Beer and Corn Flakes

There are many obstacles that one must overcome in order to achieve one’s goals and overall success. We are born to make mistakes; and whether one chooses to rectify those mistakes, and ultimately learn from them, is up to that individual. When I was sixteen, I made a life altering decision which luckily, I was able to overcome and learn from; I was arrested at a party for underage consumption. Although the party left some very fond memories ingrained in my brain, the actual moment when I got arrested will haunt me for the rest of my life. There is no turning back from a mistake like this, no forgetting, whatsoever. But I can’t say that I wish it didn’t happen, because that night taught me some very valuable lessons.

It was over Thanksgiving break, and my friend Katie was having a party; actually, a three day party, to be exact. Her parents were out of town and it seemed like she invited the whole school. Everywhere you walked inside the house you had to hold your beer over your head because there was a good chance it would get knocked out of your hand otherwise. All of my friends were there, celebrating our four day “freedom” from school. Everyone drank and laughed and danced, and I’m pretty sure we were smoking some funny things. If I had to guess, I would say that there were about two hundred people there at a time. The first night passed without incident, everyone peacefully coexisting; the second night got a little rowdy when kids from our rival school showed up and tried to crash the party; the third night was just pure stupidity.

It was Saturday night, the last non-school night of our four day break, and we decided to go all out. We were playing beer pong, flip cup, quarters, kings, bonging beers, doing keg stands, sh...

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...e; in fact I lost two friends. And I was stuck with a criminal record until I was eighteen. I have realized though, that all of our actions will be swiftly and justly reciprocated with consequences. The law applies to every man, woman and child, and for some reason I thought that I was not included in that. I know now that the law is something very serious, and that a “sorry” or “I promise I’ll never do it again” will not suffice. I also know that I have never fully regained my mother’s trust or respect, and I think that hurts me the most. After this experience, I learned a lot, and I feel that I have grown a lot from it. In a way, I am glad that it happened, especially when I was still a minor, because now I am much more conscience when making decisions. I can never change what happened, I can only learn from it, and hope to continue benefiting from these lessons.