Advice for Graduates

By PJ Martin

Editor

The Herald-News

 

Congratulations, you are graduating high school! That means more than you think. You need a high school diploma to do almost anything these days.

I know you are sick of getting advice at this point, but this may be a little different than the normal advice, so here goes.

You will mature more in the next 4 to 5 years than you ever imagined. I know you think you are mature now, but you aren’t, and you won’t realize that until you are.

Don’t know what you want to do with your life? You are not alone. Most people don’t know what they want to pursue straight out of high school either.

Don’t think you have to get married because most of your friends are. Like I said, you are going to mature over the next few years and your ideas of a great spouse may change a lot. Wait!

Be true to yourself. Never pretend to be someone you aren’t just to please others.

So, you’re getting married anyway, hold off on having kids for a couple of years. Keep those years for the two of you to get settled, because once a child arrives, everything changes for the rest of your life.

Make sure you know how to make a budget and stick to it! That credit/debit card can either build your credit score or destroy it in seconds. (You don’t need a credit card anyway.)

If you already have a job, that’s great. Understand that you never start at the top. You have to work your way up from the bottom.

Be kind. Get to know your co-workers, other students, and the cafeteria workers. No one is any better than anyone else, so treat them that way.

Even if it is a ‘for-now’ job, if you are offered training of any type, take it. Free training from a workplace is that much more for a resume later on. Never turn down free training or classes!

If you don’t want to go to college, that’s ok, because there are a lot of trades out there in desperate need of workers. Learn and earn a license to plumb, wire, program, and construct, these are all necessary trades.

If you do go to college, make good choices. Yes, you have a lot of basic courses to take first, but when it comes down to it, the minor matters as much as the major sometimes.

You will make a lot of new friends in the next few years, but don’t forget to keep in touch with that one best friend that’s always been there.

All those years you thought your parents were too tough on you, they weren’t. They were and are your best fans. So, always treat them well. They’ve had your back all along.