To play football or not to play football that is the question. When I first had the chance to play football, I did not really want to. This all changed when I saw that almost every single one of my friends in the fifth grade were going out to play tackle football. I did not want to be the only kid left sitting around on Thursday nights with nothing to do, but kick myself for not joining in the fun that all my friends were having. Everyone around me said I had to play, everyone was and if I do not people will think I am a baby or a loser. I definitely did not want to be thought of as the class baby. So I toughened up and went to the meeting to get my pads and sign up for fifth grade tackle football.
Deciding to play football purely because my friends did was an instant when peer pressure pushed me to do something good and beneficial. I never regret the decision, because football has become a part of my life, and I have actually turned out to be a fairly good football player. Without my friend’s pressure to join the football team I may have never gotten to experience all the great times over the seven years I have been apart of my school’s football program. Football gave me a reason to better myself physically. I realized that after playing football in fifth grade that I was not doing enough to be physically fit. I was, at that age, a short, fat kid who got tired from going up a flight of stairs. I wanted to change this and be the player on the field who the other team watched out for.
There was also the pressure in football to better myself if I wanted to play and do well. The pressure to not fail my teammates by being to slow or tiring to quickly. I wanted to be seen as one of the team leaders. This pressure to improve continued all the way through my football career into varsity football. I am thankful now that my friends and coaches pushed me, even though at times it seemed like they were only out to humiliate me by pushing me past the point of what I thought I was capable of doing and many times failing in that attempt. Through their pressure I became an All-Conference lineman, and captain of our football team, which made it all the way to the section finals and won a conference championship. Peer pressure pushed me to better myself and was a very positive influence in my life. Without that peer pressure I would probably never gotten off my butt and bettered myself physically.