Dear High School Freshmen:
By Khari Mawusi, Agape Life Contributor
updated Thu November 13, 2014
You’ve got to be pumped. You’ve got to be focused. You have to see your goal at the end of the finish line, and sprint towards it; because you’ve only got one chance to make it happen. Just like you’ve got one chance to make a first impression; you’ve got one chance to decide what kind of student you are going to be--typical or outrageously different. Will you be lazy or motivated?
High school can be the best or worst time of your life, but that’s not the point. The point is what did you make
of your time there. Did you try your hardest? Did you tryout for sports or theatre-- did you take that leap? Do something different. Stand out. Crowds of people don’t win awards, individuals do. So, be loud! Be bold! Seek the answer to the age old question: what was I created to do/be/see/think, and then go do it!
Or, you can chill in the hallways with the crew. Get high in the park. Go ahead, skip school. It’s only your future. The next faze of your life. The step before college -- that is, if you decide to go. Ha! If you get in! I know that sounds mean, but truth is: this is the preparation before the game. No one will just hand you a diploma, you have to earn it.
You’ve got to be pumped. You’ve got to be focused. You have to see your goal at the end of the finish line, and sprint towards it; because you’ve only got one chance to make it happen. My parents went to college. My sister graduated from FAMU, and my other sister is at Spelman. They still put in the work every day. They still tell me every day that it’s easy to not do the easy things, but that makes you lazy. Procrastination makes you lazy. After 17 years of hearing bad things about laziness, I’m too disgusted to be lazy.
Lazy means that you’re ok with someone else telling you when to go to work, when you can go home, when you can take a break. Lazy means you’re trapped in a cage for the rest of your life, because you don’t know any better to care! You don’t care that you’re stuck in the cage because that’s what you’re used to. Once you form a lion mentality, you won’t let anyone ever dictate your life. You won’t be the last person to raise your hand in class. You won’t be ok with a C or a B in class, because you know you’re better than that.
You’ve got to be pumped. You’ve got to be focused. You have to see your goal at the end of the finish line, and sprint towards it; because you’ve only got one chance to make it happen. You’ve got to realize that if it was easy, everyone would have straight A’s. Everyone would graduate on time. Everyone would go on to bigger and better things, and that is not the case. Not everyone has the oomph to succeed where others do not. Like crabs in a barrel, as soon as one tries to climb to the top the rest pull him back down. Most people in life try to run away from challenges. However, my grandfather always said, “if there’s anything of value worth having it’s going to have a struggle.”