As you live out your college life in Wisconsin, you may simultaneously experience excitement, challenge and stress. Whether academics come easily to you and you barely have to study to ace your final exams or you typically have to pull several all-nighters and give up most of your free time activities just to make the grade, as long as you do your best and try to avoid some of the problems often associated with campus living, you’ll likely succeed in earning a degree in your chosen field of study.
It’s no secret that college students encounter increased peer pressure and temptations at much higher levels than those they experience in high school. While there’s typically nothing wrong with kicking back and enjoying some rest and relaxation with friends to rejuvenate your spirit after a long, hard week of studies, you are definitely at risk for some very serious consequences if you wind up drinking alcohol and getting behind the wheel of a car.
Is the party really worth it?
Weighing the potential pros and cons of a particular situation is something every college student must do when choosing how to spend free time on or off campus. If you plan to drink alcohol in a social setting, you’ll definitely want to be aware of the following consequences that may accompany your choices:
- Do you know approximately 80 out of every 100 college students in Wisconsin and throughout the nation meet criteria for alcohol use disorders? This is something to keep in mind when deciding whether to engage in drinking at college.
- Regardless of your gender, consuming alcohol may place you at grave risk for sexual assault. If you’re between ages 18 and 24, you are in the high risk category for date rape and other alcohol-related attacks.
- Nearly 2,000 of your college age peers die each year in accidents and incidents related to alcohol consumption.
- If you drive after drinking alcohol, not only might you wind up in a collision that results in injury to yourself or others, you may face charges in criminal court if a police officer arrests you on suspicion of drunk driving.
- Having an OWI on your record can cause you to be suspended or expelled from school. If administrators allow you to continue enrollment, you may suffer negative ramifications in your academic life as well as your financial situation.
It may be easier than you think for occasional drinking to become a bad habit or addiction. If you’re brain is in a fog the morning after an all-night party, it may be nearly impossible to focus on your studies or prepare for an important exam. School issues may pale in comparison to the major legal problems you may encounter if you face OWI charges in college.
Help is available
If you want to talk to someone about possible alcohol use disorder or simply want to hear other people’s creative ideas for avoiding alcohol-related problems in college and maximizing your study time, you can reach out to other students who have succeeded in achieving similar goals or ask your school administrators about available programs to help.
An experienced Wisconsin defense attorney is another support resource who can come to your assistance if you are trying to avoid OWI conviction or mitigate the legal circumstances associated with a particular alcohol-related incident.
