30 things about myself

1.     Baseball

My life without baseball would be meaningless. I have gone to the baseball stadium often since I was in my mom’s womb. I spent 80% of my elementary and middle school life watching baseball. I have three baseballs with signatures of my favorite players on my dorm room desk and eight more of other players at my house. I actually like to watch any kinds of sports, including soccer, volleyball, ice skating, etc, but the reason why I like baseball the most is because baseball is not a game that everything is decided at once. There is a twist again and again throughout the whole game, and the game can be overturned after 2 outs in the 9th inning, while it is hard to reverse the game in the last minute of the soccer game. Also,  baseball game is a repetition of tightening and loosening, which means that a few climaxes of a game makes me even more nervous than the players on the field, while some parts is rather relaxing. 

2.    Diary
    I try to keep my diary every day. Because I think humans become the frankest when they are extremely sleepy or drunk, I keep my journal right before I go to bed. I am almost unconscious when writing it, so when I read yesterday’s diary the next day, I can see my honest thoughts – it’s so much fun. I have thought of the reason why I suddenly started to keep a diary. I am afraid of my happy moments to be forgotten in the future ㅡ not those grand moments that no one can forget, but those trivial moments that I feel a great pleasure and happiness such as times that I eat ramen at night with my roommates and talk about our first love or times that I did nothing with my friend sitting in an empty classroom but felt happy just because of the chips that we were eating. That’s why I consider diary a very important record of my life.

3.     San Francisco

I went to San Francisco every winter break since when I was 2^nd grade until 8^th grade. Since the winter break starts in Korea when the winter break ends in the US, I was able to attend private schools for 3 months each year. Going to the same school every year allowed me to see the same friend every time I go back. In the summer break, I went there for any kinds of summer camp that I could participate. I recently realized that I attended school for an entire year without any break.

↑me and my brother in the fourth grade

4.     FFT & Laos

Joining “For and From Them” is the best choice that I have made in my life. Any time I feel tough and difficult, I open up the photo album of our volunteer work. There is an emotional move after our activity that cannot be described into few sentences. Kids in Laos taught me more than I had taught them. Last year was especially special for me as a captain, because 9 alumni joined our volunteer work and our club was introduced in the newspaper and television news in Laos.

5.     Cheese

I love cheese. Cheese can make the best combination with any kinds of food in the world. I feel like even a towel dipped in cheese would taste awesome.

6.     Seafood

I cannot eat any kind of seafood. I can eat grilled fish and seaweed – these two kinds are all that I can eat among hundreds of sea creatures. When I was young, had a medical checkup and the doctor said I was exposed to mercury poisoning. That was because I ate grilled fish every meal. Since then, I had to eat only certain kinds of fish and no other seafood at all. Ten years of not eating them made my eating habits that way. The fishy smell of shrimp, crab, lobster, mussel, scallop, and any kind of sea creature makes me want to puke.

7.     Daegu

I was born and grown in Daegu for 16 years. Daegu is nice city to live in, except for the fact that the summer weather drives people crazy. I think the summer of KMLA is quite cool but the winter is intolerable. I saw more snow in my recent 3 years in KMLA than the snow that I've seen in my whole life. I do have a dialect, but I have put a lot of effort to get rid of it. There are several reasons for it, but the biggest one was that many of my friends asked me if I was angry even though I felt so jolly at that time. I wanted to change my tone of speaking.

8.     Singing

My mom used to be a classical singer. I was exposed to the musical environment since I was young. I won the first place in a nationwide singing contest when I was six years old. Because of that prize, I had an opportunity to record my song and other prize winners songs in the CD. My mom said the reason why she made me quit singing in 5th grade was because she did not want me to major in singing. 
* I do have the mp3 of this recorded song, but I wouldn't link it LOL😁

9.     Ballad

My favorite genre of song is ballad. I am not a huge fan of rock, dance music, and hip hop. I thought of the reason few days ago with my roommate and came up with a conclusion: since I am always hyper, I tend to relax myself with calm ballads. Also, I am a very sympathetic person, so the lyrics of ballads stimulate my emotional sensitivity and make me somewhat melancholy.

