Juniors and seniors attended a mandatory SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) assembly led by Terp CHOICES (Choosing Healthy Options in the College Environment Safely), an alcohol and other drug peer education group from the University of Maryland on Jan. 18.

High school guidance counselor Jill Nagiel brought Terp CHOICES to school.

Nagiel came in contact with the group while working on an alcohol education program at the University of Maryland this past summer.

The assembly was led by two University of Maryland students, seniors Sara Amin and Maureen O’Conner, who became involved in the program because of a desire to spread their knowledge about dangerous substances in college to others.

“By giving the presentation as students, rather than adults, we’re kind of on the same level. The age gap is a lot less and we feel that we can relate to the students better,” said Amin.

Nagiel agreed. “That’s one of the reasons we thought it would be good to bring students in to talk, in the hopes that they would be best able to connect with the other high school students,” she said.

While some students saw the importance of an assembly being led by college students, others felt it was insignificant.

“If it were a college student [presenting], you would want them to give their personal experiences. I don’t think it mattered if they were an adult or a college student if they were just giving facts,” said junior Aaron Shapiro.

The main goals of Terp CHOICES are to present information objectively, give facts and clear up misconceptions about drugs and alcohol.

“We want to give information to students of all ages about alcohol and other substances, as opposed to judging and lecturing,” Amin said.

The assembly contained an information session, an interactive demonstration with beer goggles and scenarios of potential situations with alcohol in which students may find themselves in the near future.

The information session consisted of facts and statistics and discussions on how to recognize if someone is intoxicated and how to help them.

Beer goggles, which simulate a .08 Blood Alcohol Content (BAC), the legal alcohol limit, were used in races between a junior and senior to demonstrate the feeling of being drunk.

In the races, students were required to walk on a straight white line without falling over, a standard procedure taken by those pulled over by the police for Driving Under the Influence (DUI).

“It made me think what it would be like to be drunk and if I was pulled over by the police,” junior Rachel Racoosin said.

Usually when speakers just speak with you things might stick in your mind but when you participate in an activity it really gets drilled into your mind,” Racoosin continued.

The assembly concluded with discussions about how to avoid alcohol at parties and a Jeopardy game quizzing the juniors and seniors in three categories: FYI, Drink Drank Drunk (alcohol facts) and Seize the Keys (drunk driving trivia).

The assembly may be presented again for freshman and sophomores, depending on student feedback.