Narrative Essay On Integrity In College

High school is a period of wonder, excitement, and mystery, where a teen’s first taste of freedom guides them on their journey. On the contrary, it is a time of social pressure and anxiety, where fitting in with “the crowd” is what looms on every young boy’s mind. This was me as a sophomore, trying to fit into the archetype of the athlete; the student who could clock a 6 minute mile or just hit a jump shot. I would mirror their actions, trying to force myself to copy certain qualities, like music and things that they enjoyed. But alas, my 5’8 height, 130lb body weight, and scrawny body frame questioned my ability to perform like a top athlete. Even so, I conformed myself to the social norm of what I thought was cool, allowing peer pressure to get the best of me.
With this mindset, I focused my attention on making the basketball team my junior year. Every day, after marching band rehearsal, I would practice dribbling in my garage, rap or rock blaring through the speakers that had I set up. The weights that used to gather dust, rusting away in the corner, gained a new purpose as I performed a wide arrangement of exercises, ranging from curls to squats. The heated air, accompanied by the occasional breeze, and the concrete pavement was my
I realized that I should stop trying to be someone else, becoming apathetic to the athletic social norm that I thought was the only way to live just a year ago. Instead of being confined to conforming to what others did, I started to live life how I felt would be best for me. Engaging myself into new hobbies that I wouldn’t have before, I began to base my decisions on how I felt about it, cutting out how other people would do it. I learned that being yourself and having your own personality is a greater asset than trying to conform to the social norm. That in order to “fit in”, it’s much better to be who you