During my second year at Ohio State I got involved with volunteering as a BASICS Facilitator at the Student Wellness Center. BASICS stands for Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students and it is a program for Ohio State students who want to explore their alcohol use, but a program geared towards educating them on the harmful consequences of heavy drinking. BASICS focuses on risk reduction and prevention methods for alcohol related problems. It is composed of two one-on-one, 1 hour sessions usually over the course of two weeks. This program is not abstinence based and everything is completely confidential. Most of the students that are sent to BASICS had an offense in the dorms or have to fulfill a court order. We do however, see some self-referrals. I do sessions every Monday and Wednesday from 12-1. I have 21 hours actually in session, 6 hours of monthly meetings, 8 hours of shadowing sessions, and 10 hours of preparing and studying for the actual sessions. I have done 44 hours total of service this year in the Wellness Center. I plan to continue with BASICS. I really love this program because I meet people from all different walks of life. I am also very passionate about providing education about alcohol. Alcohol is so prevalent in our society, especially on a college campus and it is extremely underestimated.
