Karla's Kolumn

Last week Worland schools conducted the annual “Life R U Ready?” program for eighth graders to help them realize the choices they make have consequences.

They examined relationship choices — being in a bad or unhealthy relationship, or getting pregnant, drunk driving, distracted driving, choices where you may end up in court and/or jail and others.

Just as the eighth graders will be faced with many decisions as they enter high school, our high school and college graduates will be faced with many choices, some coming quickly and some in the distant future.

One question some guidance counselors and even some employers have asked is where do you see yourself in five, 10, 20 years down the road. These are questions that our graduates, as well as those eighth graders who will be starting high school, should be asking themselves so they can start preparing for their dreams and goals.

Never be afraid to change your goals, or your dreams. As circumstances change in your life, so can your goals and your dreams, but never give up on those dreams.

In getting prepared for those goals and dreams and the next phase of outside high school and college there are a few things young graduates should know. I’m paraphrasing from a list by Charles J. Sykes wrote in regard to things schools aren’t teaching. It was written in the 1990s and recently attributed, wrongly I might add, on Facebook, to different authors.

First, “Life is not fair.” The Declaration of Independence for our country states “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Note the last part …. We have the right to pursue happiness but we are not guaranteed happiness, just guaranteed the right to pursue that which makes you happy, and realize that the things that make you happy will change as you grow in maturity and wisdom.

Second, It’s no one else’s fault. Sykes writes that it’s not your parents fault but I’m modifying it. I’m a strong believer in taking responsibility for one’s actions. You are the one living your life. You are the one making your choices and decisions. You are responsible for your behavior, your decisions and how those decisions impact your life and the lives of others.

Third, “Life isn’t divided into semesters and you don’t get summers off.” After graduating from the University of Wyoming the latter was tough. I went to work a week after graduating. I got two days off at Christmas because of where Christmas fell I had to be work the day after Christmas.

In starting a new job I didn’t have vacation time until after working a year so I got only the paid holidays off. Summers were as busy as the rest of the year, still working five days a week or more (working for a newspaper is not a Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. job).

Sykes wrote more but for this space I’m limiting it to three.

Good luck to all our graduates — kindergarten, eighth grade, high school and college — as you pursue your true happiness. Are you ready?