Awakening to Addiction

Kerry hitchhiked home from a car accident. When she got to her house, she couldn’t remember what had happened.

Gina wandered the Town Square in Wilkes-Barre at 3 a.m. because her family kicked her out.

Sam broke her neck and sternum when her car flipped in an accident that should have killed her.

These women, all recovering alcoholics, have one thing in common: Their stories reflect the consequences of their casual college drinking.

Kerry, Gina and Sam spoke to students at one of many events to raise alcohol awareness as part of National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week, Oct. 18 - 24.

Darcy Brodmerkel, director of Student Activities and Substance Abuse Specialist, said the third week of October is National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week. This annual event is aimed at educating students about problems related to alcohol abuse.

Organizers placed extra emphasis on alcohol awareness this year because of a report that 21 MU students were cited with underage drinking at a party in Dallas Township. According to Brodmerkel, only 11 MU students were cited at the party.

The goal of the meeting was also to spread the word about the effects alcohol can have on students’ lives and future careers. One in four people are affected by someone else’s drinking. One in 10 people becomes an alcoholic or chemically dependent on alcohol. Seven percent of freshmen students drop out of college due to drinking.

Gina, 24 years old, recounted her story for the crowd. “Alcohol for me cost-wise, it cost me more than just money. My relationship with my family pretty much evaporated.”

She said for her the problem started in college, and she did only what was necessary to get by academically. The rest of the time she partied. After two years she returned to her hometown, but her new apartment immediately become known as the “party house.” She said the cops frequented it, and she often would hide in a closet so she wouldn’t get caught. She drank every day. One night, one of Gina’s friends got kicked out of a bar, so Gina offered to drive home. She went down a one-way street the wrong say. She said she sat at a traffic light for what felt like seconds, but based on a surveillance camera, it was actually 10 minutes. Gina ended up with a DUI and she spent the night in a jail cell.

Police contacted Gina’s parents at 3 a.m., and Gina said is the moment when things began spiraling out of control.

Gina’s parents paid a lawyer fee of $1,500, and $2,500 in fines and Gina was sentenced to probation for six months. She eventually lost her dream job, a job where she got to meet celebrities. She couldn’t afford her NYC apartment or pay her bills.

It came to the point where Gina’s mother cried every day. Gina’s grandparents confronted her. “You’re ruining your mother. You’re going to kill her,” they told her. Gina found herself alone at the square in Wilkes-Barre at three o’clock one morning. It was at this point she realized that her family didn’t trust her at all. She said she now has to be responsible for her past actions by “mending relationships that I completely burned.”

Kerry, the next person to share her story, said she started drinking and getting into trouble at an early age. When she was 19 she would go to bars and get in with a fake ID. One night she stopped at a gas station, ran into a police officer, and received a DUI and house arrest. She didn’t think it was that big of a deal because her dad got her a lawyer. A few years later she was drunk driving, rolled her truck three times, and hitchhiked home. Another time she blacked out.

During this time she lost one of her close friends to a drunk driving and another friend who drove drunk and killed a young engaged couple. He felt so guilty that he committed suicide. “Every person in my life that alcohol had touched it hurt in a real bad way.”

Now that she is sober, Kerry said she struggles to gain the trust of anyone because no one believes an alcoholic can change.

Sam spoke next, and she recalled her time as a college student when she attended alcohol awareness events. She remembered rolling her eyes. She didn’t drink a lot in college because she feared getting into trouble. She remembered her first weekend of college as a ‘hurricane’ in of alcohol abuse among the students. The baseball team had thrown a party that was busted by police within an hour. There was a really bad thunderstorm and kids were running away from the police, soaking wet, and school hadn’t even started yet.

She said she dabbled with drinking a little bit, but that becoming an alcoholic wasn’t exactly on her to-do list because she came from a family of recovering alcoholics. After she turned 21, Sam said she developed a drinking problem that gained speed until it exploded.

“I couldn’t believe where it had taken me. I couldn’t believe I was an alcoholic. I couldn’t believe that alcohol was at the root of my problems for such a long time.”

Instead of paying her bills, Sam would count change to buy alcohol.

It came to the point where she drove drunk for fun. She felt perfectly content being alone, drinking alone, passing out by herself, and waking up and doing it all over again. She used to drink a pint before she left her house so she could boost her self-esteem.

She finally broke her neck and sternum in a car accident. “I can recall the accident as if it were three seconds ago. I shouldn’t be walking, let alone alive, today. Nothing but a miracle is what it comes down to.”

She said the accident saved her life. She now compares alcoholism to a cancer because she wouldn’t hesitate to seek help for a medical problem, and alcoholism should be viewed the same way.

Chuck concluded the night with his story. Like Sam, he never drank while he was growing up. He once had to tell a teacher his father couldn’t attend a function because he was at rehabilitation.

Chuck’s problems started when he went to college. For the first six months he resisted, focusing his attention on sports. Once it became evident that Chuck wasn’t the superstar he had been in high school, he found camaraderie in parties. His competitive nature would surface during drinking games. Chuck got a DUI while driving 80 miles per hour past a state trooper.

He lost his license for three months. As a college junior Chuck had to explain to an employer that he got arrested for drunk driving.

Still, he said he couldn’t understand how people could simply have two or three drinks and stop. In 2005 Chuck returned to Pennsylvania and got married. Brodmerkel found Chuck when he moved to Dallas two years ago. At first, Chuck tried to recover on his own. After receiving a second DUI, he accepted Brodmerkel’s help and began to turn his life around.

Brodmerkel cautioned that if students are going out to drink, drink responsibly because no one knows if he or she will be the person who becomes chemically dependent. Everyone has a choice whether or not to drink, but no one has a choice of whether or not to become an alcoholic. She cautioned that many professions won’t allow someone to work if he or she has a drinking violation.

Brodmerkel explained that the university offers many activities that don’t involve drinking. Student Heather Arnold agreed. “In the long run, alcohol is not worth jeopardizing your grades or relationships. There are much better things to do here like taking advantage of the shuttle service and fun and exciting activities hosted by the school. It’s all about the choices you make.”

Brodmerkel also emphasized that someone doesn’t have to drink in order to have a good time and to find peers that have the same interests. She said drinking on campus is fairly common, but students have to deal with the consequences.

Resident Assistants Laine Bishop and Candace Levanavage said people who think they have drinking problems should take advantage of the university’s counseling center and the drug and alcohol peer advocate group.