As soon as i saw the post on @byColeman page about writing a story that portrays originality, uniqueness, creativity and the most influencing factor for my writing today; PEER GROUP INFLUENCE.
I am also someone that has been exposed to and affected by some form of peer influence, as I've done some things that i would not have attempted on my own, but as a result of group influence, have delved into it.
Now, this story is not going to be about me, as what i did through peer influence pales in comparison to what I'm about to tell you guys.
I'm going to tell you a story of a friend, whom i got admitted to the University with. We got to know each other in school and that's how we became friends. However, the story has changed a lot since then as you will soon discover in the course of this story.
See I'm from Nigeria, and the "get rich quick " syndrome isn't going down. While most people here are hard working and believe in honesty, there are some who perceive hard work as being a fools choice, whilst seeing themselves as "smart ", scamming people out of hard earned money. I know this also happen elsewhere in the world, but its rate of prevalence among youths here is becoming alarming.
So my friend ( Name henceforth changed to Ade, for anonymity) was definitely one of the most brilliant students of our set, when we got admission, I quickly noticed that he was definitely different than some of us ( different in a good way), he took pole position for most of the activities revolving around being a freshman, something that most of us then shy away from.
We we're lodged in the same hostel, did most studying together. He would wake me up at midnight to read, which i did sometimes and declined other times. Ade was usually the last to sleep and first to wake up, such was his routine and this also gave me motivation and boosted my drive.
Suddenly, everything changed he started missing classes, i didn't think much of this then because everyone was known to skip classes once in a while, but when he started to boycott sleeping in the hostel, when he would he'd come in late. I didn't see him anymore except contacting him occasionally through calls and texts. When I would see him though, he looked unrecognizable, hairstyle, piercings i never thought I'd see on my gentle friend. I was amazed at the group of boys he was rolling with, they were known to be scammers and many young freshmen have been either expelled or suspended through association with them, even though they are still in the school. This was moving so fast, I told Ade to think about all that, that it wasn't late to turn back, and continue on the bright path he was on before, but instead of listening, he tried to convince me to join him, telling me about how much he's made, how much he's expecting, how girls now flock around him, about the car he was planning on buying, how people were calling him "money bag" and how good it felt. It was at that point that i really felt was peer influence was like, i was short on money and even thought about his offer for a minute, but i immediately recomposed myself and that was the last we saw of each other.
I probably should have done more to stop him, because after our encounter, all i heard was rumours about him, hearing he was arrested and kicked out of school for scamming related offences.
I thank God and my parents for what they've taught me, because they helped shape me. The thought of doing immoral things give me the cringes. Wait if i had done something, will I know about steemit, lol, thank God I didn't. The journey on steem has been slow and steady, I'm growing myself steadily, mixing steemit with schooling has been hard but i know it's gonna be worth it in the end.
This is my entry into the contest. Thanks to @bycoleman. Hope y'all read and enjoy.