She lies on the floor, hands hugging the porcelain throne, wondering when her body will stop regurgitating her mistakes from the night before. It’s 4 a.m. and she has school in five hours. Homework still uncompleted, no gas in her car, and no money in her wallet. Are you this girl?

He stumbled into his car, takes a deep breath, and is barely able to locate which key is the one to start his car. He leaves the bar and while driving he must do so with one eye closed because the one-lane road looks like two. Red and blue lights appear behind him, and that’s it – his life is forever changed.  Are you this boy?

She wakes up the next morning, head pounding, and her belongings nowhere in sight. This isn’t her room, this isn’t her house, and she has class in the next hour. Two others whom she does not remember the names of lay asleep in the room with her, so she quietly gets up and leaves, preparing herself for the walk-of-shame. The girl locates her purse and phone and walks out the front door. Are you this girl?

He is woken up by a throbbing pain in his arm and back. The arm held a huge gash, which looks like was put through a cheese-grater. His back, the same. It was road rash. He must have fallen sometime the night before, but he cannot remember for the life of him. Are you this boy?

She makes it to her class and her professor hands back her essay with a big red “F” along the top. She was not surprised because she had written it at 3 a.m. still inebriated from the night before. On the next one I’ll do better, she thought. Are you this girl?

He slept through his alarm, missing his first class of the day. There was a midterm and no make-ups. He had gone out for just one drink the night before, but recalling his night and upon opening his wallet, he remembered one drink turned into 10 and the $100 he needed to pay the rest of his rent was gone. Are you this boy?

Society tells young students that they should be at parties or at the bar. However, a lot of the time they do not know how to do this in a safe way. They do not know their limit.

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, around “25 percent of college students report academic consequences from missing class, falling behind, doing poorly on exams or papers, and receiving lower grades over all” for students who drink alcohol frequently.

The NIAAA also reports that more than 97,000, both male and female students, are subject to date-rape or sexual-assault from alcohol induced situations, 599,000 students are reported with unintentional alcohol-related injuries, and more than 150,000 students develop alcoholism or alcohol-related health problems.

If you or someone you know suffers from alcoholism or appears to have a dependency on alcohol you can find your local Alcoholics Anonymous chapters at www.aa.org or visit your doctor for any questions or concerns. Pittsburg Alcoholics Anonymous is located at 825 Cumberland Street and their phone number is 432-3139.

She gets a phone call from a friend inviting her to go bar hopping. Although she plays with the idea of how much fun she will have, she decides to stay home and study for her quiz the next day. She gets a good night’s rest and aces her test. This girl could be you.

He is attends a party with all of his friends. Someone offers him a cold one. “No thanks, I’m driving tonight,” he declines.

Driving home from the party, lights flash behind him. The officer walks up to the window, “Had anything to drink tonight, son?”

“Nope. Not a drop,” he said confidently. This boy could be you.