<p>As graduation quickly approaches and I prepare myself for my last summer before college, I am finding myself feeling more and more anxious. Of course, I am generally nervous for all aspects of college life but what worries me most is my future social life.
Due to a medical condition, I cannot safely drink too much alcohol or participate in really any kind of drug use. While personally I am fine with this, it seems as though my limited ability to "party" makes me a less then desirable friend to some people. As the people who I used to hang out with start to discover all the "fun" alcohol and pot has to offer I find myself being forgotten about. While I don't expect anybody to give anything up just because I can't, I am still hurt and annoyed. I enjoy having fun just as much as the next person and don't appreciate being excluded just because I may be limited in some ways.
My hometown is very boring and small, so there is not much to do other then party. I chose my school, which is in a very large city, in the hopes of having other fun and exciting options other then drinking and drugs.
So anyways, to avoid any more rambling I suppose I have two main questions I'd like answered.
1) Based on your experiences, will I have trouble finding fun and interesting people willing to go into the city with me or just stay in the dorms and do fun things while sober?
2) If I do decide to go to a party, is it possible to have an enjoyable time just having one or two (or no) drinks, or are my friends right and parties are only fun when you're "white-girl wasted"?</p>
<p>It’s going to be rough for you.</p>
<p>Awesome. Good to know.</p>
<p>My group of friends drinks pretty heavily, but I usually don’t (it’s Keystone and Natty Ice…), and I don’t get drunk. However, I have no problem having fun with them. You can still enjoy parties on less alcohol, though in my experience, freshman parties are kind of bad whether you’ve been drinking or not.</p>
<p>You won’t have problems making friends, and you’ll probably have friends who drink (on weekend nights, mostly) and some who don’t. Don’t stress it.</p>
<p>I know a girl who doesn’t drink, doesn’t smoke weed or cigarettes, and has a more fulfilling social life than a lot of people.</p>
<p>You’ll find people just like yourself. I wouldn’t stress.</p>
<p>First, it’s going to be REALLY hard to answer these sort of questions with any definite answer without knowing what school you go to. Some schools are better at providing alternate activities on nights and weekends than others. Some schools have a large partying culture (mine), while for others it’s nearly non-existent or hard to find unless you’re 21+.</p>
<p>But I’ll try…</p>
<p>1) This may sound surprising, but not everyone in college drinks and parties (and the two are not mutually exclusive). Again, depending on the culture of the school, these people may be harder to find, especially in the first few weeks of freshman year when it seems like everyone is a party animal. But as classes start and people settle in you’ll soon find out who get’s wasted every night, who parties occasionally, and who is completely uninterested in that part of college life.</p>
<p>2) I have NEVER seen anyone look down upon someone who doesn’t drink (nor have I looked down upon such a person myself), so long as they have a good time with everyone and doesn’t drag the party down. Not saying you are such a person, but there are people who abstain from drinking who become the lecturing vegetarian at a steakhouse… if you feel like you’ll be one of those people, I would just avoid parties altogether. BUT, if you feel like you can hang out and have a good time, by all means go to these events. If you fill up a cup half way and hold it the entire time, nobody will even notice you’re not drinking.</p>
<p>For your safety, I would just avoid any drinking. College parties make it very difficult to determine what constitutes “two drinks” unless you’re cracking open a beer can yourself.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, it’s your choice. There WILL always be people who judge you regardless of what you do or don’t. Never mind them. There’s always people do don’t drink or smoke, so trust me, you’ll find them. 
Even if the “college experience” pertains to an image of partying, getting hammered, etc, that doesn’t mean you have to follow it!
College is what you make of it. Trust me, you’ll find people who are sober and extremely fun.</p>
<p>I have many friends who drink, a few who do not, and I myself do drink. I love hanging out with all my friends! I don’t know about your school, but at my school, it’s definitely possible to go out sober/near sober and still have a good time. What I’d recommend though is try to find 1 or 2 other friends who also don’t drink a lot but enjoy partying so you can be on the same level at when you go out. I find that sometimes when I’m sober and all my friends are wasted it can be uncomfortable.</p>
<p>If you know how to dance and or like to dance you will be fine especially if you are a girl.</p>