Twelve Wesleyan University students and friends were taken by ambulance to the hospital in critical condition this week because, according to this New York Times article, they took an illegal drug known as Molly, a club drug also known, in various forms, as MDMA or Ecstasy.
Now, research has shown that younger people take more risks and worry less about consequences than older people. No doubt these Wesleyan students and the friends at their parties last Saturday night thought they’d have a harmless night of fun with a feel-good mind-altering substance. But what happened to these young people serves as a serious cautionary tale.
You’re at Appalachian to get smarter and grow as a person socially, emotionally, intellectually, artistically, etc., etc., etc. And yes, I realize you can find a way to rationalize experimentation with drugs in that scheme. And no, I have not forgotten that many of you are also here for the access to sexually active single people and perhaps also a good parking spot. But please keep your higher purpose in view while you are living and working here on the Appalachian campus.
We need you in our classes, in our community, and in the world. And you should be functioning as your best self. Please take yourself as seriously as we take you. And remember, you are one of a small number of people in the world who has the privilege of higher education and the life it can open up for you. We want the experience at Appalachian to blow your mind, and believe the new ideas and connections you make will give you a seriously addicting high. Don’t blow that for one night of partying. The two highs, and the two lives you could have, really don’t compare.
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