My weekend started out just like every other: dinner with my friends, then attending the free movie on campus every Friday night. However, this was not my normal style of movie and I was unsure about it. I went ahead anyway because my friends were going, and I did not have any better-sounding options. Looking back now (hindsight is always 20/20), all of my other options were better. I only watch certain movies, and there are reasons for that. I cannot physically handle horror movies or movies where abuse is prominent. The movie showing last Friday was The Girl on the Train, which, for those who have seen it, know that the storyline is laced with a man abusing his (ex-)wife. I was unaware of this going in; as a result, I sat with my hands clenched so tightly that they were sore over an hour later. To me, there is no justifiable cause for abuse of any kind, and I am very uncomfortable with the media attempting to “normalize” it by showing it in movies. The part I enjoyed the most was my gummy bears and the bottle of water I had.

Now, I know this sounds like I’m blaming my friends. I worded it that way purposely. I DO NOT blame my friends. Would I have gone alone? Absolutely not. However, I could have easily said “no” to them.

I tell that story to segue into today’s main topic: peer pressure. It is 2017. Can we please stop judging people who have different interests or opinions than us?! I love my friends dearly; we are always in each other’s rooms or just together in general. However, I still have my own enjoyments. For example, I am the only education major in the main group I hang out with, and I’m a social studies ed major, which is even more rare! The other girls I mainly hang out with are all in a form of health or science major (nursing, biology but looking to make it an ecology major like Ball State used to have, pre-med biology with a concentration in genetics,  and biology with concentrations in wildlife and genetics). They have a lot of labs, often some of the same ones. I do not. They are not interested in history like I am, so it doesn’t make sense for them to tag along to History Club with me. They know they are welcome to join because I talk about it frequently, but I know they would not enjoy it like I do. In the same way, a couple of them are involved with health clubs of some sort or other.

That’s one of the biggest lessons I think everyone should learn, hopefully before they get to college or the adult stage of their life. The most important person to stay true to is yourself. Don’t compromise yourself to fit in. Your true friends will like you for who you are. Those who don’t are not worthy to be your friends. Is it weird sometimes being the only humanities-related major in my group of friends? Yes; they do not get excited about the same stuff I do. But would I change my major just to give us all another common ground? No. I have no desire to be involved with science like that. So while I made a decision I regret in going to the movie on Friday night, I did not fully know what the movie entailed. I only blame myself, but even then, not that much. But I did not compromise myself to fit in; I thought it would be a decent movie so I went. At the end of the day, your true friends will stand by you, no matter what decision you make.