Firstly, it will probably be a tough time, as choosing to not drink normally gets met with quite a lot of judgement, with many societies and course-based activities being held around the premise that everyone enjoys drinking alcohol.
With Newcastle’s notorious nightlife, it can often be harder to find likeminded people amongst the crowd, new flatmates asking, “Where are we going out tonight?” can often spark fear of being typecast as ‘boring’ or ‘unsociable’ when the inevitable reply of “Oh I don’t really drink” meets the room.
Drinking is arguably engrained into the DNA of university so breaking the stereotype can seem hard especially when you’re met with intense peer pressure. Whether you choose not to drink due to health or simply because you don’t personally enjoy it, it can be hard to validate those reasons to people without facing critique.
"Choosing not to drink won't make your University experience any less enjoyable!"
However, that’s not to say there aren’t other students who share the desire for a cosy movie evening in over a crazy night out. There are lots of positives to taking on university sober - you don’t have the crippling feeling of hangxiety, or a banging headache at your 9 am’s. And you generally get to know people better as your social activities involve a lot more conversation compared to being in a packed-out club.
Choosing not to drink doesn’t have to make your university experience any less enjoyable! Newcastle has multiple different societies that have alcohol-free socials, the 'Sober Socials Society' on campus can be a great way to meet like-minded people; in addition to this, one of the university's most up-and-coming societies - Cold Water Swimming also only hosts sober socials. Whether you’ve found your crowd or not these can be a great way to meet people.
The idea of taking on the Toon T-total can seem like a daunting task, but with it being ‘Sober October’ now could be the perfect time to explore the other side of the drinking culture, encouraging people to open their minds to the reality of being alcohol-free at Uni.