Journal #36

Being yourself, I think, is crucial as you grow up. When you are living in a society that is only trying to conform you, simply being yourself is a great accomplishment in itself. Everyone wants to feel accepted. It comes to us naturally. This can cause people to change their morals and values just to simply fit in. I feel like this is very dominant in high school. If you look at the kind of person you were in middle school and the friends you were with, you have most likely changed quite a bit since then. Once you get to high school, I feel like your morals and values are definitely put to the test. You so badly want to be accepted by your new peers in high school, but you have to decide if you are willing to give up what makes you, you. Being a Christian, I found the adjustment from middle school to high school quite drastic. It was so different. I went from a tiny sheltered private Christian school to a public high school. This really tested my faith and I think made me stronger as a Christian. It is so important not to give in to peer pressure and maintain your morals when you are in a new environment. Simply be yourself. Do not let others decide who you are and make choices for you. God has made each and every one of us perfectly unique and special in our way. Conforming to be like someone else is like saying that God made a mistake. I personally find the type of girls who all act, talk, and look the same to be so annoying. They rely so much on the approval of each other that you do not even know what they are really like. So be yourself. Do not change for someone's opinion who does not even matter. An original is worth so much more than a copy.