Mar 5, 2021
Confessions of A Young Vaper
By Melissa Dunn
BIO — I am a third year student at Michigan State University, in the Lyman Briggs Residential College. I am majoring in Human Biology, hoping to become a health professional in the near future. I was assigned a research project this semester, to deliver a scientific article about a topic I want to share information on. I chose to start a science blog about a topic that impacts not only me, but thousands of people that started vaping at a young age.
ABOUT — This first post is for you to know about me and my story, the story of how and why I started smoking nicotine at a young age. Spoiler alert, it’s 2021 and I still smoke. I use disposable vapes on a daily basis. However, the time has come where I am ready to give up the habit. This is the beginning of my nicotine quitting journey, and I hope I can bring you all along with me as I try to learn more about vaping and how to finally quit for good.
Smoking always looks so cool. Simply the act is mesmerizing to watch. The long inhale, the pause, and the long satisfying exhale. Blowing out this immense cloud of smoke and always ending with a relaxed smile. It’s captivating, and it looks so powerful.
Yes, we all now know the dangers of smoking, but then why is it still so desirable?
The answer for me was that a couple years ago I wanted to look like everyone else. When I was in highschool, my main goal, like everyone else’s, was to fit in. My peers and I were growing up in a time when electronic cigarettes were starting to become really popular. These smoking devices became insanely popular among the students in my school. Suddenly, everyone was vaping, and you couldn’t escape it. Soon, my friends tried it out, and I eventually followed in their footsteps.
Vaping just looked so cool! I wanted to feel like them. I wanted to look like them, and, before I knew it, I was one of them. I became a vaper at 16.
It has been four years and I am still a vaper, or a smoker of nicotine. I have been through countless vaping devices, and have probably wasted hundreds of dollars over the years.
Why do I keep this habit up then? Well, I am addicted to nicotine. I have accepted it, but I am now in a place in my life where I don’t want to be dependent on something anymore, especially a drug.
Only one small issue…
It is not so easy to give up, and finding the motivation to quit is even harder.
Therefore, I decided to go and find motivation to quit. I believe my research could not only help me quit smoking, it may help others find the motivation to ditch their vape for good too.
Disposable vapes are the new, modern way to smoke. There is a huge variety of disposable vapes becoming popular today. These include BreezeSmoke products, Mr.Vapor products, POSHplus products, and these are just a few. In addition, the emergence of new vaping companies is exponential because of how much the vaping market has grown over the years.
For a college student, who is also a vaper, it is so convenient to purchase disposable vapes. It’s quick, easy, and requires no maintenance. Most importantly, they satisfy the crave for nicotine, instantly.
These products make it so easy to continue the habit of smoking. They definitely have for me. As a college student, life is always stressful and busy. I find myself in moments of needing instant relaxation, and conveniently my nicotinic disposable vape does just that.
This may be helpful to me now, and I may not see how this smoking device is affecting my body at the moment, but what about five years from now? I’ve already been vaping for four years. So far, thankfully, I am pretty healthy, but it’s because I am still young. How are these disposable vapes going to affect our health in the long-term?
I hope to use this blog as a way to reveal my findings as I research the effects of disposable vapes. My goal is to find a reason to quit and the motivation to finally dispose of my last vape. I hope my research will help me and my fellow peers dealing with the same addiction.
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