Brave: Senior Drinks Multiple Times a Week Despite Deteriorating Physical Health

Senior year carries with it tropes of burning out and being washed up. Former type-A students start earning Ds, and ex-socialites can barely stay up past 11. However some, like Andie Adkins (C ’19), have courageously continued their quests of drinking multiple times a week despite the tremendous toll it takes on their physical health.

“Sometimes I worry about my lifestyle,” Adkins told UTB. “Like, am I taking full advantage of every bar in the city? I haven’t even blacked out in Fishtown yet.”

While most research suggests that consuming alcohol in any amount is detrimental to a person’s health, Adkins feels it’s her duty to make the most of college, be it in the form of tequila on Tuesdays, Sink or Swim on Wednesdays, or drinking her weight on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. 

“When I’m old, I may look back on these days and remember hitting a different bar each day of the week,” Adkins said. “And then I’ll know I fucked up by not blacking out!,” she laughed, wincing as her diaphragm pushed on her weakening liver.

Adkins doesn't drink alone, of course. Roughly a quarter of the senior and junior classes roll through Smokes and other bars each week, all joking that they're here for a good time, not a long time. "I'll get it together when I graduate," Adkins said, along with 500 other students. "Partaking here and there won't get me hooked like with cigarettes," she continued, clicking in her fourth Juul pod of the day.