Create Your Own Adventure - Charlie Grimes

What is an event that has changed your perspective/thinking on a certain matter forever?

Should the drinking age in the US be 21? Should it be higher or lower? What effects would changing this age bring about?

Should race be a factor in college admissions?

Response to Prompt 2:

I firmly believe that 21 is a completely nonsensical minimum drinking age, especially with the vast majority of the world implementing a drinking age of 18. In the US, at the age of 18, you are considered an adult. You are now able to vote, as well as go overseas and get caught in a deadly IED explosion - yet, at this point, you are still unable to enjoy a drink.

By lowering the drinking age in this country to 18, you are decriminalizing millions of college "adults" who are consuming alcohol regardless of the law. Over this weekend, I visited multiple universities who explained their alcohol policies during their presentations, and there seemed to be a common theme. The school is not trying to prevent drinking, it is trying to prevent drinking and driving. So we must ask ourselves, when universities and their respective law enforcement systems are not even attempting to stop drinking, and they clearly view it as inevitable, why does our country continue to technically label students' alcohol consumption as "criminal?"

Another reason to lower the drinking age to 18 has to deal with the "forbidden fruit" syndrome. When alcohol is introduced earlier into a person's life, there is no mystery behind it. When a country stresses that something like alcohol is completely illegal to consume until 21, this fosters more irresponsible methods of drinking, as underage people are fascinated with the illegality of the substance. This, in turn, leads to higher drunk driving fatalities, which is a rampant problem in this country.