Free (9)

We all have influences on how to lead our lives. Friends influence the way you dress, the way you talk. Family influences your mannerisms, your decisions. But does it really have to be that way? Do they even have a say in how I should live my life? I’ve been through the phases that everyone goes through. I let my mother feed me, change me and pick out my clothes for the day. I’ve let my friends talk me into doing something unethical for the sake of being accepted. For a while, I lived my life a certain way just so I would be accepted by everyone. I’ve had beliefs that I didn’t know how to fight for [perhaps because they were not my true beliefs to begin with]. I would say things only because I knew it would please others. And yes, I’ve even been in that stage where I claim to be an “individual” only because it was the cool thing to do at the time. Why do we feel the need to conform to what others want us to be? Why is it so wrong to truly be different?

This is a pledge to myself. An oath in which I promise to be precisely what I want to be and not what everyone else wants me to be. I want to make my own decisions and reach my own sense of happiness. I want to grow up and life the life that I know will make me happy, not the life that everyone expects me to live. “She’s gonna be a doctor, someday,” “She’s gonna have the perfect family.” What if I don’t want to have some high-paying career? What if I don’t even want to have a family? Is it so wrong to seek what I truly want? If I want to have blue hair, I’m gonna have blue hair. If I want to be a tattoo artist someday, then by god, I’m gonna be a tattoo artist. This is my philosophy, now, and I plan to live by it, whether others think it is wrong or not.

Argumentative Essay (8)

Drugs are thought to be immoral and have consequently been deemed illegal. Cocaine, LSD, crystal meth, marijuana and ecstasy are just the few drugs that have been banned in the past century. However, one drug remains an exception and is openly sold on America’s market. Alcohol has remained alive and well on the market, taking just as many lives as the illegal drugs.

Drugs have remained illegal for various reasons. They alter the mindset, speeding up or slowing down the brain depending on which drug has been consumed. Several die from excessive consumption. Many will risk their lives to obtain a small portion of their addiction. Addiction is the most difficult aspect of drugs to overcome, and it can happen even to those with the best intentions. The argument that drugs--specifically marijuana--should be legalized continues to surface in even the most heated debates of our society. America will often be compared to Amsterdam when attempting to support the legalization of marijuana and will retort with, “Amsterdam does fine with legal marijuana, why can’t we?” In reality, this is America. This is the country most infamous for gluttony and greed, a horrible combination when in possession of drugs. This is a country that cannot afford another addiction.

So many people forget that alcohol, too, is a drug, however, it is still legally available to the public. Alcohol poisons families whether it is a direct or indirect connection. Drunken fathers break their family bonds; partying students throw away their future; selfish drivers wreak havoc on the streets. Alcohol is no different from any other depressant drug, other than the fact that anyone can get their hands on it. Compare it to marijuana or pain killers and the physical affect is painfully similar. Alcohol is more harmful, if anything. On average per year, alcohol takes about 80,000 lives, while marijuana has never in US history been responsible for a death; and all illicit drugs combined kill under 20,000 people per year.

The country makes hundreds of advertisements a year promoting safe drinking, as if there is such a thing. America is proud to say that drugs are not tolerated among the streets, yet the most deadliest drug is sold in nearly every corner store.



1.) 7 Apr. 2008. http://www.a1b2c3.com/drugs/gen008.htm




Mr. Hughes,

this was the only site I used for reference, however, it gave me zero information on who created the page, the page's name, or when it was made. I put as much information as I could gather...which was unfortunately only 2 items. =/

sorry.