Mischa Barton: DUI Was My 'Low Point'

07/17/2008 at 02:50 PM EDT

Mischa Barton says she thought getting arrested for drunken driving was something that happened to another type of Hollywood celebrity, not her.

"That was a low point for me. I never, ever would have thought I would be arrested," she says in the August issue of Nylon of the December incident. "I was disappointed because it associated me with a group of girls that I would rather not be associated with."

Now living in Paris, the former O.C. star pleaded no contest to drunken driving in April and was sentenced to three years probation.

Still, the repentant 22-year-old doesn't plan on taking up the quiet, studious life of others her own age.

"I would want to go to college for the learning, but there's so much else that comes with that that I don't think I need anymore," she says. "I've been making my own money and living as an adult for far too long."
– Michael Y. Park