Drinking on a school night

Every university student knows that after a long week of “studying
hard” you can hardly wait for one night where you can forget about the
books and have some fun. But sometimes you just can’t wait those four or five days to have a break. After a long day of classes maybe you need a night of fun, but what we often don’t think about is how drinking during the week effects the next day of school work we might have.

This was definitely a question for Wilfrid Laurier University’s educational nurse Marilyn Nieboer, who believes it really isn’t a good idea to mix alcohol during the school week when you have classes to attend and assignment due dates. “If you spent the day studying and then went out and had a few drinks you could potentially negate all of the knowledge you have retained that day,” she explained.

And although this is just as likely to happen on a weekend, the long
day you spent in class trying desperately to understand what the heck
your professor is talking about is at risk of being forgotten.

If you have a heavy day of classes, Nieboer suggests this is definitely not
something you should make a habit out of, because even one night of
drinking effects your school performance the next day. But on the
slightly brighter side if you chose to drink casually and slowly
(instead of binge drinking like you’re on Jersey Shore) you won’t feel
these effects as greatly.

Nieboer explained how it’s all about how many drinks you chose. “It all depends on quantity; binge drinking is five drinks or more and is a really bad lifestyle for students, this type of drinking effects your sleep, it makes it harder to pay attention in class and concentrate,” she said.

Olivia Beirnes is a second-year student who only goes out during the week on occasion. She described feeling tired and unmotivated the day following when she drinks about two drinks an hour for the night. “I don’t really feel like doing any work after a night out and I find it hard to pay attention in class.”

According to Nieboer this is not a surprise. “It takes about an hour and a half to digest one drink if you are drinking more than that in an hour,
depending on how many drinks this is it can even effect you for longer
than just the next day.”

When asking Beirnes if she was aware of these consequences she responded, “I know it’s not the smartest thing to do, but I only go out on a school night if I don’t have any assignments or midterms coming up.”

Matty Wright who is also a second year student at Laurier and drinks a little more than occasionally on school nights said, “I literally had no idea that drinking on a school night could make you forget stuff you learned that day.” And when asked how he personally feels in class the day after a night out he said, “I usually feel pretty bad, especially on edge and stressed out.”

Nieboer believes that students know the consequences of drinking the night before class but you can’t be too educated on the results alcohol does to your body.

Although most of this information is not exactly news, Nieboer believes it is still important to be aware and conscious of these effects. While most students are not going to give their drinking hats up for good (especially with reading week fast approaching), a balanced lifestyle, according to Nieboer, is the only way to succeed and stay healthy during university.