Journal #3

"The Pen is Mightier than the Sword"

Personally, I am very interested in social topics. Stories about the way that us, as people, act in society and how we are socially influenced by the people around us are generally what I like. I think that topics on our behaviour in a real-life situation is really neat. Hearing a story about something that I can relate to or when I know I’ve witnessed something like that happen to someone I know, it really helps me understand the story on another, better level. Stories written about our behaviour helps us see what we need to change and what we could possibly do to turn those things around. I think that we really need to stop letting people influence us in a lot of the negative ways that we let them. There are a lot of stories you hear about kids that let their friends control their actions, and I can really relate to that. Although, most people do realize that at some point it is time to change and get back on track, not everybody does. Peers can be a very negative influence. People these days are mainly about fitting in and trying to be the most “loved” and the most “popular.” What I finally came to realize was that just because you do what someone else is making you do, it doesn’t make you either of those.


One thing that these stories can influence on us is to be our own person. The stories can show you that it might be one of the best times you had skipping out on class or rebelling against your parents, but in the end, there’s always a consequence. What goes around really does come around, and these stories can help display that. Good things don’t come to bad actions and in the end, you live and you learn, but it’s all about taking what you’ve learned and using it to your advantage. To hear a story about somebody who was never successful because they skipped classes, a story about somebody who never knew what a good relationship was because they never tried to have one with their parents, or a story about never achieving what you know you should be can really be a good wake-up call.


I was always one to do good in school, until I let my peers get the best of me. I had a lot of personal issues going on and I thought that maybe if I fit in with my friends and became the most popular out of us, than it would help me forget about my reality. I would probably still be stuck in that if it wasn’t for the help of people who saw me slipping and if I never chose to read "A Million Little Pieces." When I read that story, all I began to think about was choices. It made me realize that this one man’s choice to do a drug one day, turned into a spiral of more and more drugs. Soon, he had been out of control. He changed his life around and realized that he needed to do better. I felt a lot of relation to that, not only because my life was spinning out of control, but because I was getting involved in a lot of things that someone, especially at my age, shouldn’t even think twice about doing. It was a good awakening and for me, it proved that stories really can change a person’s outlook on something.