10.  Spanish

I learned Spanish since I was in 2nd grade. I didn’t learn the language continuously but I was always somehow involved to this language; there is a Spanish cultural center in Daegu where we can take DELE, and I went to there to learn Spanish about ten times a year for five years. I also took Spanish whenever I went back to San Francisco. I am really stressed out because of my Spanish quizzes, but I am proud of myself of taking all possible Spanish courses in KMLA. I love my Spanish teacher also😍

11.  Ice Skating

I was a speed skater for 4-5 years. I had participated in several championships and got some medals. At the timepoint where I had to specify my event – speed skating or short track – I stopped skating. My mom and I thought it would better to concentrate on studying. Well, I think it was a bad choice to quit. Recalling myself back then, I was the happiest in the ice rink. 

12.  Girl Scouts

I have been a member of Girl Scouts since 2008. At first, I wanted to join just because I liked the green uniform. I still participate in Girl Scouts activities when there are training, seminar, or field activities. The most constant activity that I do is emceeing the International conventions and students’ competitions in English. I feel the most engaged and proud whenever any foreigners come ask me questions individually or thank me for emceeing in English.

13.  Color purple

I like purple. I don’t know why, but when I see something with this color, my heart starts to beat. Some people say purple lovers are likely to be psychopaths, but who cares? I am very excited because the Pantone has selected purple as the color of the year.

14.  Photographic memory

I have a photographic memory. When I study hard, I remember the exact page number and the location in that page of certain information. But the side effect is that if I don't study hard enough, I do remember the exact page and location, but I cannot recall the exact information. I think I remember the exact picture taken by my eyes in any situation.  Memorizing is the only thing that I am good at, and this benefited me in many parts of life. However, KMLA has taught me memorization is not everything and can be useless.

15.  Highlight

Highlight is the one-and-only idol group that I have liked ever in my life. Succeeding with the group name “Beast,” they had to change their name because of the conflict regarding the renewal of the contract with their agency. They have now established their own agency and enjoying the 2nd peak of their career. Their fan letters and concerts make me cry. I have to go to their concert this year because they will serve in military at the end of the year. I will be extremely lethargic by then.

16.  Mirror

I like to see myself in the mirror. It’s not that I am good looking, but looking at the mirror just heals my mind and calms me. Or maybe, this can be just a habit. I look at the reflection of myself on the windows of every car in the street. I do not make any compliment or complaints about my face – just curious about how I look every second. I once looked at the window of a car in front of my middle school, not knowing that there was a person in that car. I was doing my hair, wearing a sunscreen and smiling. Suddenly, a person in the car opened the window, and he was a teacher of my school. That remains as one of the most embarrassing experience of my life.

17.  Loud voice, talkative.

I am extremely loud. I asked three of my friends to tell me any word that closely relates to me, and they all said “you are loud”. Yes, I do have loud voice. But what makes me a real noise machine is that I incessantly talk when I am with somebody else, in a loud voice. I don’t like the awkward silence with no one talking. The loud voice would have been affected by my loud mommy.

18. My life
     At the moment when I die, I want to recall my life as

 "Wow I lived a fun, exciting life rather than a glorious, honorable one." In my life, I want to engage in any activities or opportunities that interest me. I do not wan't to hesistate or give up just because the new challenge gives me less money or  honor. 

19.  Musical instruments

I had tried to learn many musical instruments. I learned piano for one and half year, violin for 3 years, and flute for 2 years. The worst instrument for me was piano, because I couldn’t control my left hand and right hand together. I do not play any of those instruments anymore because they were more of a stress producer rather than a stress reliever.

