I don’t want you to learn the hard way that your actions can come back to haunt you.  You need to recognize now that your decisions will affect your future. 

This morning, I saw a news story about a woman who just lost her job, even though she’s been a model employee for over five years.  Apparently, when she was hired, her convictions for theft charges 30 years ago did not appear on her background check.  However, her employer just received the information, and they terminated her.

Some of you are outraged by this information.  She was 27 when she was found guilty.  She’s now 57.  Shouldn’t there be forgiveness?  The answer is probably yes, but I haven’t yet told you where she works.  Her job was with a bank, and I think that we can all understand why banks don’t hire people with theft records.  Do you want a convicted thief handling your money? 

You know that I believe in the fact that people can change.  I know that re-invention of self is possible, and this woman is probably an example of it.  The problem is that there are some institutions that cannot forgive certain crimes.  I’m sure this woman is angry with her 27-year-old self for making poor choices.  I don’t want you to be in the same position.  Now is the time to make the right decisions, because your record will follow you…and so will your conscience.

I have a prize for the first student who posts a comment answering the following question:

Who is the Tribe’s closer?

I know it seems like I forgot to tell you to be good people last week, but I really didn’t forget.  I wasn’t in school on Friday because I was off practicing my own preaching about experiencing all that life has to offer.  I visited a new place, met a bunch of awesome people (mostly high school English teachers), and went zip lining.  I ate fresh Mexican food on Cinco de Mayo, went hiking in a cave, and viewed the spectacular moon from the deck of a lodge in the woods. 

While I was driving to my destination for the weekend, I thought about the fact that I forgot to tell you to be good people on Thursday, but then I considered the fact that most of you have been reading my blog for two years, so I’m hoping that it’s sunk in, just like the thesis statement mantra.  At some point, you are going to have to remind yourselves to be good people.  Now is a good time to start that practice, because in three weeks…well, you won’t be in my classroom anymore, and I won’t be monitoring your behavior.  The good news is that if you need a nudge in the right direction, I’ll be right here…for 27 more years.

As I pulled onto Roosevelt Drive this morning, the song “I’ll Stand By You” by the Pretenders came on the radio.  That was my high school class’ song.  It was as if the gods of radio wanted me to tap into my former-high school-graduate self as I approached your school and feel the nostalgia that is slowly creeping  up on you.

Instead, I just laughed. 

I know that sounds cynical, but really, it isn’t.  I laughed because no one in my class wanted it to be our song, except the girl who was our class president during junior year.  She was ousted from office for our senior year, and her last act as president was to give us HER choice for our song, probably to give us the proverbial finger for not voting for her.

But I also laughed because high school seems so far away at this point in my life, and I can chuckle at the things that I thought were so important back then…but that I can’t even recall 13 years later. 

Don’t get me wrong.  I still have a lot of memories from high school, and if I take some time to reflect, I can certainly feel the adrenaline from being on stage and the heartache from a broken romance.  The deep emotions are still there, and they always will be, but the things that were trivial are far behind me, never to be pondered again.

So this is my message for you today.  As you approach graduation, you’re going to have a lot of emotions, and you’re going to start filing away lots of memories.  There are going to be fights and frustrations and petty arguments.  Trust me when I tell you that eventually, the stupid stuff will fade from your mind, and what you will be left with is a smattering of images, both good and bad.  When you’re in your 30s, high school will seem like it was a lifetime ago; I’m hoping that when you’re pulling into the parking lot of your big-boy and big-girl jobs and your graduation song comes on the radio, it makes you smile…and maybe even laugh.

There was an interesting juxtaposition in the news this morning.  On one hand, there was a story about five 20-somethings who wanted to use their knowledge of explosives to blow up a bridge in the Cleveland area.  On the other hand, there was a story about 20-somethings who put their brains together during their undergraduate engineering studies to invent a prosthetic limb that is cheaper to produce so that amputees can afford the device. 

I don’t think I need to point out the contrast in the thought processes of these people.  One group was trying to destroy humanity, while the other group was trying to elevate it. 

You’re going to find that there are many people in the world who have skills.  Lots of people are smart.  Many people can make plans.  The question is whether or not they are using their powers for good.  Of course, I want you to be in the group of those who are trying to save the world, because, let’s face it, the world could use some super heroes.  It makes me proud that they could be sitting in my classroom right now…

I guess it seems fitting that we will begin your portfolio projects on the first day of the last month of your high school careers.  I’m not an extremely sentimental person, but I like you guys, so it’s not always easy for me to send you off into the world, especially since I feel like I have so much more to tell you. 

