The teenager gripped the handgun, loaded a magazine of ten cartridges, pulled back the hammer, aimed out of the car window, and squeezed the trigger. He created a discharge from the main spring that pushed the bullet through the main chamber and out of the muzzle. As the bullets ejected rapidly, the sparks of the gun blinded me as if I were staring hard into the bright sun. My ears were pierced by the sound of death. My body froze, my heart pulsated furiously, and my forehead glistened with sweat. At that moment, I realized that my friends and I were being assaulted by a firearm. My mind only allowed me to think of my parents and how devastated they would be if one of their sons had been gunned done. At that instant, I analyzed my life and realized that my path in life was leading toward a dead end. I began praying to God for another chance at life and to redeem my self of my past faults. The ordeal lasted ten seconds, yet has affected my outlook on life throughout my high school career and will ultimately my entire life. My near death experience has changed my priorities, which had consisted only of my friends and social life. After being assaulted, I realized my family and education are the more important aspects of life.
             My family will always come first and will always be more important than anything else. Initially, I thrived for the acceptance from my friends and would do anything to satisfy their idea of what is accepted. On any given day, I would hurt my family and my self by playing hooky, violating curfew, and provoking conflicts. I knew it was foolish to commit those acts, but subconsciously I desired excitement and acceptance. The consequences of these petty acts did not faze me, but the bullets that had flown across my face awakened my reality. My delinquency was a gateway that would eventually open the door to eternal sleep in a casket six feet underground, or into a jail cell.
             From time to time, I still awake in the...