20.  Diet

I was very chubby – not fat – when I was young. When I was in 6th grade, I suddenly, without any reason, became afraid of myself reaching 60 kilograms (I was 59 I guess). I quit chocolate, which was my favorite food, exercised hard, and ate the least food that can keep me alive. I lost 9 kilograms. Stepping on the scale everyday made me want to lose more, but that was my best – the number would not go down any further. I gained weight again in KMLA, so after graduation, I have be strict to myself with my food. After this experience, I could be stricter and harsh to myself compared to the past when I was totally generous.

21.  My brother

I have a close relationship with my younger brother. I remember myself scolding my brother why doesn’t he listen to me when he was only 1 year old. I even slapped a one year old boy! I feel really sorry recalling back then. I think my brother is really nice because he listens to my story very well and does any of my favor. He is going over puberty now. He started to ignore me and be mean to me. I know that I must understand him, but treat him even more meanly to his sensitivity. When I come back to school after a 3 day- fight with my brother every time I go home, I always feel guilty about how I could not understand him even he is behaving better than myself in adolescence few years ago. I regret my selfishness toward my brother and my misbehavior during my adolescence.

Howbeit, he is my excellent, adorable brother.

22.  World Map
     Since I was a little girl, I really like to look at the world map or the globe. My dad is really good at geography, so we always played a geography quiz game whenever he had time. This was how we played:
    One of us spun a globe, randomly pick a country, and give hints like what the capital is, other countries that share the border, and the largest cities. Then, we had to figure out what the country is. From one moment, we made a list of countries that appeared in our quiz, and decided to visit all the countries on the list. I have been to 12 of them, and there are about 100 more to go.

23.  Tall

I was always one of the tallest girls in every school that I attended. I think my height is inherited from my mother, who is as tall as me. My father is just a little above Korean average. I also slept early throughout my whole life before attending KMLA; I slept at 10:30 in middle school. My eating habit of consuming a lot of dairy products such as yogurt, milk, and cheese has also contributed to my height. When I was young, I always wanted to be over 170cm, but now I think being shorter is better. I don’t get the point of the advantage of girls being tall.

24.  Confident

I am a very confident person. I have really high self-respect, so even someone says bad things about me, I am not that hurt. I know that I am a better person than they think – why do I have to care?

25.  Dramas than movies

I prefer dramas to movies. Since movies have tacit time limits, I can see how the director of the movie tried to squeeze the whole long story into two-hours long film. I am not that creative person, so I cannot recognize or imagine any implied parts of the story. Dramas seem more realistic and is more than 20 series of them, each lasting only 1 hour. I cannot fully concentrate for two hours long film – my concentration period is way too short.

26.  Shy

Many people do not know that I am a very shy person. I can never speak to strangers and never talk in front of people who are not that familiar with. However, once I feel comfortable with them, I laugh, speak, and joke a lot. There are many of my friends who told me that I am very different from my first impression.

27.  Shopping

I love shopping. Department store is my favorite place to spend my leisure time. Even when I do not buy anything, I am always satisfied with eye-shopping. My family affected this the most. My mom and dad both love shopping, especially clothes, bags, and shoes. I like shopping other items also, such as stationery items, food, etc.  

28. Handwriting  
     I like to write stuff. I feel a huge delight when I see a paper full of my hand writing.  That's why I write off everything rather than type when I study for the test. I memorize when I copy my notes, and never see that note again.

29.  Shower

I take a shower pretty often. Whenever I have too many thoughts in my mind that I cannot control them anymore, I go take a shower. Any complicated thoughts or worries become organized.

30.  Chubby face

My face is always chubby. I want to remove all the fat in my cheeks. Even when I lose weight, my face remains chubby. That makes my head look bigger compared to my body. When I gain weight, my face gets even chubbier. This makes my overall body even fatter, from the top of the head, all the way to the end of my feet.

So stressful!

Beloved

“My wife Nicole, was a warmhearted friend of everyone here…”

My husband’s lips are smiling, but I see the tear clinging under his bright eyes, resisting from falling. I could feel how much time and emotion he put to write such a piece.

