<p>ok i drink but i promise im really nice and will never pressure you!
some people will, but a lot of people respect your decisions and are not judgemental.</p>
<p>Same with nicha89. Never smoked, consume alcohol, nor partied. :)</p>
<p>And I’m assuming your happy, right chaospaladin?</p>
<p>Correct. :)</p>
<p>chaospaladin: Im curious what keeps u from at least trying alcohol or partying even ONCE? Is it fear of losing focus in school,personal life choice, or cuz ur under age? I just feel if u never try it then u wont ever know how the experience truly is, and that often leads to making assumptions about those that do drink and party(i’d estimate around 80% of UCSB Students) whether ur a judgmental person or not. </p>
<p>I respect ur decision but I still wonder why, because this aspect is such a huge part of UCSB and it definately affects ur experience.</p>
<p>nicha89: “i’m pretty sure my hall mates dont go to parties in IV either” </p>
<p>Really?
I’d really like to know what dorms u are staying in because this is pretty unique or are u in Substance-free floor on FT? or are u assuming that they dont party because they’re ur friends and u dont approve of them drinking? I find that assumption to be ignorant/oblivious of ur surroundings.</p>
<p>I mean yeah alcohol doesnt have to be the focus of a chill hang out but it can be said for a party as well. You can still go to a party in IV and not drink and still have a good time.</p>
<p>^There’s plenty of reasons not to drink. Health reasons (all those empty calories), painful memories because of alcoholism in your family, taking time away from studying, relying on alcohol as a crutch in social situations (many people I know don’t need alcohol to be social), etc. Also, you knock nicha’s assumption but make your own assumption about how many people drink… I lived in Manzanita for two years and it was definitely less than that. My “assumption” is 20%. And I had just as much fun in my first quarters at UCSB when I didn’t drink at all compared to my last couple years when I was in the fraternity system…</p>
<p>26.3% of UCSB students reported they seldom if ever drink alcohol. 11.7% haven’t had any alcohol in the past year and 14.6% drink less than once a month but at least once in the past year.
In a 2003 Survey, 64% of UCSB students report having 0-6 drinks per week.</p>
<p>[STAR</a> - Students Teaching Alcohol and Drug Responsibility | UCSB Peer Health Interns](<a href=“http://orgs.sa.ucsb.edu/peerhealth/star/HealthInformation/factoids.html]STAR”>http://orgs.sa.ucsb.edu/peerhealth/star/HealthInformation/factoids.html)</p>
<p>but yeah u do make a good point bout the empty calories so true haha</p>
<p>@AllDay: i didn’t mean everyone in my hall, just my friends who live in the same hall as me. I guess the way I described made you missunderstand. I didn’t say that nobody in my house ever went to parties. And I DO approve of my friends drinking. They occasionally drink, but they just don’t go partying in IV. I don’t have anything against drinking or partying or anything AT ALL. It’s just not what I enjoy.</p>
<p>I know there are many people in my hall that DO party, both outside and inside the hall, which of course disturb other people and once got all of us on house probation, which also p*ssed off my friends who do drink quietly. There are people who drink and people who don’t drink, as well as people who party and those who don’t. And this is not an assumption.</p>
<p>You’ll be fine! Not everyone drinks or parties and there is a ton of other things to do in your free time since it is such a nice area. I am sure you will meet other people of like mind, no worries.</p>