Padre Press

Seniors: It's time to take responsibility

Monday, February 13, 2012 By Sara Patrick

Most juniors and seniors now posses the same advantages and responsibilities as adults. We have cars, jobs and an income. Yet, we still get grounded when we make wrong choices. It looks like we’re not as high and mighty after all. Paying the consequences for our choices is something we’ll all have to face at one point. In other words, you eventually have to learn how to be responsible. Responsibility is the fundamentals of being an adult. A 39-year-old living that is still living at their parent’s home is not considered an adult; he is considered a lazy human being. Responsibility starts in our own campus hallways. We are expected to complete assignments and gain the knowledge taught to us throughout the year to progress to the next grade. Teachers will do anything in their power to make passing each school year as easy as possible for us. The responsibility needed to pass each year is a very small amount. As we grow older the amount of responsibility needed to complete daily tasks increases. The main thing a teenager looks forward to in their teenage years is getting a drivers license. It’s an amazing privilege to acquire, yet there is much more to it than just knowing how to drive a car; the money needed to put gas in the car, to pay for insurance or even getting into a collision. The only place that money will come from is a job. What’s the point of growing up if parents pay for everything? The best way to get a job is to prove to a manager that you are capable of being responsible. Not only does it take good interviewing skills, its proving to that manager that you will show up to the work place on a day to day basis, completing the duties of the job and finishing the job in a timely manner without complaining. Responsibility doesn’t end with the fundamentals of learning. Learning how to use responsibility will almost come as a sixth sense to people. The more tasks we take on in our lives increases the amount of responsibility we need to acquire. The next step in responsibility is facing the consequences for one’s actions. I’ve recently just had a huge reality check. I was hit with a $400 traffic ticket. I may have a license, a car, a job and good grades, but that doesn’t mean its okay for me to break traffic laws. The consequences for my actions included court, driving school and money that could be used for something a bit more exciting. Graduation will come sooner than we think, that means for most, it’s time to move out; something all teenagers dream of. We see this time in our life to be the most exciting; we finally get to do whatever we want. Then there comes the bills. Rent, electricity, water, cable, food, etc. The good stuff of having your own place, right? Wrong. Just because you don’t live under your parent’s roof doesn’t mean everything will be smooth sails. Your weekends will most likely be your only opportunity to catch up on sleep after dealing with a stressful week of school and work. If you were really smart, you’d stay under the supervision of your parents. Instead of using all your hard earned cash on rent and utilities, save it for something important. Knowing the difference between right and wrong is true responsibility. If you make a mistake, hurt someone’s feelings, or flat out do something stupid, learn how to apologize and take credit for your foolish actions. Don’t put the blame on someone else. Honestly, reliability and independency are all key factors to growing up. We’re all bound to make mistakes, but the important part is learning from those mistakes. That is the difference between growing up and becoming an adult.