I grew up in a family that ate dinner together every evening. Although my parents enjoyed wine, they rarely drank during the week and always in moderation .As for myself,1 wasn't interested in alcoholic drinks and neither were my high school friends. So when I arrived on campus for my first year of university life, I was a bit shocked. Many different events had been organized for the freshmen, but they all had one thing in common-alcohol, and plenty of .it wanting to be left out, I joined a few of the events. But I always returned home early, feeling disappointed. Your personality, interests and experiences didn't matter at all, only how many alcoholic drinks you could absorb before passing out . It seemed shallow to me. I wanted to get to know my new coursemates, not how fast they. could down a pint of beer. Gradually, however, I realized that real friends don't judge you by how much you can drink and there were other ways of making friends. I joined a photography society, took a first aid course, and every weekend l went cycling with a coursemate. I found that by engaging in these activities and sharing the fun of learning new skills together in a group ,I formed much stronger bonds with my new friends than even the strongest alcoholic drinks could encourage. Another valuable lesson I learned is that it's perfectly okay to say "No" if you don't want to drink. However, in many Western societies, especially the UK, binge drinking has become the norm. Many people who drink don't necessarily want to, but they give in to the peer pressure -they're afraid to say "No". How did the author finally make real friends at university?
By saying "No" to alcoholic drinks. By staying away from group activities. By giving in to the peer pressure. By joining people with common interests.