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The Challenge

Ahh, it is June. The sky is dark, the rain is pouring and the Sun seems to be making rare appearances - but we don’t care! Come on, it’s June! School is almost out! Another school year over, and glorious summer break awaits us!

Of course, for those of you readers who are graduating this year (like me), the matter is not quite so simple.

This is personally quite a tumultuous time for me, and I should admit that I’m a bit of an emotional train wreck right now. I know I’m so done with high school at this point, and the thought of leaving high school seems too good to be true. On the other hand... these last five years have arguably been the most memorable years of my life, and I don’t know how I feel about leaving them behind forever. What I’m having the most trouble with is, funnily enough, regret. Have I done enough? What else could I have possibly done during my time in high school?

I remember starting off this blog with such high hopes and great intentions. Looking back now, I’m not quite sure if I have done well by this opportunity. There was so much more I wanted to share and talk about. Oh well. Such is life. At least I feel now that I’m older and wiser, and much more fit to leave you guys with a challenge.

I mean - you only live once, so why not live it to the fullest? Why not live a life filled with passion as you reach out in compassion toward the poor or fight to protect the environment or stand up to defend the rights of others?

High school only happens once. It would be truly terrible to look back on those years in the future and wonder why you didn’t do this or didn’t get involved in that. I cannot stress this enough, youth have so much power in their hands. Don’t let that go to waste - find your passion, gather fellow young leaders and start making a difference in the world. The way you achieve this goal will look different for everyone, and that’s fantastic! Whether you volunteer at an animal shelter or fundraise for a cause or dance polka with grannies at a senior home, once you become a socially aware youth, everything that you do will impact both the local and global community.

And let me tell you something - with only a few days left of high school, the thing I’m most proud of isn’t my grades, clothes or popularity. I am most thankful for the fact that I worked with my peers for a cause we cared about, and finally got that school built in Kenya. This quiet feeling of accomplishment and humble pride is what I wish for all of you as you graduate, and also in every other step of your life.

And my fellow grade 12’s - the same goes for you. Whatever is waiting for you in the future, please do not lose the passion and energy that you have to change the world for the better. It’ll probably be more difficult in new surroundings and among new people; but if we survived five years of high school we can survive ANYTHING, right?

Thank you all for sticking with the blog and sharing your amazing-ness. I can’t tell you how inspiring it was to see how committed some of you were to various issues and causes. Please keep being fabulous. Actually, become even more fabulous.

So here’s the challenge: we all know the youth can think, now it’s time for the YOUTH to ACT!