On Thursday, Oct. 18, SCOPE, Hermandad de Sigma Iota Alpha Inc., Lambda Psi Delta Sorority, Omega Phi Beta and Active Minds came together to spread awareness of the consequences of alcohol use to the students of UNH.

Guest lecturer Anna David, an alcohol and substance abuse speaker, spoke at Dodds Theater, sharing her first-hand experiences with alcohol and drug addiction.

Throughout her presentation, David was amiable, interacting with her audience. She was honest with her audience, sugar coating nothing. David struggled with alcoholism, which eventually led to a serious addiction to cocaine.

“No one changes until they’re in a situation where it’d be more painful to stay the same way than to change,” David said. “No one is ever too young to change.”

David encourages those who are struggling with addiction to talk about it—to their friends, to their parents, to a counselor, to anyone. “There’s no shame in admitting you have an addiction, because you’re one step closer to changing for the better.”

“Alcohol awareness week is important because alcohol and addiction are prevalent in college life, and isn’t something that can be avoided,” Rachel Boulerice, President of SCOPE, said. “Students should learn how easy it is to become addicted, and the different routes to recovery there are.”