On the way to school this morning, a song made me think of you and where you are right now in life.  The last few weeks of my senior year were a really fun time, and I hope your experience is the same.  I want you to learn everything you possibly can before your life changes drastically, so let it all soak in.  There’s no need to be in a hurry, because , trust me, life moves quickly enough. 

With that said, I must move on to grading more papers…your last one!

Hopelessly
I feel like there might be something that I’ll miss.
Hopelessly
I feel like the window closes oh-so quick .
Hopelessly
I’m taking a mental picture of you now.
‘Cause hopelessly
The hope is we have so much to feel good about.

Once again, our Academy students found success through the Laws of Life essay contest!  On Wednesday evening, three of our seniors will receive awards for their writing because they were honest and sincere.  I’m very proud of Ryan, Aiman, and Andy, not just because they’ve been publicly recognized, but because they were brave enough to write from the heart and let others read their words. 

Those of you who are artists and athletes know how hard it is to put yourself in front of people for the purpose of receiving criticism. It’s one thing to sing a song in your basement.  It’s another thing to enter an open mic competition.  It’s one thing to shoot hoops in your driveway.  It’s another thing to try out for the team. 

As you get older, the ways in which you open yourself up to criticism change slightly, but the principles are still the same.  You are going to have to submit your reports to your boss.  You’re probably going to have to do plenty of presentations to your engineering firms.  The important thing is that you’ve put the work in ahead of time, and you were genuine in wanting to do your best.

Perhaps that is today’s Law of Life: Be brave enough to work hard and then share your product with the world.  Neither of these tasks is easy, but the reward can be great if you’re dedicated to the task.

Yesterday I mentioned the fact that when you become an adult, everyone will ask you what you do for a living.  It’s one of the biggest ways that we define ourselves because it’s where much of our energy goes. 

Let me give you a little tip.  Choose a career that you aren’t ashamed to admit to people.  And marry someone who has a career that you aren’t ashamed to admit to people.  I had a friend who used to say that her husband worked at a bar.  It’s true that his place of employment served lots of alcohol, but there was another money making situation involved in that business that was less than moral.  However, she never wanted to tell people that her husband worked at a strip club. 

I was at a wedding shower once with my mother-in-law, who is a nurse and a college professor.  We met the maid of honor, and I introduced myself as a teacher, and Judy introduced herself as a nurse.  We were both taken aback when the woman said confidently, “I work for Big Tobacco.”  I have to say that she didn’t seem at all ashamed of her career, but Judy and I had trouble holding our judgment inside.  I’m sure it was all over my face.  I remember thinking that I was impressed that she could work for the devil and have no qualms about it.  But I wasn’t impressed with anything else about her.

You are on the right track to choosing a respectable career.  The goal is to improve society in some way.  If you’re doing that, you don’t have to be ashamed.

This weekend, think about what you want to do with your life and make some goals.  Practice being proud of your life calling.

And be good people.

It’s customary, when meeting a new person, to ask what he or she does for a living.  When I tell people that I’m a high school teacher, I would say that about 70% of the time, they make a face that indicating that they would rather eat glass than do what I do on a daily basis.  They always ask the same question: “HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH THOSE KIDS?”

What they don’t understand is that my students are the best part of my job.  Sure, I get stressed out and frustrated, but most of that is due to scheduling problems, technology, and adults who aren’t acting like adults.  I would rather be with teenagers than any other group in society because I find that, on the whole, they’re really good people. 

Here’s what people don’t get.  Adults who are nice people were probably nice in high school too.  And adults who are jerks were probably jerks in high school.  Humans don’t just suddenly become different people after they get out of their teen years.  In fact, I think lots of people become less palatable in adulthood because they’re more angry and bitter.   The way I see it, I meet people at the best time in their lives: after they’re potty trained and done with puberty, but before society corrupts them too much.

I want to say thanks for being such a good part of my life.  I like telling people that they’re wrong about teenagers.  Most of them don’t believe me when I say that you guys have an unfair reputation.  They just think I’m the one who’s crazy, which is just fine with me.  It means they’ll leave you alone and spare you their negativity.  You and I both know that they’re the ones who are missing out.