I want to wipe his eyes with the napkin that he gave me in our first wedding anniversary.

I want to whisper not to be so sad.

I want to give him the chocolate cake that I made whenever he felt depressed.

I want to….

Despite my bitter heart, HE CANNOT SEE ME in the first place.

It is one warm day in March, 2120. People dressed in purple come in to the park with flower bouquets in their hands. My favorite color was purple when I was alive – I felt my heart pounding when I saw anything that has purple – and I guess that is the reason why my husband set the dress code of my funeral as purple. I am a little angry that my husband didn’t put roses – my favorite flowers – next to my portrait. I take a closer look at the flower bouquets. I notice that they are all the same. I try to hear what people are saying. At that moment, my husband explains people the reason why the flowers named “Fairy Star” were required to be brought instead of roses.

“Roses represent ardent love. I am the only one who loved her ardently and I am the only one who can and did give her millions of roses throughout her entire life, and I still will, from now on, give her hundreds of roses every year until I die. You might wonder why I told you people to bring Fairy Star. This flower has the meaning of memories, eternal love, and permanent remembrance. I hope you to remember Nicole forever as the way she is currently in your heart. Her every words and actions shouldn’t change their form in your memories. …”

I see my friends from US and Korea, my companions of the broadcast station where I worked at, my son, my daughters, and my grandchildren. I want to make an eye-contact with every single person who came to see me, but I can’t. I just satisfy with the fact that I at least can see them before leaving. Among hundreds of people that I know, I noticed vie people that I have never seen before. I rubbed my eyes and looked at them again; I could not notice. I tried to go through my memory of 120 years; I could not remember. I went closer to hear their voices. I suddenly remembered that I have signed to the Organ Donation Agreement when I was a college student. I intuitively noticed that they were the ones who are living new lives with my donation. A girl with my heart, a boy with my kidney, a man with my eye, a woman with my skin, and an old woman with my body tissue. I felt proud that I gave people the new opportunity to live a new life, exultant to see them living healthily and happily, and graceful to my well health.

When looking at five people, the warm smile did not leave my face and felt like I am still not dead – just like living eternally.

“…Nicole did not live a fancy or showy life, but definitely was a person whom many people wanted to have a meal with. She was a good listener, good speaker, and a person with warm, sympathetic heart. She thought about others’ feelings more than about her own feelings. Many people were, are, and will be always around her. Nicole will be beloved by everyone here forever.”

five senses

I look up the sky. I see the clear sky, with a strain of white cloud that the airplane left behind. I smell the scent of lilac coming up from the ground. When I touch the grass, I feel the dew formed during the calm, lonely dawn. Sitting on the grass, I take a bite of an apple. The sweet-sour taste soaks my entire mouth. At that tranquil moment, I hear the bell stinging my ears – dragging me into the classroom. Yes, I am in the middle of KMLA.

Let’s imagine. What if I cannot enjoy the magic of nature that heals and cheers me up amid my bitter life? Quite imaginable, but fairly unbelievable.

What if I lose my sight? I will not be able to appreciate beautiful view of our school, looking down from the top floor of our dormitory building. Dense fog, thin mist, mushy clouds, solitary sunset, and everything that we can see from up there would be just part of my imagination. I would not, or could not go up to the rooftop once in a while to look at the Big Dipper, asking what kind of star of planet that is. I will not be able to look at the number of seconds passing by in the clock every class, hoping the numbers to change more quickly – the class will be longer. Most importantly, I won’t be able to see the delighted faces of my friends smiling at me, limpid eyes looking at me and their nodding head whenever I say something.

