College is all about decisions and finding out who you are as a person. For the first time you are on your own, without your parents and you’re able to do whatever you want. Quickly, you must learn to be responsible while figuring out how to balance all the things you have going on in your life.

One thing that is very different from the living your parents to being on your own, is drinking. If you do decide to go out and drink on the weekend, you must be smart and know your limits. Drinking and going out is only fun if you live to tell about it! Also, the main thing you will become accustomed to in college drinking, is cheap drinking. College students everywhere slowly turn Coors Light cans in for the cheap Natural Light. That is, until you come upon more money than usual and you immediately think about splurging for the more expensive booze. If you’re going to drink, here are some tips to make it a better, cheaper and safer experience.

How to Drink Smarter

• Pace yourself, nobody likes the people who pass out after 30 minutes, and how is that fun anyways? It’s not.

• If you’re going to drink most weekends, don’t just do it. If you feel like you have to because you never do, just remember that it’s a choice and no one else can make you.

• Never feel obligated to drink more than you can, learn how much you can drink and stay at that limit.

• Find out what kind of drinks you enjoy and the person you become when you do drink.

How to Drink Safer

• Always be with a friend who knows you and your limits

• Use a mixer such as juice or soda

• Eat beforehand

• Drink in a familiar place

• Never end up walking or leaving by yourself

How to Afford the Good Stuff

• Recycle your cans to get your deposit back (take your cans to the closest Ames Hy-Vee or alternate recycling location)

• Give plasma to make money (www.biolifeplasma.com/biolife-centers/iowa_ames.html)

• Split top-shelf liquors with a friend

• Get a job

Top Five Cheap Beers

1. Keystone Light

2. Natural Light

3. Busch Light

4. Milwaukee’s Best

5. Rolling Rock

Top Five Cheap Liquors

1. Hawkeye Vodka

2. Barton’s

3. Ron Diaz

4. Captain Admiral

5. Paramount Rum

Drinking can be fun, but only when it’s done in a responsible and smart way. Drinking becomes ruined when you make a bad decision and do something stupid, like driving or getting arrested when you break a law. You learn many lessons in life and there are a lot that can be found out through drinking. Many of those lessons can ruin your or somebody else’s life. Have fun in college, but be smart. These can be the best four, five, six, possibly seven, or even eight years of your life, but they can be ruined very easily due to drinking.