it would be cynical to call this ironic...
Posts made by Matt Pearlstone on College Confidential discussion forum on 1/11/2006:
"Take your talk of "haze" elsewhere - I enjoy
drinking, but I certainly don't go through life in a
haze. I'm on track to either double or triple major
plus get an MEng in 8 semesters, I run marathons for
fun, and generally live life to its fullest. I do not
drink myself into a stupor and waste days, months and
years. Drinking is a recreational activity that I very
much enjoy, but I keep it in its place - drinking only
with friends and only when it won't interfere with my
other goals (I'm not Bode Miller, I don't drink before
marathons or prelims). Alcohol hasn't limited me in
any way, nor has it ever prevented me from achieving
success. I'm sorry that alcohol has caused you such
problems, binx, but I'm not telling you to drink. I'm
just counteracting the anti-alcohol posts that
everyone else seems to have and saying that it is
possible for alcohol to be a positive, enjoyable
thing. That, and also showing that liability wise that
drunk driving (or other dangerous activity after
drinking, like drunk jetskiing) is by far the biggest
problem because it is far easier and far more likely
that someone will drink and drive and kill
themselves/someone else than it is they will drink
enough to stop breathing.
There are plenty of teens who are capable and
competent enough to handle themselves and don't need
much, if any, supervision; the amount of supervision
necessary depends on the kid. "
"I am ignorant? I can tell you, both statistically and
anecdotally, that it is very rare and comparatively
hard for someone to drink themselves to death. Me and
my friends are all very experienced drinkers, and we
all know exactly how we get when we drink too much, so
we go by those signs. For those we don't know as well,
we ensure that they throw up (so they don't absorb any
more alcohol from their stomach) and are responsive
and reasonably coherent to make sure they won't die.
Given the huge number of teens who drink, and the
amount that many teens drink combined with the risky
drinking patterns inherent in teen drinking (chugging,
taking lots of shots before you can even fully feel
the first one, the list goes on and on), and the
relatively small number of pure alcohol (i.e. stopped
breathing) deaths compared to both the number of
drinkers and the number of people who die from
drinking and driving, it is clear that drinking is
usually only problematic when combined with driving.
Honestly, that's why I like drinking with experienced
drinkers - it is MUCH harder for someone with a
tolerance to drink themselves dead than it is for a
drinking novice who has no idea of how to drink and
also has no tolerance.
Don't try to intimidate me with medical facts; I know
most any alcohol related fact backwards and forwards.
I don't take blind risks, and I'm fully aware of the
risks I take with drinking. In my mind, the benefits
of drinking - the fun, the camaraderie, the burn of
that first shot - vastly outweigh the costs (I've paid
my dues for drinking in a number of ways). I learned
as much from drinking/partying during high school as I
did from classes (and I took 14 APs), not to mention
that while a lot of the things I learned in HS I'll
never really use again (i.e. chemistry), I'll always
use the skills I learned from drinking/partying (how
to read a situation, a lot about people in general,
etc.) "
Matt was a 2005 graduate of Ladue Horton Watkins High School, an honor student, a National Merit finalist, a National AP Scholar, captain of the swim team and a member of the varsity water polo team. He was a freshman at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, majoring in computer science and electrical engineering. He was on the Dean's list and was a member of the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Team and a marathon runner.
"Take your talk of "haze" elsewhere - I enjoy
drinking, but I certainly don't go through life in a
haze. I'm on track to either double or triple major
plus get an MEng in 8 semesters, I run marathons for
fun, and generally live life to its fullest. I do not
drink myself into a stupor and waste days, months and
years. Drinking is a recreational activity that I very
much enjoy, but I keep it in its place - drinking only
with friends and only when it won't interfere with my
other goals (I'm not Bode Miller, I don't drink before
marathons or prelims). Alcohol hasn't limited me in
any way, nor has it ever prevented me from achieving
success. I'm sorry that alcohol has caused you such
problems, binx, but I'm not telling you to drink. I'm
just counteracting the anti-alcohol posts that
everyone else seems to have and saying that it is
possible for alcohol to be a positive, enjoyable
thing. That, and also showing that liability wise that
drunk driving (or other dangerous activity after
drinking, like drunk jetskiing) is by far the biggest
problem because it is far easier and far more likely
that someone will drink and drive and kill
themselves/someone else than it is they will drink
enough to stop breathing.
There are plenty of teens who are capable and
competent enough to handle themselves and don't need
much, if any, supervision; the amount of supervision
necessary depends on the kid. "
"I am ignorant? I can tell you, both statistically and
anecdotally, that it is very rare and comparatively
hard for someone to drink themselves to death. Me and
my friends are all very experienced drinkers, and we
all know exactly how we get when we drink too much, so
we go by those signs. For those we don't know as well,
we ensure that they throw up (so they don't absorb any
more alcohol from their stomach) and are responsive
and reasonably coherent to make sure they won't die.
Given the huge number of teens who drink, and the
amount that many teens drink combined with the risky
drinking patterns inherent in teen drinking (chugging,
taking lots of shots before you can even fully feel
the first one, the list goes on and on), and the
relatively small number of pure alcohol (i.e. stopped
breathing) deaths compared to both the number of
drinkers and the number of people who die from
drinking and driving, it is clear that drinking is
usually only problematic when combined with driving.
Honestly, that's why I like drinking with experienced
drinkers - it is MUCH harder for someone with a
tolerance to drink themselves dead than it is for a
drinking novice who has no idea of how to drink and
also has no tolerance.
Don't try to intimidate me with medical facts; I know
most any alcohol related fact backwards and forwards.
I don't take blind risks, and I'm fully aware of the
risks I take with drinking. In my mind, the benefits
of drinking - the fun, the camaraderie, the burn of
that first shot - vastly outweigh the costs (I've paid
my dues for drinking in a number of ways). I learned
as much from drinking/partying during high school as I
did from classes (and I took 14 APs), not to mention
that while a lot of the things I learned in HS I'll
never really use again (i.e. chemistry), I'll always
use the skills I learned from drinking/partying (how
to read a situation, a lot about people in general,
etc.) "
Matt was a 2005 graduate of Ladue Horton Watkins High School, an honor student, a National Merit finalist, a National AP Scholar, captain of the swim team and a member of the varsity water polo team. He was a freshman at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, majoring in computer science and electrical engineering. He was on the Dean's list and was a member of the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Team and a marathon runner.