45, Female, Miami, US

I remember my first drink in 10th grade and I hated how it tasted but felt the peer pressure to drink. I drank a little bit through high school, unsure of what I could handle and sometimes I would overdo it but only remember that happening once or twice.

In college I drank a lot more, definitely 3-4 nights a week and often in excess. I rarely listened to my body- I just drank because it felt like social pressures required it. And I enjoyed it, so it was an easy response to the social push.

As an adult, over the course of many years, I have come to understand I really don’t like how alcohol makes me feel. I don’t like hangovers, I don’t like brain fog, I don’t like feeling out of control. So largely I have cut it out of my life voluntarily, although even as an adult i often feel pressure socially to drink. It takes a certain confidence to not be influenced into drinking and honoring my body. But if I’m being true to myself, that’s what makes me feel my best. I have a drink maybe once or twice a month these days, usually when I’m out with friends.

I wish when I was younger I had had the confidence not to give in to social pressures around drinking. I wish I had been more in tune with my body and my feelings and allowed myself to abstain versus getting pushed to do what everyone else was doing. That can be very hard at a young age!