PEER PRESSURE QUESTIONS 2

Peer Pressure Questions

Describe an instance in which you conformed to social norms or peer pressure and did
something that you later regretted.
Something that I did as a result of peer pressure that I regret to this day happened
when I was 16. I have always been a person who enjoys the company of friends. So, when
my parents moved to a new neighborhood when I was 16, I quickly began looking for friends
around. The task was not difficult because the place had many young people of my age who
could potentially be my friends. It did not take me long before I developed strong friendship
with a seventeen-year-old who lived just a few blocks from our house. He was very helpful to
me in the first few days of my stay in my new neighborhood. He showed me around and
introduced me to many of his own friends. Within a short time, I had become part of his
closely knit circle of friends.
Granted, we played some games together. However, the two main activities that
seemed to bring the group together was movie watching and drinking of alcohol. While I was
a big fan of movies, I was a teetotaler. I had an uncle whose career and family had been
destroyed by alcoholism. Thus, from a young age, my parents had made me aware of the
dangers of alcoholism. My aversion to taking alcohol, therefore, meant that I could only take
part in one activity that brought us together- watching movies. This was, however, just
temporary. My friends constantly teased me about my “weakness”. To them, not taking
alcohol was considered a weakness.
No longer able to withstand the taunts, I too began taking alcohol. I just could not
stand the teasing any more. At first, I was a light drinker. I also took a lot of care to ensure
that my parents did not find out that I was drinking. Soon, however, I began to drink as
heavily as my friends. In particular, I remember actively partaking in binge drinking

PEER PRESSURE QUESTIONS 3

competitions that we often organized on weekly basis. Within months of starting to drink
alcohol, I was “winning” in these competitions. My prestige within the group rose
dramatically and I enjoyed it. Unfortunately, while the heavy drinking increased my
popularity among my friends, it destroyed my relationship with my parents. I started having
regular arguments with them and sometimes the arguments could turn physical.
I did not know just how alcoholic I had become until one day I engaged in binge
drinking that almost left me dead. In one of the parties that we held, we engaged in
competition of who would drink the most alcohol in ten minutes. I did not know what
happened minutes after the competition began because I regained consciousness on hospital
bed the following day. Apparently, I had collapsed and lost consciousness after taking huge
amounts of alcohol within minutes of the competition’s start. I had then been rushed to
hospital.
Seeing my parents tearful at my bedside was a game changer for me. Having come so
close to death, I made the decision to quit drinking. The decision was a difficult one as I had
to stop hanging out with my former friends. The decision, however, turned out to be the best
decision I have ever made in my life because the alcoholism could have destroyed my life.
On the other hand, I consider my starting to drink alcohol as the decision that I regret the
most.
How do you know who you are? In what fundamental ways, if any, are you a different
person now than you were 14 years ago? What accounts for the changes?
I know who I am through my values, interests, temperament, and strengths. Regarding
my values, I value honesty, loyalty, respect for others, hard work, responsibility, and
kindness. As for my interests, I am an avid fan of basketball and athletics. I also love reading
literature works. Regarding my temperament, I would describe myself as having an

PEER PRESSURE QUESTIONS 4

extroverted temperament. Even though I have no problem being alone, I am at my best when
in a group of people, especially friends. I am also more of the spontaneous type rather than a
planner. As for my strengths, I would rate my athletic ability as my greatest strengths. I also a
skilled musician with ability to play guitar and piano.
The sum total of these strengths, interests, values, and temperament make me who I
am. It is mainly through feedback from my close family members and relatives, friends,
teachers, and even people that are not familiar with me that I got to know who I am. For
instance, compliments that I received from family and friends made me aware of admirable
traits that I possessed. Apart from feedback, I also knew many aspects of myself through
comparison with my peers. For instance, I realized that I had athletic ability because I was
better than many of my peers.
This view of myself has definitely changed over the past 14 years. Looking back at
who I was fourteen years ago, I have changed in many significant ways. Fourteen years ago, I
was an insecure and impressionable young person. I often emulated others in the way that I
dressed, walked, and even talked. The people that I emulated ranged from my siblings,
cousins, class and school mates, to famous celebrities that I saw on television and read in
magazines. Any time I admired someone, I often felt the urge to emulate their mannerisms
and behaviors.
Apart from constantly emulating other people, I was also extremely concerned about
my appearance and how other people thought of me. I wanted to dress fashionably and be
popular among my peers. All that mattered to me was to feel valued, appreciated and admired
by my peers. I did not care what my parents or siblings said about me. I, therefore, did not
bother to do anything to win their approval. It seemed to me that the only way one could
measure the value of a given pursuit was how much it made one popular among their peers.

PEER PRESSURE QUESTIONS 5

Since then, however, I have undergone almost complete metamorphosis. I no longer
give much thought to what people think about me. I also do not attach a lot of importance to
the clothes that I wear. Sometimes I dress and walk around in clothes that I would never have
dressed fourteen years ago. In short, I have grown more confident about myself. The
difference between the current me and me at fourteen years, is that fourteen years ago I was a
teenage and now I am adult. The difference, therefore, is because of change in life stage. At
fourteen my behavior mirrored the stage that I was in- adolescence. I have since then
transitioned from that stage and I am now an adult. As such, my behaviors and self-
perception have changed accordingly.