Added on May 27, 2019  Marsha Chartrand

Graduating senior offers advice to young students

By Mitchell Ernst

“What Do You Want To Tell Younger Students?”

In 15 years of schooling, including preschool, this is the hardest question that I have ever had to answer. But, after taking two weeks to finally come up with a response, I found out that it could be summed up in one word. I learned this word in Kindergarten and it only consists of two letters: BE. In every aspect of my life, I have noticed this word in action.

Recollecting on this idea, I was able to come up with many times that I used this word in my high school life. “Be Diligent”, “Be Present”, “Be Alive”, “Be Grateful”, “Be Fearless”, “Be Strong”, “Be Proud”, “Be Ambitious”, “Be Involved”, “Be Trustworthy”, and most importantly out of all of them, “Be You”. These small phrases may not seem like much, but looking back, these were the phrases that pushed me out of the deepest and darkest ditches I have ever traveled down.

Being diligent was one that I just encountered the last week of school when I sat down and finalized my assignment checklist. I had so much to get done and so little time to do it; I had to be diligent to get it all done on time.

Being present and being alive both play out whenever I am living something for the first time. We only get one senior year, we only get one junior year, we only get one sophomore year, and so on. If you are not present and living in those moments, then you are pointlessly floating through your life, and that is just sad. No one should feel unattached or pointless; we all have a purpose for this world, and it is about time we figured it out.

Be grateful. We have been given these opportunities for a reason, and just because life may not be playing out in the way you had intended does not mean it is not life. “Live life to the fullest!”, such a common phrase that everyone throws around often, but does anyone really know what that means? We are all expected to play our roles and find our paths, and the only way to do that is to be fearless and strong when living and being present. There are going to be times that you feel like quitting and want to tap out early, but News Flash: you are not the only one.

So many kids have given up and no longer attend a school or search for something they are passionate about because they believed they do not have the strength or the guts. But News Flash again: you are strong enough to do anything! Let’s reflect, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama, Steve Jobs, Beyonce, Ariana Grande, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Pratt; they all sat in your place too. They sat in their 8th-grade classrooms, or 9th-grade classrooms, worried about what was going to happen down the road in high school, but yet they found the strength that was placed in them and they used it to better the world.

And taking more notes from them, be proud. So many people are nervous that they are not going to fit in or they are going to be the odd ones out, but honestly, let’s wake up and strut your stuff!

There is no need to hold back and hide what you have done, who you are, or what you are made of. Being ambitious and involved fall under the same category of needing to just step out of whatever safely bubble you have and go after that dream, that skill, or that hidden talent you know is stirring within you. High School is a time where there is no time for regrets. You have to go out there and make your name known and your heart heard.

A wise teacher once told me, “We are all given Trust Banks in life. We spend years and years trying to put trust deposits into the bank and hoping that we are succeeding in providing a stable trust system, but, unannounced to us, there are going to be times where you have to make a withdrawal. These times may be embarrassing or hard, but ultimately that is why you always make sure there is a cushion of relief built up in the bank.”

This has been one of the best metaphors I have heard. Mr. Gerbe has bestowed this story upon all of his students because he knows the significance it holds. No one is going to be perfect 100% of the time, but people should be building trust 100% of the time they are alive.

These ideas are all wonderful, the trustworthiness, the being present, the living and being involved- but ultimately there is one phrase that is the king of all “Be” phrases, and that is “Be You”. So many situations in your life are going to challenge you and your identity. There is going to be a situation where you feel personally attacked and hopeless like there is nowhere to go and no one to turn to. This is something we all feel and we all witness, but as cheesy as this sounds, we ALL have gone through this.

If there was anyone that I would turn to when I would need help with this, it would be the teachers. These teachers are dedicated. They are compassionate, and they are more equipped now than any other batch of teachers ever has been. The 21st century has not been kind and has thrown so much at these school systems. In the midst of all of it, however, we have not lost the teachers. They are fearless and are always, always there if you ever need someone to talk to or just listen to all you have to say. But is sad because fewer people are seeing education as a career opportunity, and it is all because they are scared of the unknown. Well, I am not, and I will never be.

I think the biggest part about living life is the fact that you don’t actually live it until you fully let go and, not float, but travel freely through whatever is handed in your direction. It builds characters, it builds individuality, and it builds who you really are deep down.

I really only have two letters to pass along: B-E. These two letters can be whatever you want them to be. They can be meaningless or unnecessary, or they can be what allows you to spend high school discovering, developing, and deploying all that you know to be true, and all that you know to be needed in today’s world.

Mitchell Ernst is a member of the MHS graduating class of 2019. The son of Kevin Ernst and Laurie Crosheck, he is a member of the Manchester High School German Club, MHS Key Club, National Honor Society, a student mentor and has been very active with the Drama Club, 4-H, Swine Club, and his church.