When I first entered high school, I was not as confident about myself as I am today. During high school years, there have always been a lot of pressures to do things that one may not want to do. In the beginning, I really wanted to be accepted by my friends and therefore was much more susceptible to pressure by them. Gradually, I started to learn to overcome these pressures and that required a lot of self discipline. .
One situation that stood out in which I constantly felt pressured to do started during my freshman year when my friends began smoking. I felt left out because all of them would go somewhere after school and smoke as I stayed home doing homework or playing video games. On several occasions, I tried to convince my friends to quit smoking because of the health hazards that might cause them. They did not listen and told me they would not be addicted and that smoking made them feel good. .
One day my friends and I went to watch a movie together. After the movie, my friends began smoking. Again, I felt left out. My friends looked at me like I came from another world. Some of them tried to persuade me to smoke. They told me to just give it a try so I would know what it felt like. Some ridiculed me for not even trying. I felt pressured and wanted to be accepted by my friends so when one of them handed me a cigarette, I finally took it, but after some hesitation, I decided to put the cigarette in my pocket.
My friends started laughing and urged me to light the cigarette. I told them I did not want to. They kept on persuading me. I felt a tremendous pressure to go along. At one point I thought to myself perhaps it would not hurt much because I hated cigarettes anyway, so I should not get addicted after one try. I was about to give in when I began to ask myself: "Why would I do this?" I thought to myself: "Yes, I hate cigarettes and do not think I will get addicted for one try, but there is no reason for me to do something I do not want to just because someone else wants me to, especially when I myself, on several occasions, had tried to convince my friends to give up smoking.