Part 3: The College Years
by Marty Marsh Jacobs

I couldn’t wait to get to college and be on my own. I’m not sure how I downsized to a small dorm room while convincing Mom and Dad to buy me necessities… new computer, microwave, TV, fridge, etc. I looked around my new space and breathed a sigh of relief. No more parents looking over my shoulder. No curfew. I can make my own decisions. My biggest decision was to start over with good study habits. No way I’ll get into med school without them. If I had only known….

I hadn’t been moved in more than a couple of hours when someone knocked on my door and invited me to my first frat party. It was radical. I later pledged and was accepted. After I moved into the frat house, it was hard to keep up with the partying. It got harder and harder to get to class. I turned into a real bag monster and slept the day away. One of my frat brothers told me about energy drinks. I could party half the night then slam down a couple of energy drinks. It took more and more of them to keep me going during the day. I found myself using the pain pills or alcohol to level out and go to sleep after all the energy drinks during the day.

When I couldn’t get any more scripts from our family doctor, I went to the infirmary on campus. I knew what to say and how to act to get a new script. That worked for a couple of times, but they cut me off too. I holed up for a few days and told my frat brothers I had the flu. It was worse than the flu. I hurt all over. After a hundred trips to the bathroom, sweating for hours and generally feeling as if I had been run over by a semi, I crawled out of my room and someone found me a bottle. The first drink didn’t stay down, but I remember the warm relief of whiskey flowing through my body after the second. I love that feeling.

A few weeks later, I hooked up with some athletes who had scripts from injuries they were willing to sell. Costs more, but with the right connections, I got by. I barely squeaked by that first year and ended up on academic probation. My parents started riding me about the frat, money and grades. I convinced them to let me go to summer school to bring my grades up. A few no-brains-needed classes got me off probation.

Then I discovered Ritalin.

My second year I had a roommate who had ADHD. He gave me a Ritalin so I could focus on a major exam. I was brilliant. After a while, he cut me off. I researched ADHD and tried to get a script from the infirmary. That was a bust. Spring Break and a road trip to Mexico provided me with a three month supply. No one even asked me for a script. Sold some… used some… went back in May. I was able to get my pain pills, too.

I sometimes crushed the Ritalin and snorted it. What a rush! This all led to a cycle getting up with pills and energy drinks and using pain meds and alcohol to come down. My academic career ended with three cases of the clap, two wrecks, one minor in possession and a GPA that barely got me a degree. Most of my friends didn’t want to be around me much unless we were partying. I ran through girlfriends like socks. Finally, I met the love of my life. She’s the best thing that happened to me in college. I hope it works out. I want to marry her.

Marty Marsh Jacobs, TAMU-Commerce Counseling Center, is a Licensed Professional Counselor
with more than 20 years experience working in chemical dependency treatment programs, both residential and outpatient.