(January 24, 2008) — “Where am I?” This was the fi rst question Hakop asked himself when he woke up in the hospital, tubes attached to his arms. The night before was a blur, and he could only remember bits and pieces. “I don’t remember much,” he said. “I remember I was at a friend’s party, and I had brought alcohol with me in a bottle.” Once they drank the whole bottle, he and his friends decided to get more. They went into a liquor store, where the clerk did not even bother to check their ID’s, and bought the alcohol. Hakop’s friends began pressuring him to drink. “They said ‘Drink it if you love your mom,’” he said. Eventually, Hakop gave in. By the end of the night, he had already consumed about four bottles of alcohol. He stumbled into the bathroom and realized he wasn’t feeling well. “Then I got mad, and I hit the wall and broke it,” Hakop said. After a while, Hakop passed out and was hospitalized for a day. Hakop’s story is typical of what happens at many teenage parties. The surprising part is that not one of Hakop’s friends tried to stop him from placing himself in such a dangerous situation. Hakop is not the only one who has experienced the effects of alcohol. According to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, nearly 80 percent of teenage students have consumed some type of alcohol. Judy Sanzo, a health teacher at Clark, said that beginning to drink at such an early age may lead to many serious problems in the future, including alcoholism. “Because of the fact that their body is not fully developed, and their liver is not fully developed, this hormonal imbalance can cause an addiction,” she said. “Addiction is a lifelong battle.” Sanzo said that alcohol is a depressant, so it slows things down. It starts to lower inhibitions that make you say or do things you would not ordinarily say or do. It also affects the emotion part of the brain. Many people get angry and violent when they drink. People under the influence of alcohol also usually have slurred speech, they talk louder, their reaction time is slower, and their vision is impaired. Teens drink for many reasons, especially peer pressure. Sanzo said that wanting to fit in and to belong play a major role in teen drinking. “If you’re really close with your friends and you don’t want to stick out, sometimes that can lead you down the wrong path, so you really have to choose your friends carefully,” said sophomore Yeva Mirzakhanyan. Hakop did not think it was a big deal when decided to drink that night, but he paid a heavy price for his mistake. Hakop, like many teens who drink, did not ever think that he would be lying in a hospital bed the next day, not even being able to remember what had happened the night before. *Hakop: This person’s name was changed because they asked to remain anonymous.