The Indianapolis Star ran an article Nov. 8 citing facts and figures that probably shocked a lot of parents and teachers: Forty-four percent of Indiana college students binge drink, defined as having five or more drinks for men and four or more for women in one outing. To me, the number of drinks seems a little low. If you ask the average college student if this is a limit they meet or exceed at least once a week, the answer for the most part would be, "Yes." For many students, the answer would be laughter, then, "Dude!"

While this may surprise our parents, the greatest surprise for students is that it's a surprise for our parents. Thanks to the Internet and television, our parents have had a front-row seat for their children's development in an information-overloaded society. Our school years put unprecedented pressure on us to succeed academically; an emphasis on the importance of personal achievement starts as early as middle school.

We are a generation groomed to strive for more, more, more from the time we were old enough to understand that winning is not only important, but the most important thing you can do. I was being prepared for college by the seventh grade. My teachers started talking about college in the fourth grade, and telling us that the rest of our education would be spent preparing to go there.

And while we were growing up and preparing for college and adulthood, television became more party- and sex-centric. Although it pains me to be another voice blaming MTV for the degradation of society, its power over our youth culture is undeniable. In fact, MTV is where I first saw a young person drunk -- actually seven young people on "The Real World." It became obvious that my late teens and early 20s were supposed to be riotous party years. MTV sold me the idea that alcohol makes you more fun, a better dancer, and much sexier.

My generation grew up at the height of burgeoning globalism, where we are no longer fighting for jobs with equally overqualified, hard-working American students, but with overqualified students from all over the world. There has never been more pressure to be the best, to know the most, be the most creative, and to make the most money. Now no part of our lives is free of competition. Why is anyone surprised that we became binge drinkers? For the overachieving types, the inclination to binge drink has less to do with stress and is more of an extension of their "make sure" personality: make sure you get an A, make sure you've studied enough, and make sure you are really drunk. Why? Because some students just can't afford to waste time being boringly buzzed.

However, please don't sell our generation short by thinking us a band of raging, alcohol-fueled sex machines. Many of us are the most responsible, hard-working young people you know. I have yet to be fired from a job and my academic scholarships to Butler speak for my talents. The names of the universities attended by my favorite binge drinkers speak for theirs: Rhodes, Emory, Washington University, St. Louis University, Vanderbilt, and Miami of Ohio.

Not only are we keeping our heads above water, half of us are on the Dean's List, and the other half, like me, maintain good enough grades to keep their scholarships, to be respected by their professors and remain gainfully employed.

So before parents and teachers and bosses wag their fingers at us, it might be useful to think about what it would feel like if eight-plus years of their lives had been spent preparing and striving to be the best student at the best college to get the best job to have the best at everything and, oh yes, have the most fun you possibly can because these are the best years of your life.