Peer pressure is something everyone faces one way or the other , especially when you are in school, it is like there is always this quiet push to behave a certain way, dress a certain way, talk a certain way, or even think a certain way just so you won’t be tagged as different, sometimes it is so loud and direct, other times it is subtle like you just start feeling left out if you don’t do what the other people are doing.
For me ,see I wont even lie, I saw peer pressure happen all around me in school ,there was always one trend or the other ,If it wasn’t hairstyles, it was clothes, If it wasn’t clothes, it was bags, even the way some people spent money, like you will see someone whose house situation you know very well but because others are doing big girl they will also want to join, Just to belong.
I remember one particular time very clearly, there was this hairstyle that was trending that period ,almost everyone in my department wanted to do it, So they formed a group chat to contribute money for it and also pick the same style , I was in the group chat for like 10 minutes, just looking at the amount they were saying and how everyone was hyping it like it was an investment, I just sat down and was thinking to myself, Will this hair add certificate to my name? Or will it help me pass Business Maths ehn?
Because the truth is, I had to be honest with myself, I liked looking good, yes, but spending money I didn’t have to impress people who didn’t care about me? that one didn’t make sense to me at all, so I quietly removed myself from the group, and just like that, I became the different one, they stopped asking me to join them in anything fashion or social-related, they even started calling me names like too serious, church girl, bookworm, and all sorts of names.
The funny part is that I wasn’t even reading all the time, but because I refused to follow them up and down, they just tagged me like that , and honestly, it never bothered me, because deep down, I knew what I was doing, I came to school to get something, and I knew my situation at home, so spending money anyhow to fit in was never an option for me.
Instead of them applying peer pressure on me, it was like I was the one applying academic pressure on them, i was always like, let’s read, Let’s do assignment, exam is coming o, so it got to a point where they just left me alone because they knew what I stood for.
So when it comes to dealing with peer pressure, my own approach is simple , know who you are and what you are doing ,and once you understand your goals and your reality, nobody can push you into doing what doesn’t make sense for your life, you will just be looking at them like, Me and you, we are not the same.
At the end of the day, I am happy I didn’t follow every trend, the same hair they were doing every month, I used the money for food, data, and small enjoyment, and I still finished well, though I'm going back for HND, I sha know what I am doing that's the koko.
So yeah, peer pressure do exists, but how it affects you depends on how well you know yourself.
I invite 
Image Is Mine
