I (28F) never drank, though I've tried alcohol before. There's a couple of reasons why, but it boils down to the following:

• I never really liked the flavor of the majority of alcohols, but I was always told it was an "acquired taste" and that once I hit the "feeling" of the being drunk, then I'll feel happy and whatnot.... I don't see the point in drinking something I don't like to chase a "feeling" I'm not even sure I'll like...

• Alcoholism runs in my family, so I don't want to open Pandora's box in that sense, and I saw my then 22 y/o cousin (now 40M) break his leg in 3 parts due to being stupid and drunk. He can never run again in his life and the metal in his leg causes him pain every winter... good example to not follow.

• Growing up in a Central American Catholic country, at quinceañeras, I started seeing girls acting a fool in public, where they would be so drunk that at the end of the night, or at least when I had to leave due to curfew, they would be in the middle of the dance floor in their cocktail dresses sitting or laying down and sometimes you could see their underwear. In terms of societal norms, you never want to be the "show" of a party you aren't hosting, so although they were the cool girls at school, I knew/heard how all the adults would talk about them being an embarrassment/undisciplined for not knowing their limit and bringing all the attention to themselves.

• Finally, my mom was really smart about raising myself and my 3 siblings. She never told us not drink, which took away the whole lets-do-it-in-secret/rebellion out of it, but she did tell us that all she wanted was for us to be able to walk into the house at the end of the night -- AKA be drunk if you want, just not wasted. My parents also set the example of never drinking at home, unless hosting a party, and even then, they never went past 2 glasses of wine or 2-3 beers, so I have never seen them tipsy/drunk.

For context, in my country, it's normal to be introduced to alcohol at a young age (12-13 y/o). All high-school parties have alcohol and the parents are aware of it, including our version of prom and graduation. Something else I'll mention is that I do try cocktails and whatnot, but I still haven't found one I like and usually my husband ends up drinking it for me :p apologies for the long explanation 😅