What if I cannot smell? I would not be able to enjoy the scent of my fragrant shampoo which makes me take a longer shower. I won’t be able to smell the flipping paper money and feel graceful after every New Year’s Day. My collection of perfumes in my room would be useless and look like a mildly colored liquid that the wicked wizards used to make poisonous syrup in the fairy tale. Whenever my boyfriend buys me a beautiful bouquet filled with the most aromatic flowers in the world, it would be exactly same as smelling a scentless dandelion.

What if I cannot feel? I won’t be able to know the value of fan in the middle of hot summer. My friend poking or tickling me that keeps me awake in class would be completely useless. Teachers will no longer stroke my head whenever I do something splendid. I will not be able to feel the warmth of my friend’s hand that holds me whenever I am depressed.

What if I lose my taste? I will not be able to appreciate the sweetness of chocolate pushed into my mouth in the middle of strenuous basketball game. A drop of honey will be useless on the sour grapefruit, and salt and pepper will no longer be useful on the bland soup. My mom will no longer make delicious pasta and bake awesome brownies when I go back home. I won’t be able to taste how the barbecue with my classmates is much more delicious than eating steak in the luxurious restaurants.

What if I cannot hear? I will not be able to hear different kinds of birds chirping and singing from the giant tree. I won’t be able to pick up the ringing bell signaling the end of 8^th period which excites me the most in the entire day, and would not be able to chat with my friends all the way to class from the dormitory building. Going two steep hills down without prattling about trivial things is unimaginable. I would miss the sound of my friends’ adorable, frisky giggles the most.

Life without senses might, by tiny chance, might be easier. I won’t have to spend my time wearing and removing my contact lens every morning. I won’t have to listen to my mom nagging at me what to do over the phone call. I won’t have to smell the stink of my roommate’s gas. I won’t have to taste the horrible taste of broccoli that my mom forces me to eat. I won’t have to feel the piercing coldness that agonizes me every morning exercise.

Howbeit, the jubilation that my senses blesses me overwhelms those trifling comfort that the life without senses might provide. I start an another fine day by looking up the sky again, feeling thankful and grateful. 

The story of Claudia and her stalker

Cynthia Marvey, Carol Styles, Julia Peters, Betty Waters are the four members joining the new idol group…

Claudia read through the news article titled <New female idol group from DIOS Management … but where is Claudia Black?>. Her name wasn’t there. She read it again, but nothing changed. Her eyes started to tremble, and started to look through all the replies written by the public about this news.

“Why isn’t she still makin’ a debut? We should blow up the management company”

“I think she’z the top-class singer of our country”

“Does she have any troubles w/ her management?”

Yes, it was not only Claudia who was angered about this, but also the crowd. In fact, it was not the first time; every time DIOS Management launched a new idol group, Claudia was not included, although everyone thought Claudia is the one who really should be. As you would have already noticed, Claudia Black is the idol singer trainee of the DIOS Management, the biggest singer management company of United States. She is very hardworking and talented; she is good at singing, rapping, and also dancing. This is her seventh year as a trainee even though her talent has already surpassed many other professional singers who have high reputation. You cannot imagine how much effort she put to make a debut as a singer over the past seven years – she hasn’t still graduated from her high school even though she is already 22 years old!

Claudia is still positive. She thinks that the reason why she fails every year is because she is not talented enough, and believes that she can make it one day if she tries harder and harder. There are many fans who are supporting her, and their existence as the advocates of Claudia is the reason why she never gives up and keeps up her hard work. However, she has one trouble in her life that stresses her out; the stalker who knows everything about her. His name is John Ogleberry. He knows literally everything about Claudia; what time she gets up every morning, how many minutes it takes for Claudia to take a shower, how many hours Claudia practices each day, what kind of food she eats every meal, and so on. Claudia tried to sue John several times, but since she knows that it takes too much time to go through all the process that she might lose her time to practice, she hasn’t done it yet. Well, she might hasn’t done it yet because she knows that John is also one of her fans that supports her.

John was infuriated by this news. He decided to figure out what is wrong with Claudia and the DIOS. She sneaks into the company, looks for all the files about the record of Claudia, hacks the company’s computer, etc.

