During the years I grew up in South Louisiana, I always felt like I didn't belong to the Southern social standard. One aspect of me that is seen as different is that I am an atheist in a predominantly religious community, which has made it harder for me to connect with people in the area where I grew up. I don't like the activities my peers did, such as hunting and fishing. I always felt like an outcast growing up. Most of my peers also liked drinking and camping, and those things didn't appeal to me. The middle and high schools I attended weren't any different. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The concept of someone having interests other than those considered normal was foreign to most of my classmates throughout middle and high school. Then, when I started middle school, I started to notice that all of my classmates fit into groups of friends with similar interests; however, I still couldn't find a group that accepted me for who I was. I thought about pretending to be interested in the things most kids my age were interested in so I could feel like I belonged, but in the back of my head I knew it would be wrong to pretend to be someone I'm not. I didn't want people to like me for who I pretended to be; I wanted them to like me for who I really was. My class only had about 100 students, which didn't give me much opportunity to meet new people. During middle school, I didn't have a best friend or group of friends that I could talk to because I felt like I was too different from everyone else, which made me feel very alone. As soon as I started high school, I noticed that not much had changed from middle school; however, one thing that changed was that my classmates made fun of me because of my indifference. For example, I distinctly remember a particular day in my freshman art class. One of the most popular girls in my class had just found out I was an atheist and started getting curious about me about it. I respectfully answered all of her questions about my belief in religion or lack thereof, but she insisted on ridiculing my answers and mocking me for my answers. Just because I didn't have the same beliefs as this girl, she felt the need to try to belittle my beliefs and call me stupid for having the same beliefs as me. She kept making fun of me in front of the whole class because I had a different point of view on a topic that she didn't consider normal. From that day on, everyone in my high school knew I was an atheist because of the taunting of Me. Then and there I knew I never wanted to be anything like that. I have never belittled someone just because I have a different view on something than theirs. The whole situation made me feel even more like an outcast because people at my school didn't seem to want to associate with an atheist person. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now .Get a custom essay In conclusion, I don't believe that under any circumstances it is right to make fun of someone just because they don't have the same opinion on something as you. Younger people, like high school students, tend to always think what they believe is right and that simply isn't the case. Respect is a very critical aspect when dealing with someone who is different from you. Always respect someone's beliefs or point of view on something as long as it does no harm. (2008)..