A big part of what makes you yourself is your upbringing. Other people’s influence on you, especially when you’re younger, heavily guides what your personality or thoughts on things will be when you grow up. Students in high school are in the middle of the process, where they haven’t fully grown and are still impressionable, but have grown enough from influence to show who they are.

The biggest influence is typically your family. When sophomore, Christopher Trupia was asked about who influenced him in his upbringing. He said, “My brother, he’s made me be better so I can be better than him in the future. I’d like to work hard so I can have a better future than he has.”

Families typically rely on the mother for a larger majority of inspiration and encouragement. “My mom has a strong influence on me, because she taught me my morality, I wouldn’t know right from wrong without her,” said sophomore Aden Matthew Lindenfelser.

Others may get influenced by their significant other above other sources, as they’re typically closer to the person than their families in certain cases “One of my biggest influences is my girlfriend, she changed my whole perspective on people, music, and helped me find out who I want to be,” said Jariel Esau Flores, Sophomore.

For a very select few people, they grow up closer to independence, letting other sources influence them. One of these people is sophomore, Cristian Aldana Medina who said, “I don’t think anyone has made an impact on me, but I’d say music has. When I listen to music, the sound helps motivate me & encourage myself to do the things I want to. The music in general inspires people, no matter who they are or where they are.”

But what decides if someone has influence in the first place?  Jariel said, “Probably their creativity, like the way their mind works. Or the popularity they have.”

Cristian said, “My closest guess is that it depends on how they are able to motivate others.”

“If they can change your outlook on something,” said Aden.

Overall, it seems as though what decides whether or not people have influence is their mindset and how they use it.

Not all influences are beneficial for people. Some can be negative, after all, everyone is flawed in their own ways. Aden shared his experience, “There was this one kid, he showed me a vape. The kid tried to pressure me into using it. After I realized his intentions, I told him I wouldn’t do it and walked away.”

Jariel had been through something similar as well. “I’ve experienced a bad influence before. When I realized how bad they were, I distanced myself from them because I didn’t want to be like them.”

What do students think would happen to them if they never had influences at all? “I’d be messed up otherwise, because if the people weren’t there that helped me, I’d still have problems. As they’d never be there for me to help solve them,” Aden said.

Christopher said, “I’d probably be stuck alone playing video games all day, honestly.” People believe they wouldn’t really be the same, in a negative way.

At the end of the day, people’s influence on you shouldn’t take away from the fact that you’re still yourself, and you shouldn’t let that change. Everybody being different in their own way is what led us into the present, with all our advancements. “I’d say being inspired is good, but still be yourself. Because that is what makes you, you,” said Jariel.

Always keep in mind where you’re at and who’s around you. Christopher helped me realize that when he said, “If you’re gonna let yourself be influenced, let it be a good one. Surround yourself with good people.”

“Try to be yourself, don’t purposefully try to be like others. Be yourself and that is all that truly matters,” said Cristian.

Despite how good impacts or influences can be on one person, the students of Osbourn seem to believe that even though inspirations are important, it’s still good to keep a sense of self whenever you realize who is influencing you and how they’re doing it. 

Who has left the greatest impact on you in your life so far? Tell us your story in the comments!