I have to admit that I am not an avid environmentalist; I take forever in a shower and waste way too much water and shampoo; I often forget to turn off my computer before I go to sleep. However, I do care about our Earth, and my heart aches when I hear facts like pollution is one of the biggest global killers, affecting over 100 million people. 

Ever since middle school, every morning fifteen minutes before the bell rang and half a mile outside of campus, when I saw endless lines of cars with ever more perpetual smogs of “unbreathable” mixture of fuel and gas flushing out from their butts on every morning, I have decided that I want to save energy and bike to school every day.

Well, there are still many other reasons of why I decided to bike to school. First, I get to sleep in for ten minutes every morning and rush to school on my bike in less than three minutes while zooming(if bikes make any sound) by the clusters of smoke and cars packed on the road. 

Second, I get to exercise with a 100-pound backpack pressing on my back and breathe the fresh sweet air until I get on the main road and be surrounded with all the exhaust. Last but not least, I love the feeling of hearing the wind whiz by my ears as I pedal as hard as I can and speed through the bike lane. 

In middle school, everything was easy and simple. However, as I got to high school, the word “popularity” prevails. All the cool upperclassmen drive their own cars even though they only live five walking-minutes away, and all the underclassmen have their parents drive them daily. 

Oh, I just can’t imagine myself still biking to school when I’m a senior while my classmates laugh at me in their cars. Well, I just want to save energy and help to decrease the pollution in the air. For no reason, I am already starting to feel embarrassed now. 

I bet if I tell anyone that I bike to school, that person will look at me with this very discriminating look that labels me as “not cool” and will definitely start viewing me differently. It is similar to how people who bring those very tacky and enormous lunch boxes are thought to be “not cool.” But then I know that I would feel extremely guilty if I ask my mom to drive me just because I care more about what other people think of me than what harm car exhaust is causing the environment.

Even though I still have an inner conflict of whether my self-esteem is more important or the environment, for now, I will still insist on biking just because I’m craving to whiz down that super steep slope on the Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road.