A GW sophomore said he fondly remembers “smoking up” with his friends in his Thurston Hall bathroom last year.

The sophomore, who asked to remain anonymous, said his social circle was small in high school, and when he came to college he discovered a whole new life. He smoked marijuana before he came to GW, but his use increased dramatically at Thurston Hall, he said.

The experience served as a way for him to bond with other men, which he said was a novelty because he “didn’t really have guy friends in high school.” But the appeal soon wore off, he said.

In the spring of last year, the University evicted the sophomore for use and possession of an illegal substance within a residence hall. Now, he rarely, if ever, smokes marijuana. He also volunteers for the Student Peer Initiative Resource Intervention Team, a group dedicated to educating GW students about drug and alcohol use.

He said, at the height of his use, he smoked marijuana as often as four to five times a day. In retrospect, he knew he was bound to get caught, he said.

“Our room became notorious,” he said.

University Police officers and two community facilitators knocked on his door March 6 of last year. Earlier he and his roommate smoked marijuana, and the smoke must have escaped under the door, he said.

“The hallway reeked,” the sophomore said.

The sophomore was alone in the room and answered the door promptly, he said.

“I knew what was going on,” the sophomore said. “At that point it would’ve been stupid to deny it.”

In the meantime, his roommate saw UPD drive up to Thurston Hall while he was smoking a cigarette outside. The sophomore said his roommate returned to the room and admitted he too had smoked pot.

When UPD asked to search the room, both men turned over marijuana, bongs and other paraphernalia they had stashed in the room, the sophomore said.

After getting caught that night, he attended a concert, the Sno-Core Tour at American University.

“As I got more and more sober, I enjoyed the concert less and less,” he said.

When the night was over, the sophomore had to decide how to tell his parents he might get evicted from his residence hall.

“It was the worst thing I had to do,” he said.

His parents confronted him about his marijuana use during Christmas break, he said. He said his parents were most disappointed to hear about the eviction, and his dad blamed the roommate, which made the sophomore defensive.

“(My roommate) didn’t stick the bong in my face and force me to smoke,” the sophomore said.

After spring break, he and his roommate received letters from Student Judicial Services about their hearing. They decided to plead guilty, hoping to get a more lenient punishment, he said.

The sophomore said after the hearing his roommate headed to class, while he proceeded to Mailboxes, Etc. to buy boxes and start packing. He already knew his fate. Soon, he received official notification of his eviction from Student Judicial Services.

He spent his last night in Thurston Hall reminiscing with his friends over a couple of beers, he said.

“It was the end of an era for our social circle,” the sophomore said.

On April 1, he bid farewell to Thurston Hall.

“I boarded at the Sigma Nu house, which was a God-awful experience,” said the sophomore, who was never a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity. “That was worse than getting kicked out of the dorm.”

In addition to eviction the sophomore had to pay a $100 fine and attend four “Educated Choices” sessions. As a result of the eviction, he also agreed to refrain from entering a GW residence hall for at least one year. In April, he can appeal for permission to enter his friend’s residence hall.

He said this agreement caused particular problems because Student Judicial Services is located in Fulbright Hall, and he can not visit the office to discuss his case.

When he was home this summer, his parents sent him to another counseling program. GW administrators asked his counselors to send a letter about his improvement.

The sophomore took a drug-assessment test, which showed he needed further education, he said. He took a 10-hour class that included a stay at a hospital emergency room.

The class required students to use a wheelchair to see what might happen if they were in a serious accident and to observe doctors caring for intoxicated or high patients. He said most of the other students were about 14 or 15 years old.

The sophomore said the experience at the hospital was “utterly humiliating.”

This year, the sophomore lives alone in the off-campus apartment building the Gibson.

“It kills my social life,” he said. “I’m missing out on a part of college life.”

The sophomore said GW students use drugs more frequently than anybody thinks they do.

“I don’t know many people at GW who refrain from using drugs,” he said.

He has only smoked marijuana a few times since he returned from summer vacation, he said. He chose to volunteer for the Student Peer Initiative Resource Intervention Team because he said he can offer students first-hand information about drug use.

“My story is not going to stop anyone,” he said. “Students should just know the risks. If you get busted, know it was your choice.”

The sophomore said getting evicted and attending the educational classes were beneficial learning experiences. He said he can only imagine how serious his problem might have become had he not gotten caught. The sophomore said he might have gotten behind the wheel of a car or turned to harder drugs.

“If it hadn’t happened, my life would be very different now,” he said. “It could’ve have been much worse, much worse.”