The Observer, September 29, 2006
Volume XXXIX, Issue 5
Just in Case...
...you want to be responsible
Part of being in college is learning accountability. You go through each day making choices and those choices are yours. The results, whether good or bad, belong to you. That's a hard thing to accept. College provides that kind of independence. I can do whatever I want, but everything has a price. It's funny: the poorer the choice the higher the price. That price might be monetary, but more likely it's an intangible – reputation, relationship, aggravation.
Back to accountability…We spend a lot of time dealing with poor choices. The problem is that we don't want to pay the bill. Making the choice is easy, but then the check comes and we don't want to deal with it. So why so many poor choices?
Well, you have to look at yourself. What are you doing and why are you doing it? Talk to someone outside your circle of friends and listen to what they have to say. If you are around people who are making the same choices you are, you're not going to get different advice. And for crying out loud, own up to your choices. You know what excuses are like…everyone has one.
I once heard, "The past tempts us, the present confuses us, and the future frightens us." Sometimes we look back when making our decisions, because even though we didn't make the best decisions, we made it through. If you see a pattern that isn't working well for you, look forward. It might be scary, but different can be good.
