As I sat in my room doing my rigorous math homework from my even more rigorous math teacher (Mrs. Monczka, who is a brilliant teacher), I had a moment of thought that I had to write. I’m halfway through my junior year, and it’s not getting any slower. Before I know it, I’m going to be leaving the hallways of Oratory Prep. That’s the point of this article. I’m here to give advice. I’m not sure who’s going to take this advice seriously, and I will probably get made fun of by my classmates for writing this article (all jokes), but for those of you who do actually take a moment to read this and are serious, I hope I give you some insight. 

Every moment we have is precious and we need to use it.

With the new year just passing, it’s another chance to start fresh. Another chance to fix something. Another chance to try something new. Another chance to see the good in someone. Whatever it may be, do it. There’s no time for regrets. Make the most of every moment. 

Keep Going.

This is probably one of the most difficult things in life. Not giving up. Giving up is much easier than working consistently. However, why would you give up when you’re absolutely capable of doing what you put your mind to? Yea, that might be super generic, but it’s true. I’m not the smartest guy in my math class, and here or there, someone might make a witty joke about it. But honestly, I don’t give a toss about them. Yea, sometimes it might be annoying when someone calls you stupid or the dumbest in the class. And yea, it might not seem like it affects someone, but it hurts deep down. And that’s when you wanna give up. When the world tells you to call it quits and move. And you know what, maybe you should do that. Do that so you can prove everyone against you right. Wrong. You keep working. Get the words “give up” and “quit” out of your vocabulary. Those words are meaningless. They have no value. It’s when you keep moving forward and keep working that you become the best person you can be. And once you achieve that goal, it is the greatest feeling in the world. Whether it be a sport, subject, obstacle, or whatever it may be: keep going. Because if you keep going, it’s gonna lead you somewhere.

Failure is just a setback.

Failure is a part of life–it happens to everyone. No matter what happens, nothing can’t be fixed or overcome. In my past 5 years at Oratory Prep, I’ve messed up on tests, in life, in sports, and more. And honestly, failure is something that really hurts. There’s nothing more to say about that. Some of us handle failure differently but it has the same result: it makes us feel weak and sometimes hopeless. All I have to say is that failure isn’t the end of the line. It strengthens us. For Oratory Prep hockey, even though we have had success, we have seen failure. Last year, we lost to Cranford in the playoffs in overtime. It honestly was one of the worst feelings in my life. I know each of the veterans can say that it’s something difficult to look back on. And as much as it’s tempting to just get all upset and accept this failure, we didn’t accept that. We learned from our failure and became a stronger team this year. Failure didn’t stop us. It gave us an opportunity to get better and learn how to become better players and a team. 

Well, that’s about it. Not sure if this helped anyone, but if I had to say one thing for you to remember: you’re a great person, and keep being you.