Dropping Out

         It seems that a common topic around here at PCR is dropping out. A lot of people are giving up hope and feeling that the best choice is the real world. All I have to say about that is THIS.

          Is this a decision that you are truly going to be proud of 10 years from now and those of you considering this are going to say "Yeah" but of course you are because you are consumed in the overwhelming odds that you are facing; and yeah you probably think that yeah this is the best decision for me for this year and the next year but WHAT ABOUT 10 YEARS?? In 10 years most of us with have families we will have to provide for and most of us ideally want to have jobs that we enjoy. So why not do the most we can to make sure we can get that far.  Now a job we love doesn't necessarily mean a job that pays a ton or take a ton of schooling but now a days a 4 year college degrees was what a high school degree was 20 years ago. So fight through the seniority, we all have it, we all find this useless at time, but we do it anyways.          
           Instead of looking at the entire block of time you have left just think I just have this period. That's all you have to do. That's what I was told to do when I was going through a hard time and talk to your teachers and tell them what you are feeling and going through they will understand; they will help you out. 

         Your other options are... what? So you probably have a part time job at some fast food joint, with no benefits. Your options are at the best to move in with a few people in a small apartment and then you have to worry about theft and everybody eating the food you have bought for yourself with the money you have worked really hard for; because all of you are broke. Now what happens if one of you become extremely ill all of you become ill because you are in closed quarters. Now the problem with that is you have no insurance. So no antibiotics for any of you guys; hence missed work, no money. Now lets think of what all of think will never happen because we think we are young and our bodies are invincible. You find out that you have some sort of illness that needs to be taken care of right away; surgery right away. then right there you have several thousand dollars in medical bills and a part time job to take care of it and you have to account for recovery time. 

          Now lets talk about cars; being really broke you probably have a beater car, and with beater cars comes malfunctions. Are all of you planning on becoming master mechanic's overnight to fix your  broken down cars and even if you do, there is the expense of paying for the parts, the various fluids, and if you aren't a good mechanic then the expense of paying someone to do it.
          My point is that there are a lot of expenses that as teenagers we take for granted these days. A lot of unplanned expenses happen all of the time that can bankrupt someone. So I think we owe it to ourselves to try and get as far as we can in our education and set goals for yourself, even if you don't reach those goals its important to set them to know what you want and keep striving so you don't say in one place. Your not doing this for anyone else. As hokey as that sounds you need to invest in yourself because there is nothing better to put your efforts toward.