An excerpt from The ABCs of Student Leadership

Getting involved truly does make school fun. It’s also an outlet for stress, and it’s where you will make some of your best friends. In high school, one of my teachers was trying to sound very profound and philosopher-like and he said to our class:

“Remember, wherever you go, that’s where you’ll be!”

The class had a good chuckle and we went back to what we were doing. It was silly, but so obviously true. Or was it? I can’t argue that physically, wherever you go, that’s where you are – but mentally, I think it’s all too often a different story for some people.

I’ve done it countless times. There were occasions when I had a big assignment due, or a test to study for and my friends convinced me that we really needed to go to see a movie. My rubber arm was twisted and off I would go! But the entire night would be ruined by this overwhelming sense of guilt that I hadn’t stayed home to do my work. Not only would I not get my homework done, I wouldn’t enjoy myself because I was too busy worrying about the work I wasn’t doing. I lost twice.

Other times, in similar situations, I held my ground and stayed in to do my work, only to find my mind constantly straying, wondering what all my friends were up to. Again, I lost twice; I wasn’t productive with my work because my mind wasn’t on it and I didn’t get to go out with my friends.