Others' drinking/alcohol use in college essay

I’m writing on my college essay on a club that I’m a part of and I’m explaining how I got to join the club. One of the factors is that all of my friends began drinking going into ninth grade (high school) and I rejected that, so I looked to go towards other interests and finding myself and blah blah blah. Is it okay if I mention drinking in my essay if I’m not the actual one doing it?

no it happens to a lot of kids,nothing special

Super thanks

Promoting yourself by pointing out other people’s negatives looks lame.

Good point. I’m trying to say that I entered high school with absolutely no idea of where I stand or who I was (since I was no longer friends with the people I had been my entire life). That’s another reason why I’m iffy about the drinking thing, but I’m not really sure how to say that without giving the real context of the situation. Do you have an alternative idea maybe?

Just say you had to distance yourself from bad influences, you don’t have to say it’s because they drink alcohol. That makes it kinda weird lol

I don’t think that it’s a good idea to mention other’s bad choices to justify your own good choice.

But remember the mantra: “Give them a reason to say yes.” That’s what this essay is about.

You can say you wanted to broaden your horizons, to explore new interests. You don’t have to waste any of those precious words on what OTHER people were doing-- the reader isn’t looking at their application. This essay is about YOU-- who you are and who you hope to become. Keep the focus on your actions and your choices and your decisions, not on the poor actions or choices or decisions of others.

@bjkmom Thank you! This was very helpful.