Editor's note: This is the fifth in a weeklong series of stories forecasting the future and providing tips for soon-to-be college graduates.
Ohio University alumni are veterans of Thirsty Thursdays
Halloween festivities and beer pong, yet the high-risk drinking common in college does not seem to continue much beyond graduation.
Alcoholism strongly depends on the individual and the reason behind why he or she drinks, said Terry Koons, assistant director of substance abuse education at OU.
People still drink after college but it's to what degree does that play a role in your social life? Koons said. He warns that after four years of drinking three times a week in college, a student's tolerance level will be dramatically increased.
Alumni said drinking does not stop once they leave college, but the binge drinking becomes less common.
Bars are still a big part of socialization after graduation, but people are able to control the alcohol more when they've left the college scene and have more responsibilities, said 2004 graduate Alissa Adler, who now works as an interior designer and store planner for Jo-Ann Stores.
I don't have time to become an alcoholic she said.
Melissa Eaton, a 2005 graduate, now works at Coolville Elementary and My Sister's Place in Athens and said she has seen a distinct difference in socialization.
I definitely don't go out as much at all
Eaton said. Since I have a job
I just can't
I need to sleep. My social life has changed to doing more community-type stuff
like getting involved with potlucks and speakers and events that are put on by different organizations.
The majority of college students drink as a form of socialization, Koons said. However, OU students seem less ashamed of losing control after consuming large amounts of alcohol than those at other colleges he's visited, he said.
Here
people wake up and say they are going to go out and get drunk that night
Koons said.
More than half of college student drinkers under the age of 21 drink to get drunk, according to a 2002 study funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
OU's recent Princeton Review ranking as the No. 2 party school in the country makes this statistic all the more familiar in Athens.
Alder typically went out every weekend while she was a student, she said. Although there was always a party going on, she was able to balance drinking with academic responsibilities, she said.
I didn't drink before I came to OU
and as the years went on
I drank more. I think that is the typical college experience