He could find nothing.

He then went through all the Facebook posts written by the CEO and the faculties of this company. It was certainly a tedious job; he had to read all those stupid posts and pictures from ten years ago.

Finally, he found something. He was shocked. He felt his body trembling.

March 4 th, 2009

In the status quo, people complain about the lookism that is so common in our society. People tend to judge each other with their appearance, and good-looking people are more likely to get employed. To solve the "lookism phenomena," blind auditions, blind interviews, and many other methods that respect a person's aptitude and talent more than the appearance in employment process these days. As a result, more people with high ability and intelligence are now working in many jobs. I, however, think that the person's appearance should still be the most important factor the judge a person in employment.
Nowadays, except certain disabled people, we live in a society where we should face each other. It is natural for people to look others' face foremost than other parts. And their appearance decides their "first impression." To modify this impression which is formed in an instant, it needs more than 40 hours. That's why first impression is important and YOUR appearance forms it.

People’s appearance not only affects people’s first impression but also the quality of life of people around them. I would rather work with pretty woman with dumb head than the woman with ugly face with intelligence. I do not want to spend eight hours a day with a face that I don’t want to look at, at all. It deteriorates my quality of life.

Feel offended? Look at yourself standing in front of a mirror choosing which perfume to use and which clothes to wear. See, our eyes are already focusing on your appearance. Let's take it more seriously. In this industrialized society, tertiary sector outnumbers other jobs. TO be successful on communicating with one's clients, good first impression contributes a lot.
Let's trace back to past years. The standard of beauty has been altered all the time, but the term ‘beauty’ has existed. Men competed each other for beauty, of beauties got to choose their spouse and spend rest of their life happily. However, for those who weren't, it was a bit harsh. Anyway, there are no absolute value as beauty when judging others.

Do you see how the CEO is stained with the lookism?

Do you now see why the CEO did not allow Claudia to make a debut over the past seven years?

John decided to reveal this post to the public. The entire crowd was enraged. The protest in front of DIOS Management building took place every day, led by John Ogleberry. The CEO was fairly offended by John’s actions, but could not do anything because it is the nonchanging fact he uploaded that ridiculous post that can offend numerous people. He could not bear all the criticism, and left his office. People recommended John as a new CEO of DIOS Management. Eventually, John took over the company and became a new president of the company where Claudia is working with. An irritating stalker who sneaked into an idol trainee’s house becoming a president of that trainee’s company…! Quite Amazing!

John decided to change people’s mindset about the appearance inside the company. There were hundreds of talented trainees that were not allowed to make a debut just because the previous CEO extremely favored pretty girls. John actively helped them, including Claudia, to make a successful debut with their brilliant ability. On the other hand, there were many singers that have already made a debut but was not quite talented. John tried to improve their capability rather than applying more and more plastic surgeries. DIOS finally acquired a reputation as a most sensible and rational management company in the country, and what happened to Claudia?

She became the singer who is staying at the top of the Billboard Chart for the longest time! 

The Value of Beauty

[Write formally and academically in staunch opposition to normally held views]

In the status quo, people complain about the lookism that is so common in our society. People tend to judge each other with their appearance, and good-looking people are more likely to get employed. To solve the "lookism phenomena," blind auditions, blind interviews, and many other methods that respect a person's aptitude and talent more than the appearance in employment process these days. As a result, more people with high ability ad intelligence are now working in many jobs. I, however, think that the person's appearance should still be the most important factor the judge a person in employment.
Nowadays, except certain disabled people, we live in a society where we should face each other. It is natural for people to look others' face foremost than other parts. And their appearance decides their "first impression." To modify this impression which is formed in an instant, it needs more than 40 hours. That's why first impression is important and YOUR appearance forms it. Feel offended? Look at yourself standing in front of a mirror choosing which perfume to use and which clothes to wear. See, our are already focusing on your appearance. Let's take i more seriously. In this industrialized society, tertiary sector outnumbers other jobs. TO be successful on communicating with one's clients, good first impression contributes a lot.
Let's trace back to past years. The standard of beauty has been altered all the time, but i had been existed. Men competed each other for beauty, of beauties got to choose their spouse and spend rest of their life happily. However, those who weren't it was a bit harsh. Anyway, there are no absolute value as beauty.

