Castlebar - County Mayo

The summer before ninth grade I was so excited to go to high school. For my entire elementary and middle school years I had gone to school with the same people at Corpus Christi Catholic School. I was in need of a change and to get away from cliques. All I could think about was meeting new people. Everyone would tell and warn me about Palmer. “You’re going to Palmer? That’s such a scary place and you’re going to become a pothead.” I am not a pothead and Palmer is a good school. I did meet new people and made new friends, but high school is not all that it is cracked up to be. There are still many cliques and I am sure that I am in one. We all belong to a certain group. And we all dislike people in other groups. I have changed a lot from my Catholic school days, and I have learned more about me as an individual. Since I was a freshman I started to notice that students in high school still want to fit in so badly that they do things they wouldn’t normally do. I have seen people change overnight, and sometimes not for the best. It amazes me that we, as teenagers, are so consumed with what other people think. We have a constant mindset of trying to do things for approval. Sure, everyone wants to be accepted, but at what cost? Why do we need to do drink and do drugs to have fun? Maybe it is because these acts are illegal and we get some sort of sick high knowing that we could get caught, but didn’t. What is so great about drinking until you can’t walk straight, you throw up, and sometimes even urinate all over yourself? Although these things are entertaining for the sober spectators, but why partake in these activities to have a few hours of fun and then feel like hell the next morning? We complain about the legal drinking age in America, but we drink anyway. We justify our cause for drinking by saying, “Well I didn’t drive when I was drunk or I didn’t have sex with anyone.” The excuses we use to convince our parents, officers, and ourselves do not ignore the fact that these hobbies are illegal. I do not drink and I do not do drugs. I see no purpose for it. There are so many other things that I’d rather be doing then getting smashed or stoned. Every social thing in high school does not matter. You do not get accepted into college for being the hottest girl or guy. You get accepted because of who you are. Instead of wasting our lives with gossip and obsessing over us, get a life and get to know who you are. Who cares what other people think?