Hello my name is Carlotta and I want to share my story on when I started drinking alcohol. I started when I was 14 years old and it was when I invited some friends over. Those friends brought alcohol with them and they offered me some. At first I didn’t want to but I felt like it was peer pressure. Once I had my first drink I kinda liked it and I kept drinking more that day. I liked the feeling of it and I felt good. I started drinking every weekend socially and I would get invited to go to parties and drink. 

I soon went through a really difficult time in my life. I lost my mother and it was the hardest time of my life. I started using alcohol to cope with the pain. I lived this lifestyle and abused alcohol up to the age of 20. I got blessed with a child and it changed my life completely. My daughter is my main priority and my happiness. Do I still drink? I drink occasionally and I don’t drink as much as I used to. I want to say it was probably a phase being a teenager that I wanted to drink a lot. I’m in a better place now in my life because of my daughter. I would tell little Carlotta to be aware of her surroundings and to do it with people that she can trust. When I wake up I try to make the best of it each day and live happily.