You know the story: girl goes to party, girl drinks something she shouldn’t have, girl blacks out, girl ends up in the hospital or some frat boy’s bed. We’ve all heard it, but never listen. But on August 31, I wish I would have. There’s no doubting I, as a social college student, like to spend my weekends having a good time. I go out to parties, I spend nights with friends; the usual college practices. So after a night of “pre-gaming” some drinks in the dorms on that fateful night, I didn’t think anything of the night ahead of me. While at a fraternity on campus, I was feeling good, not belligerent, but good. I had done my usual walk around, surveying the inside of the frat. I said ‘hi’ to all of my friends, grabbed a drink, put my drink down, and picked it back up 20 minutes later. The next thing I remember I was lying on my dorm room floor with my black zipper-front dress tangled around my waist while EMTs were busy at work resuscitating me.
Close my eyes again. The next place I wake up is a hospital room in Robert Wood Johnson Hospital, alongside my hall director and my best friend. “Sign these papers Hillary. Put your name here. Can you hear me? Hillary?” Close my eyes again. Wake up. It’s six o’clock in the morning. “You’re free to go, Hillary, There’s a shuttle waiting for you outside.” How did I get there? Why was I there? I’m not a bad kid. I have a 3.6 GPA. I have four jobs. I’m on the dean’s list. I was top 10 percent of my high school class. I’m not an alcoholic. I don’t do drugs. Something had to be wrong. “Nurse, what happened? I don’t know why I’m here.” “Hillary, we think you we’re slipped a Ruphenol, a date rape drug, do you remember anything from that night?” I couldn’t tell her yes, I just couldn’t lie. I felt like a failure. I had let down my family and friends. I’ve heard all the stories before. I never thought it could happen to me. Only girls who throw themselves at boys and “ask for it” get roofied. What was I doing there? Ladies, think of my trip back to my dorm as the world’s WORST walk of shame. To add the icing on the cake, I couldn’t take the hospital bracelet off for a week. The doctors needed to see me back in a week. At interviews, class, and work, I had to hide the shameful bracelet. I know you’ve heard this sad story too many times before, but you need to listen. There are ways to prevent yourself from what happened to me. Trust me, you don’t want to be another statistic. Here are some ways to keep your parties fun and safe:
1. NEVER put your drink down. If I could drill this rule into each of your brains, I would. There are a lot of good people in this world, but some of them are shadier than others. Putting your drink down and picking it back up is just asking for someone to switch your cup or put something in it that you don’t want to be ingesting. That’s where I made my mistake and I’ll never do it again, With that being said… 2. Watch where you get your drink from. A lot of times we get our drinks from the pledge brother behind the bar not knowing where he’s getting it from or what he’s doing to it. We get so swept up in the moment, we forget to watch, but we need to learn to do as such. Who knows what’s going on behind that bar? 3. Know your limits. If you over drink and think that you may have been slipped something, your case is less justifiable. You have to remember ladies, the stereotypical college girl will ultimately not know her limits and drink to excess. It’s your job to prove those statistics wrong. Don’t let drinking too much be the cause of your downfall. A lot of times, when colleges rush students to the hospital, they assume it’s alcohol poisoning and nothing else. They neglect to do a toxic screening and send you on your way. If you do think you’ve been slipped something, however… 4. Know the signs. There are a lot of symptoms of date rape drugs, depending on which one you’re given. With the most common one (Ruphenol or “roofie”) however, the main symptoms after you’ve taken one are as follows: • Muscle relaxation or loss of muscle control • Difficulty with motor movements • Drunk feeling • Problems talking • Nausea • Can’t remember what happened while drugged • Loss of consciousness (black out) • confusion • Problems seeing • dizziness • Sleepiness • Lower blood pressure • Stomach problems
Don’t confuse being roofied with being drunk. If you don’t drink in excess you’ll know when you’ve been date rape drugged. No one can prove I was roofied. By the time I had asked for a toxic screen, it was too late and whatever was in me was probably flushed from my system. I was in shock. To this day I will never know what happened. I’ll never remember how I got home for someone to call the ambulance, and I’ll never know what I drank that night. Remember ladies, It takes courage to know when to say “no” to a drink, but it could save your reputation, your night, and even your life.