Tough choices ahead for high school graduates
By David Myers
Editor’s note: At press time, we learned of the tragic shooting in
This
time of the year – a time of new life for our lawns, the trees, the birds, the
flowers, the bugs, the gnats, the creepy crawly things that live in my basement
-- represents a new life of sorts for our graduating youth as well (who may
also be creep ... er ... living in your basement).
On
second thought, perhaps it’s better to refer to this time as a new chapter in
their lives. New life is what parents experience as soon as their child finally
moves out of the house.
Being
as this is graduation time, I thought it would be appropriate to address our
youth on the subject of choices. I’m not talking about choices you make at the
ice cream shop (chocolate always looks good, but darned if that pinkish, orange
one with the mystery chunks doesn’t look appetizing), whether you want paper or
plastic (I always respond, “Plastic. I’m feeling lucky.” I have no idea why.),
or if you want to supersize your value meal (for
those with arteries made of teflon).
I’m
instead talking about choices you make that can affect you for the rest of your
life.
Consider
Don Imus. We all saw how, by using an incredibly poor
choice of words -- one phrase uttered in
the space of a few seconds -- his entire future, and the future of those with
whom he worked, was drastically altered. His life changed forever in a matter
of seconds.
Words
are the most potent life-changing tool you have. Words represent your emotional
response to all that life hands you. They tell people how you look at the
world. Always choose your words wisely, because they can do great harm or great
good. Just look at one of the more profound statements our president uttered:
“I
know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully.” --
Yes,
my friends, we can coexist peacefully with fish. Thank you, Mr. President,
for articulating it so well.
Youth of the Diocese of Dodge City, you face a
huge choice this May. As you leave high school you will decide whether you will
go off to college or straight into the workforce, or perhaps a bit of both. I
suppose you may instead choose to take a year off and see the world, to which I
ask only, Can I go? Or you may decide to go and live with fish. I don’t know.
This
is your vocation. This is the life God gave you to live. These decisions are
not to be taken lightly.
If
you do go to college, know that college includes a great deal of study, and
it’s also a great deal of fun. But it shouldn’t be too much fun. It needs to be
just the right percentage of fun. Say, 25 percent fun, 75 percent study. Or 80
percent study. Let’s just say 77.5 percent study. My college was surrounded by
the beautiful Colorado Rockies. (Okay, 79 percent study, 21 percent fun.) There
was a lake about 30 minutes away; a large reservoir sat just over the nearby
border of
By
my second semester, I did, because I had to make the choice to drastically
change my priorities. I received three hard-earned As
and two Bs my second semester, but after that first semester – a semester of
very bad choices – it would be a long climb to bring my GPA up above a B.
In college I discovered parties. And parties, I quickly
learned, almost always included alcohol. Remember the power of “words” we were
talking about? Alcohol has the uncanny ability to make you sound like an idiot:
“Aren’t you in my biology class?” sounds much better than, “Art you in ma boljy … bioljy … bi-ol-ojy ... buuuuuurp ... chash?” It also
takes command of the part of your brain that determines whether or not shaving
the cat is a good idea. Don’t ever assume you’ll make the right choice
while drinking.
Today,
I’m fine with being the only non-drinking person at some big social gathering.
It makes me feel like a biologist for the Discovery Channel: “The male makes
his way toward the finger food, careful not to disturb the rest of the herd or
spill his drink....”
The
other big choice you will be making is that of a career. Only a very few lucky
souls really know what they want to do as they leave high school. One of the
joys of college is that it opens your mind to many opportunities you had never
even considered. I would suggest that you don’t choose a career just because
it’s something you feel you can do well; choose a career because deep down in
your heart you know it’s what you really want to do. To this day, I wonder what
it would have been like if I had become a professional yodeler.
But
by far the most important choice you will make in your life as you leave high
school -- whether going to college, working on the family farm, or accepting a
full-time job -- is that of whether or not you are going to keep God a major
focus of your life. It can be easy to dismiss God in those early years, those
years when your whole life is ahead of you and you’re feeling independent for
the first time.
God is the ultimate guidance counselor. Turn to Him to
make the right choices, whether it’s choosing the right words, the right
career, or whether or not to take that drink. Attend Mass. Join a young adult
group. Allow God to be a strong part of your life. Because, when it comes to
making choices, God will help you in ways that will benefit you today and for the
rest of your life.