As college students, we are more or less adults now and must understand that our actions (or lack thereof) have consequences. As tragic as the several recent deaths of SMU students are, what might be most shocking about the situations is the students appear to have died alone. Where were the friends, acquaintances, dates and onlookers when these students took a turn for the worse?
At the risk of sounding childish, we think that friends are supposed to take care of one another. When we’re drinking, we should be drinking around people we trust to take care of us. We should know several people at a party who would be willing and able to call for help if it’s needed and not abandon us when things get scary.
Friends alone aren’t enough. If we want to call ourselves decent human beings, we should be willing to call an ambulance for someone who desperately needs help- even if it means getting an alcohol violation ourselves. It’s not worth staying out of trouble when someone’s life is on the line.
Drinking and partying are part of college life. There’s simply no point in denying that fact. Partying is great – but it shouldn’t be dangerous or deadly. Part of being an adult is making informed and intelligent choices. We have to be aware of our own limitations and the limitations of others. We should also be prepared to face the consequences of our choices. We, as SMU students, need to step up and become more responsible.
Being in college means that our parents aren’t around to take care of us. The absence of parents should be an indicator to SMU students to start taking responsibility for their own actions. No one is here to monitor us. No one is being paid to babysit us. That leaves us on our own. As a group, we have to start looking out for each other.
As boring as the assigned reading for our anthropology class is, we have to force ourselves to read it because no one else is going to make us. As frustrating as paying a bill can be, we have to sign the check because Dad won’t always be there to pick up the slack. And as fun as it can be on the party scene, we have to start taking care of each other out there – because no one else will.
