Does January need to be dry?

While dry-January provides time for people to lay off the drink, some students think making the most of university is more important.

University culture and drinking can go hand in hand and some Kingston students we spoke to thought missing out on drinking could negatively affect the ‘uni experience’.

Gretel Havercroft, Kingston university student and dry-Jan participator said: “Taking a break from drinking is good for your mental and physical health, however I do feel like I’m missing out a bit.”

Reports say that giving up drinking for a month will reduce blood pressure, showing there are real benefits to avoiding the university drinking-culture. However, some feel life as a student is short lived, so what’s the harm in enjoying yourself?

Student and rugby player Zach Peacock said: “Uni is only three years of your life, so you may as well make the most of it, have a drink on the weekend, go to socials, it’s what the experience is all about.”

Peacock also described the effect of uni-rugby culture in university: “Rugby and drinking beer goes hand in hand really, so it’s hard to avoid drinking while being part of the rugby team at Kingston.” 

As long as drinking on a weekly basis doesn’t get in the way of your studies (well not too much at least), not everyone thinks having a drink should be avoided, especially if you keep healthy in other ways.

While there are positives and negatives to drinking at uni, the consensus seems to be that as long as you’re having fun and not drinking too much, skipping dry-Jan isn’t the worst thing to do.