Your close friend circle will always influence you even when you aren't noticing the first little changes.
In my senior secondary school, I made my first set of friends in the senior school.
I picked them to be my close friends because they were funny, free, kind, warm, and welcoming.
They were the kind of people that, as long as you were free like them and not seriously annoying, you would click instantly with them.
That time, you hardly saw us apart, and wherever we were, always together. We were so closely and tightly knit that when we weren't on good terms anyone outside our clique would hardly notice.
But I made a tiny mistake when I decided to make this group of girls my close friends. I didn't consider their academic life and how it would impact my own life.
Even when I got close enough to notice all the flaws they had, it was just so much fun being with them that I ignored everything.
I started having struggles with punctuality—waiting for each other, getting carried away in gists, and some other reasons, trouble with seniors—being at the wrong place at the wrong time, being a chronic noise maker, and poor concentration in classes.
Before I knew it my academic performance was dropping gradually. One particular day, after a biology test our biology teacher told me to carry the scripts for her instead of the class captain.
When we reached her office, she told me to wait and marked my script in front of me. I got 4 over 10, she handed the script to me,
“This is the first time you are scoring below 8 on my test…hmm, I will tell you a secret, If you stay with those who don’t take life seriously, you will struggle to grow. Success isn’t about luck—it’s about the small choices you make every day. Start making the right choices now, and you’ll thank yourself later.” she said and took the script back.
I left quiet, speechless, but my mind was in chaos.
These were people I was connected to already. So distancing myself wasn't going to be anything near easy. But my teacher was right and I had to do it.
I started by being quiet and more observant around them, and slowly I started removing myself from unnecessary conversations. Or carrying my books and silently reading even when I was with them.
Another hard part was making up excuses when I was asked to join them in anything.
I think by the time they noticed I wasn't the same, they got the message, and I didn't need to make excuses anymore.
It was quite painful, leaving them to follow another person who was more serious with academics. I even thought of changing them instead, but I wasn't strong enough. Their influence on me when I was around them was so strong I hardly noticed it, so I abandoned that idea.
I started waking up early, focusing in class, avoiding trouble.
And gradually I saw myself turn out different. And I loved the result, it was worth it.
I am forever grateful to my teacher because I knew where I was headed, but I guess I just needed someone to tell me, and luckily she was right there at the right time.
No matter how small or great you think your friend circle is, always know one thing—there will always be an influence on your life.
Thanks for stopping by ❤️