I turned 21 this summer, and like any college student, I’d been counting down to this day for weeks, if not months. My friends wanted to celebrate with me, but unlike most of my peers, I don’t drink, so I had a different idea of what that meant than they did.
As a UCSB student, it’s considered a rite of passage to complete “the loop,” where college students drink copious amounts of alcohol at a variety of Isla Vista watering holes. While I am an active member of the UCSB party scene and someone who loves being around people, alcohol just isn’t for me — and I’m not alone. Many people can’t drink for medical reasons, as it interacts with nearly every medication out there, and others are recovering alcoholics. Whatever your reason for not drinking, it doesn’t have to stop you for having your birthday night out, and I was determined not to let it stop me.
I took my first trip to Keg N Bottle on Embarcadero Del Mar on my birthday, as all good Isla Vistans do, to buy red solo cups and a variety of fun sodas, and I started my night off with a house party at my Isla Vista apartment. My friends celebrated my coming of age by drinking alcohol while I drank (non-alcoholic) sparkling apple cider. And since I didn’t consume a million calories from beer or shots, I didn’t feel the slightest bit guilty for eating several slices of the ridiculously awesome marshmallow and chocolate birthday cake my friends baked for me. After a heated game of Cards Against Humanity, the 18 of us still standing headed down to the beach with blankets to watch a meteor shower at midnight.