I’ve heard people talk about their high school years as though it were the golden age of perfection. My mother would say to me,”Enjoy those [high school] days. I had some good, clean fun. You’re going to miss them when they go.” Being young, I heard her but those words didn’t resonate until much later on. I didn’t quite get it.

Looking back, I have come to cherish my high school days very fondly. I miss being carefree, throwing caution to the wind. We were ready to try new things and showed great compassion for others. We reverberated basic, inalienable principles available to all humans: compassion, love, and respect.

I’d like to think that we embodied all that was right in the world, or I at least feel like we did. There was little to no racial issues, although such things lurked outside of our school walls. We were free to explore, be who we were (unaware of judgments placed upon us).

Things were much simpler then. The biggest worry during my time in school was appearance and girls (the perpetual cycle).  No bills. No kids. No real responsibilities.

High school represents the hope for tomorrow; the way the country should be. Maybe my 18-year-old self (and his cohorts) knew a thing or two about what the country should aspire to be. Those friends that I had back then, many are doing world-changing things in their fields. It gives me hope that the things that we have learned collectively can be spread abroad in the world.

My hat goes off to us then and now.

Until Next Time,

Love & Peace