Equal Education

“Let us not choose a career in thoughts of personal advance, but choose a career based on talents and aptitude.” This is the part of our school’s motto. I think my school, Korean Minjok Leadership Academy, is doing a good job in terms of the ideal educational system that Malcom Gladwell is dreaming of in his fourth episode, “Carlos Doesn’t Remember.” Our school selects 150 talented and potential ones among the students throughout the whole nation each year, provides them appropriate, high-quality education which suits them in order to open a better future. However, Malcom is also aware of those students who are as talented as the ones who are recognized talented, but are not provided high-quality education due to lacking advocates. He thinks that our educational system has to play a better job selecting gifted students from the very beginning. I totally agree with his idea, but I have another point of view that people should also consider seriously.

If more talented students get selected and receive better education, what happens to all the other students who are “less talented?” Some people might think there is nothing to worry about because “less talented students” do not have any qualification for good quality education and they are the ones who need to learn from the very basics. However, the reality is that as the interest in education is excessively concentrated to smarter students, good teachers are all placed in the “smart students teaching” education. In other words, less smart students would have to study with less prestigious teachers.

I think the irony exists here. If the purpose of separating students based on their talents is to accelerate talented students and help boost less smart ones’ potential, they should both receive high-quality education. Just leaving unselected students ignorantly does not change the quality of education, quality of the whole students in the future, and the quality and level of our society in long term.

In order to achieve the goal of “prestigious education,” we should provide the quality of education equally among students. I do not mean that we should not separate the students based on levels. We have to provide high quality of education to each group of students that best suits each level of talents. Smarter ones would be smarter, and less smart ones will get the opportunity to sow and boost their gifted potential one day.

This is how we can realistically accomplish “equal education” in our society.

Is peer pressure always bad?

Is peer pressure always bad?

When people hear the word “peer pressure,” it is easy for them to think of the negative phenomena of minorities tending to follow majorities’ idea when making a decision. True, there are a lot of negative sides of peer pressure, but there is certainly a need to reconsider about the misunderstanding of peer pressure. I think more positive than negative effects exist.

The first thing that comes to my mind is the peer pressure that I overcame when I first came to KMLA. I have never stayed up all night before the quiz or exams, but all students in KMLA were doing that. I felt quite pressured. I was worried about the possibility of dozing during the exam. However, I was more worried about what would other students think about me if I go to bed early while they stay up late. I decided to stay up just like others, feeling the “peer pressure” within the students at our school. The result was successful. There were many problems related to the content that I studied the night before, and if I hadn’t studied, I would have messed up my exams. Feeling the peer pressure in the group that studies hard encourages us to study harder like others. This applies not only to studying, but also any faction of friends not smoking, no drugs, exercising together, or any other activities that are beneficial to our lives.

Peer pressure really can be good or bad depending on what results will that specific activity will bring up. However, I think that changing people’s attitudes toward peer pressure can also determine whether peer pressure is good or bad. Rather, this can reduce the frequency of bad peer pressure. I believe that peer pressure is fundamentally caused by people’s likelihood of not understanding the diversity of thoughts among others. People tend to think different is wrong. However, this is not true. We should learn how to accept other’s thoughts, even if that specific thoughts are from the minority group. If people do know how to respect minorities’ thoughts, they would not be conscious about others’ attention, and finally would not feel any peer pressure.

Being encouraged by the majorities can act as a good peer pressure in some occasions.

In spite of these good peer pressures, we should acknowledge the existence of diversity in thoughts. We are different, not wrong.