State of My Convincing Paper

When I first began to look into college binge drinking as an identity-based phenomenon, it was in fact nothing more than an inquiry (pun intended) into a particular set of thoughts. I approached my inquiry neutral yet intrigued by the possibilities my topic held. After my inquiry and the pages upon pages of associated research, however, I began to actually believe that the prevalence of college binge drinking may actually be due in part to the place that binge drinking holds in the college identity. Carrying this belief into my convincing paper, however, has proven to be a double edged sword. On the one hand, trying to convince someone about something you truly believe in comes far more easily than convincing the reader to agree with you despite your ambivalence. On the other hand, I now have a vested interest in this paper, which clouds the lens through which I read my research. If you had asked me 6 months ago whether I thought lowering the drinking age would reduce teen binge drinking, I would have instantly replied “oh hell yes.” Now I can honestly say that I don’t think that a lowered drinking age would significantly reduce binge drinking. The now personal nature of my topic is beneficial in that it provides me with a certain energy with which I can approach my topic, but also makes it more difficult to carefully consider counter arguments. I often have found myself reading such arguments multiple times to try to successfully read them objectively, so that I can refute them with the greatest effectiveness. All in all, however, I’ll gladly trade the energy I gain for this paper from believing in my topic for a couple extra read throughs of counterarguments.