Her daughter died of alcohol poisoning in 2006.

'Tis the season to eat, drink and be merry. But Christmas carols and gingerbread lattes can't bring back the joy for one mother. They are simply a reminder of another holiday without her daughter. The last time Kristie Hickman hugged and kissed her daughter, Victoria, was November 26, 2006. The following day, Victoria, a freshman at York College in Pennsylvania, was found dead in her friend's dorm room -- the 18-year-old died from alcohol poisoning. "It's the most heart-wrenching thing [to lose a child] and you never recover from it," says Hickman.

Momlogic recently followed a group of freshman girls through their regular routine of weekend partying.  They revealed their extreme drinking rituals in our documentary series,  "Wasted Youth." From keg stands to random hookups, these teens took drunkenness and dangerous behavior to a nearly lethal level.

For Hickman, our documentary hit a little too close to home. "When you send your kid off to a college, you don't even know where your child is. There's no accountability. It's like you're paying for a party room and that's it," says Hickman after watching our group of freshman down countless shots of vodka. Hickman doesn't understand why these girls felt the need to drink before they even left their dorm room since they got free drinks at fraternity parties all night long. "The pre-partying makes no sense," says Hickman. "They're getting loaded just to get loaded. It's like they have no mind!"

She was again reminded of Victoria when one of the girls we filmed went missing during the night. "When I was younger, you always stayed together and made sure your friends got home safe," says Hickman. If someone had noticed that Victoria never came back to her dorm after partying, perhaps she'd still be alive today. "No one checked on her or said she was missing," says Hickman. "There was no concern."

While partying with friends, Victoria consumed around 10 shots of vodka in a very short time span. "She fell asleep and the alcohol continued to circulate through her body," says Hickman. "Her organs shut down." Hickman believes that had Victoria's friends been aware of the dangers of binge drinking, her daughter's life might have been saved. "The kids that were with my daughter never knew she wouldn't wake up. They just put her to bed and thought she could sleep it off," says Hickman. It's a common misconception among college students that partiers who pass out from drinking will later awake with a hangover. Tragically, that's not always the case.

Hickman regrets she had a hard time discussing the deadly effects of excessive drinking with Victoria. "My father was an alcoholic, so I knew the dangers of that side of it," Hickman explains. "But I never wanted to bring that ugliness to my children." As a teen, Hickman steered clear of alcohol. She didn't want to get wasted after witnessing her father's abusive behavior. "Maybe I should've talked more about it with my daughter," Hickman admits. "She knew a little bit."

Today, Hickman hopes to teach teens about the consequences of binge drinking. She encourages parents to address the hazards of alcohol poisoning long before their child goes off to college. "Parents don't realize how easily accessible alcohol is on a college campus," says Hickman. "We're not naive parents. We know there's drinking, but we don't know how much."

Since Victoria's death, Hickman struggles to get through each day. "Everything is mixed with joy and sorrow," she says. "I still have a son, so I have to find joy with him." But she aches for mother-daughter moments she'll never experience, like choosing wedding gowns and baby names. "I'm never going to watch my husband walk Victoria down the aisle at her wedding," she says. "I'm never going to watch my daughter have a daughter of her own." As Hickman prepares to face the holidays without Victoria, she turns to spirituality for strength. "I have a strong faith," says Hickman. "It's been shaken a bit, but it's there."