Hello, my name is Gabe. I’m a pop addict.

I had my first drink when I was in fourth grade at one of my sister’s basketball games. It was my mother’s Diet Pepsi. By ninth grade I was having at least two or three cans a day. I then started earning my own money and could buy for myself. So it grew to about two 20-ounce bottles a day. By the time I was a senior in high school I was having over two liters a day.

I never really recognized it as a problem until I tried to stop drinking pop because I wanted to become more fit. It was harder than I thought it was going to be. I didn’t know if I was addicted to the caffeine, sugar or the drink itself, but when I tried to quit drinking, all I could think about was pop.

I was pop-free for about two months. But I started again once I entered college at AIB: College of Business. I was drinking so much that you never saw me without a pop in my possession.

I still drink to this day. It’s a serious problem that I tried to quit numerous times, and I still want to. But it never seems to be the right time.

I am currently on my fourth bottle of Mountain Dew today, and it is around 1:00 a.m.

I think this is a problem a lot of college students have. It is one of the unhealthiest habits. The amount of sugar in pop is unreal, but the chemicals are the worst part, just eating your body away.

Although pop has been around for a long time, recently people have been drinking it more and more. In the past they drank it sparingly because it was expensive and stores didn’t carry much of it. Whereas water and alcohol can be made by almost anyone, pop was only made by mass production.

Now that we have a more efficient way of transporting pop it is consumed at a high rate.

We don’t really know what effects that pop will have on us long-term. There have been studies and speculation, but there is no definite answer. I am a little scared to see what pop will do to my body when I am older. I already see some effects that it has had on my health, including: chronic fatigue, weight gain, chest pain and withdrawal headaches.

If you have this problem I urge you to keep trying to quit. Here are some ways you will help you quit:

1. Every time you want a pop, choose a glass of water instead. If you still want the pop afterword, then you can have it.

2. Buy caffeine free pop.

3. Stay away from pop triggers (e.g. fast food restaurants, gas stations, etc.).

4. Read horror stories from people that involved drinking pop. (Look up “rat dissolved in Mountain Dew can,” and watch the video.)

Now, for all the non-pop addicts, please be accepting to our problem. For the most part, we recognize our problem, but there is little we can do about it. So I ask you to be supportive of us when we decided to try to quit, but understand if we fall back into our old ways.

To all of my fellow pop addicts: I understand your struggles, and I just wanted to let you know that you are not alone.