Part 1: The Beginning
by Jimmy Vaughn

My name is Mike and this is my story. Everyone is the sum total of the choices they make but I didn’t always understand that. My choices have caused me and my family unbelievable pain but that sure didn’t occur to me back in the 7th grade. No sir, it was all fun and games then because I was invincible and if anyone could beat the system I could. I had finally made it to Jr. High with its new campus, new teachers, and new classmates. And there were girls I had never met before and more guys to compete with for their attention. At my old school I was popular and well known, but in Jr. High I was just another face in the crowd.

I was happy to have some of my old friends in my classes, but I also started to get to know some of the new guys. They seemed cool. Sometimes I had a hard time knowing if the stories they told me were true or not. They told me about parties where they pooled the alcohol they took from their parents. They just drank whatever they had and they told about the crazy things they did. Some of it sounded just like what I saw guys do on T.V. and in the movies. It sounded kind of scary, but I wanted to be liked; I wanted to be one of the “cool kids again.”

Then one weekend there was a party over at Jeff’s house. We played football together and everyone liked him. His dad let us all sleep in his travel trailer which was awesome and allowed for some unsupervised fun. I remember that night starting out pretty boring. We just played basketball in the driveway after eating pizza for dinner. I noticed his dad had a refrigerator in the garage with a keg of beer inside of it. It actually had a handle on the outside just like a bar at a restaurant. Jeff promised the real party would start later.

After spending what seemed like hours just sitting around, finally the cool part was about to begin. It was my first real drinking experience and I thought I was ready. Big glasses were passed out and we were warned to be quiet and to not wake his parents who were asleep in the house. We followed Jeff into the garage where he lined us up in front of his dad’s beer refrigerator and began to fill everyone’s mugs. The beer was really cold and it was cold on my hand as my mug filled. I had heard people talk about this, but now I was standing there with a flash light and a full glass of beer.

About then I began to get scared, but I couldn’t let them know that. I would never live it down at school and I thought for sure I would never be invited anywhere again. I knew my parents would have been mad if they knew what I was about to do. But Jeff said, “Cheers!” and everyone downed their glasses. I paused for just a moment but then followed the rest. The beer was cold and didn’t really taste good but I kept drinking till it was gone. I felt a kind of relief that I had done it, we had all done it. But wait! They all lined up again and I remember thinking for just a moment, “What have I gotten myself into?”

That night was only the beginning and I am still asking myself that question. That choice seemed to change everything. I had survived and I was cool…or so it seemed at the time.

Jimmy Vaughn, Pastor of Authentic Life Fellowship, serves on the DFG Public Education Committee.