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Student Describes Struggle to Quit Smoking St. Stephen's High School News Section Two The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanville, February 26, 1997 Page? by Katey Hickey My dad after finding out that I had started smoking again, cut out an article for me about the hardships and ultimately thé advantages, of stopping smoking cigarettes. cigarettes. It was written by a student student at Durham College who quit smoking with some help from his girlfriend, girlfriend, after twelve years of lighting up, I first inhaled the summer before grade ten Smoking for me, has never been a major part of my life. Or so I thought. I first inhaled the summer before grade ten. My younger cousin smoked and she, telling me how good it was, dared me to try it. After her demonstration on how to inhale, I took, the plunge and had a fit of coughing which was very lengthy in duration. duration. Well, a plunge it was, because from then on in, I was a smoker. When I went away to school in grade ten, I couldn't couldn't believe the number of my classmates who were lighting up. Hanging around them, being away from home, and not feeling afraid of getting caught by mom or dad, were all factors which led up to me buying my first pack. You could find me sitting sitting in a coffee shop with a 'Du Maurier light' in one hand, and a cup of coffee in the other. This ritual seemed so cool at the time, but when school was over and I went back home to live, things weren't so cool. It was hard for me to sneak off for a butt without getting caught by one of my parents, because I would always come back reeking of smoke. Believe me, perfume, gum, cough drops, none of these mask the distinct stench. So, I decided to TRY to quit. Why, I asked myself, did I smoke anyway? The answer always came up short: peer pressure. Grade eleven: different school. I proposed that not buying my own packs would prevent me from puffing away. Unfortunately, that plan didn't work because I would always indulge when a dart was offered to me from some one else's pack of death. I'm an athlete and by this time, smoking was beginning to take its toll on my cardiovascular endurance, and sometimes I experienced coughing fits, always resulting in spitting up a thick, brownish-green coloured substance called phlegm. Of course I knew that phlegm was the result of my cilia trying to sweep out that black, sticky tar, and other poisons from my pink, fleshy lungs. So why didn't I stop? Grade twelve, yet another new school. Maybe not as many people would smoke here. Wrong. Favourite pastime pastime of teens in Bowmanville - coffee and cigarettes! It is almost as though you are looked down on if you announce you are going to try to quit, so the outcome is usually failure. Friends taunt and tease you by waving a burning cigarette under your nose. I felt I had only one alternative alternative left. I signed myself up at 'Lifestyles'. Believe it or not, I love to work out, and I love feeling physically fit. I thought this would be the answer to breaking my bad habit. People who work out don't smoke. Think again. The day I went for my fitness fitness appraisal people were actually standing outside the gym, puffing away, and the trainer who evaluated me, had quit only two weeks before. All I could think of was how ludicrous their actions were. My actions, I realized, were the same. With help from my mom in the form of a health lecture, and support from my dad, I'm taking on the battle of not smoking. Once I've overcome my barrier, I will encourage my friends to do the same. Maybe I'll even let them read this. APPRECIATION TEA -- Trinity United Church Hall was the stage for the Clarington Community Justice Appreciation Tea on Thursday afternoon, Feb. 20. Joyce Erb, of the C.C.J. program, noted that 58 agencies received 4463.5 hours of community service work from 50 clients. The Community Justice program provides placements for clients required by the courts to perform community service work. The organization's board of directors shown above consists consists of: Joyce Erb, Nancy Scott, Jim Wintonyk, Harry McClung, John Standeven, Sharon Sidsworth, and Ken Bromley. Missing from the photo are Linda Gardner, and Glenn McLeod. IF IT CARRIED ANY MORE PASSENGERS OR CARGO, CRAi it, STUFF it-full of: 4x8 sheets of plywood, PVC piping for an easy reoliner, 4 sleeping bj bug sj m --laws m unassembled toilet, 7 fut dozen boxes of goq missing, the do , a Guide troop with 40 and mate Dad's 70's chocolate ones are e ant farm, the 6 man tent. I 2 cans of entire contents of your ir mother' sen fridge IF'stove, you! 'iny! sofa, the friend's apartment. Now available at an unbelievable low price including no-charge running boards. (36 months/$2,150 down) VOU Should Hill) 111 This: 'Based on a 36 month lease for 1997 GMC Safari Van ISA equipped as described. 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