Values Vs Social Acceptance :: Personal Narrative

Values Vs Social Acceptance Values are guidelines to the way we choose to live our lives. Values are the conceptions or ideas that act as standards for judging what is right or wrong, worthwhile or worthless, beautiful or ugly, good or bad. Values differ from person to person. For example, a forty-year old husband with four kids will more than likely have a different set of values than an eighteen-year old freshman just entering college. The freshmen’s conceptions of what is good or bad would be different than the conceptions of the married man. Due to their age difference and the difference in their responsibility, the freshmen would tend to be more party-oriented and free-spirited because he is not supporting a family of six. The married man would be less likely to be found at a bar binge drinking on a Wednesday night than the college student would be. Therefore, the married man’s values are generally more conservative than the college student, and his choice of lifestyle reflects that. My values have changed rapidly as I’ve grown from childhood, to adolescence, and through my teenage years. Many of my core values, the ones I truly live by were instilled in me by my family. I feel the University of Georgia exercises pressure on its students to alter some of their values. Here we are forced at times to change our conceptions of what’s right or wrong. I believe this is due to the pressure we feel to fit in with our peers. Peer pressure is an overpowering force that we deal with every day at the University of Georgia. Our values are ever-changing to find us a place where we feel socially secure at this huge university. As I entered the college last Spring, I brought with me some values that I truly lived up to. My values were based on Christianity and on making me a better person. On Sundays I attended church; I made good grades, and I did not drink or use drugs. My parents always told me that drugs would fry my brain, so I never even pondered the thought of using drugs. In high school I played sports and graduated with honors. My friends were great people, and we were all well-respected around our community. Everyone looked at us as the group that would succeed.