Personal Narrative: Learning From My Mistakes

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There is a point in everyone’s life when they step back and realize “I can’t do this anymore, it’s ruining my life”. Many of my friends have started smoking cigarettes while drinking at a very young age, and continue to use this drug currently and don’t realize the affect it has on their future. While I have been smart enough to avoid smoking, I haven’t been as wise at making decisions when it comes to drinking. The amount of partying I’ve done in college has taken over my life, and has had a huge impact on my grades. Changing my drinking habits and continuing to avoid cigarettes will enable me to be the best I can be for the rest of my college experience. Eighth grade was the first time I saw my friends smoke at a party, and at first I couldn’t believe they were already addicted to cigarettes at such a young age. After being offered a few cigarettes and turning them down, I started to build up a curiosity about why cigarettes were so enjoyable to people. Eventually I confronted a friend, and she said she wasn’t exactly sure as to why she liked them but she assured me that she only did it when she was drinking. I figured I would try it thinking it must be something incredible. Turns out, it’s not great at all. I started coughing and it didn’t even taste good. While it caused me to have a ten-minute buzz afterwards, it seemed pointless to every smoke again. Another reason was that I was afraid of becoming addicted, and why would I ever want to pay that much money for something that would eventually kill me? It’s still hard for me to understand why anyone enjoys smoking, but after taking this course I can at least understand what initiates the addiction Most of the people I knew that smoked had begun their addiction by only smokin... ... middle of paper ... ...ult to raise my grades with a bad start to the semester. However, I’m glad that I realized it early enough that I can still make the best of my college experience. Drinking less will enable me to join clubs, make better friends (that don’t party so much), and leave more time for studying. Finally I can accomplish the goals I originally had for college, making the experience an overall better one. While I can’t change the decisions I’ve made in the past, I can certainly learn from my mistakes for a better future. I’m rearranging my priorities so that alcohol will no longer be included in them, and I will make sure that cigarettes continue to stay out of my life. My experiences at college along with the knowledge I’ve learned from this class have made me realize what’s most important to me and to always keep one thing in mind: focus on the good, eliminate the bad.

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