Friday, May 26, 2017

"What Are You Gonna Be When You Grow Up?" / Happenings In The Outhouse 26-May-2017

Today, our eighteen-year-old son graduates from high school.


We're very proud of him.  There are things he's accomplished at such a young age that, when compared with thousands and thousands of kids his age, he's so far ahead.  Even though he didn't apply for any scholarships and hasn't been gifted with being the most athletic on the planet, he has accomplished far more.

Has it been an easy road with him?  Oh, God, no.  We've battled with him on grades, cleaning his room, and even some "medical" situations that I will not elaborate on.

But we've worked through it.  And he's turned into a better person because of it.

A few weeks ago, at the spring choir concert, the choir teacher lined up all of the seniors and reminisced about how long she's taught each of them and what she remembered most.  Our son was last on her list, and I must say he got the hugest reaction from the entire crowd.  Our son is extremely knowledgeable about current events, including politics and issues plaguing today's society, and has no problem expressing his opinion.  The teacher even said our son is a wealth of knowledge and odd facts, and even though his current plans in the near future doesn't include college, he has found ways of learning new things.  The teacher concluded with, "Just remember to keep learning."  He replied with his typical, "Okay, I will."

And he will too.

He has a YouTube channel and has even created podcasts and movies.  He constantly puts himself out there. And for the critics, he handles them very well.  No kidding.  Very, very well.  In fact, if the critics are harsh enough, he'll make fun of them and create a YouTube video of it.

(Insert smiley face emoticon here)

At tomorrow's graduation reception, there will be many people who will ask about his future plans.  It's the old, standard "What are you gonna be when you grow up?" question that all graduates get.  I hate this question.

A better question is: where do you envision yourself in five, ten, twenty years?

With the Internet, knowledge about a new topic is just a click away.

Where will you be in five, ten, or even twenty years?

Now, ask yourself: how will you get there?
That is the right question to ask.

No comments:

Post a Comment