that I need balance back in my life,” she explains. “Then the final straw was when my doctor said I was in the beginning stages of alcoholism - that was it for me. I was totally shocked and knew things must change.” Her face lights up and a smile appear on her face. After Lynn found her old self again she started living healthier.
Lynn is now a happy 19 year old that’s on her way to second year, without the alcohol bottle in her hand. “I still go out but I don’t get drunk and I try to keep a healthy balance between work and social life and I’m not smoking as much anymore! I’m much happier now and I actually feel more energetic and healthy. I really advise others to maintain a healthy balance rather than being the alcoholic drunk everybody laughs at.”

*Names have been changed in respect of privacy