Significant event in my life - Essay Example

SIGNIFICANT EVENT IN MY LIFE Institute Significant Event in My Life There are many important occurrences and happenings in a person’s life. These incidents tend to leave a mark on the person’s life and an individual tends to remember these things for the rest of his life. I also recall a significant event in my life which I will never be able to forget. It was an event which taught me important lessons about this world and about the fact that a person should take his decisions by himself. According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, significant means “having or likely to have influence or effect.

” I truly believe that event that occurred in my life left an effect on me. The event took place during my high school years when I joined my friends in bullying a new boy who had joined our school and who had done no wrong to us. I analyzed how wrong I had been to join my friends upon their convincing. The incident that is significant in my life took place when I was in high school and there were many reasons that resulted in the incident. High school is a period of enjoyment and it is an important period in a person’s life.

It is a time of learning and a time when a person gets to know about the world and matures. It all started when a new boy joined our school. He was a very good natured boy and he soon became famous in school. My friends felt insecure by his fame and they started deciding plans to harm the boy. I was not a part of the planning and nor did I wish to be involved in any way. One day when I reached school, I found out that they had all circled the guy and they were beating him up. He was alone and I found it wrong to join them.

The incident was over but the consequences were worst than the incident itself. The principal called for an inquiry and we were all called for the matter. The new boy was alone and my entire group was standing against him. Eye witnesses were called and I was questioned about the incident as well because the boy claimed that I was standing there. I wanted to stand by the truth but my friends had strongly convinced me to talk against the boy. It was an ethically unjustified act but under the pressure of my friends I sided with my friends.

After we got out of the principal office, I strongly resented my own act and I felt that I had done something wrong. I could not see the boy in his eyes from the next day. I knew that I had gone really low to justify what was wrong. I decided that day that moral and truth was above everything else. To this day I regret my act and I knew it that in future I would never commit a similar act. Langston Hughes who was a famous African American figure also faced a moment in his life at an early age when he had to face internal conflicts and external pressure.

He narrates this significant event in his short story “Salvation” where he expresses his regret by saying, “But I was really crying because I couldn't bear to tell her that I had lied, that I had deceived everybody in the church, that I hadn't seen Jesus, and that now I didn't believe there was a Jesus anymore, since he didn't come to help me” (Hughes p. 145). He regretted surrendering to the pressure of the people in the church and agreeing with the fact that he had seen Jesus. He was twelve years old when this incident took place and he greatly felt sad for lying to everyone in the church just for the sake of making them happy (Hughes).

A human being faces difficult situations in his life and a person tends to resort to wrong decisions under the pressure of other people. An individual should be strong enough and even if a person commits mistakes, he should try not to repeat it again. Such incidents make a person regret his decisions for his entire life and a person feels guilty. Therefore, an individual should be careful and maintain his principles. Works Cited Hughes, Langston. “Salvation,”142-145. From the book: Top of Form Langston, Hughes.

“The Salvation.” From the book: McQuade, D., & Atwan, R. (2009). Writer's presence: A pool of readings. Boston, Mass: Bedford/St. Martins. Bottom of Form Merriam-Webster. Significant. Web 25 Jun. 2011.