In the event your children or grandchildren do not notice these "10 important suggestions," do them a favor and attach them to the next check or $50 bill from you.
Most of my life has been spent trying to help teenagers and young adults adjust to life. Let’s look at those suggestions.
1. Decide now that the coming school year will be your best ever. Enter it with a positive attitude.
2. Accept your teachers as talented and qualified professionals who will do their best to help you become a better student. Some of my best friends were my teachers.
3. Be positive and caring toward your classmates. The problems they face are similar to yours. Of the tens of thousands of students I have had the privilege of addressing in large groups in high school and college convocations, I do not believe even one was problem free.
4. Sit as close as you can to the front of the room and the teacher in order to avoid distractions. Stay focused on what the teacher is saying.
5. Everything you can learn in every class will be needed some day. Learn all you can about as many things as you can.
6. Go to bed each night early enough to get all the sleep you will need to be alert and in a learning mode all day long.
7. Eat and exercise properly. Good nutrition, not quick bits of junk food, coupled with daily physical exercise will help you to be in good physical, mental and emotional health.
8. Never cheat by using another person’s answer as your own. Better to flunk than to cheat. I heard a man testify that he took one class seven times before he passed it with a C grade. He never finished a Ph.D., but nobody ever questioned his integrity.
9. Life-long learning should be a determined goal. Keep learning. A highly respected medical scientist said, "Read six good books on any subject and you’ll know more about it than 99% of the people you’ll ever meet."
10. Deeply appreciate the many persons, especially your parents, who made all your learning opportunities possible. Education is expensive, but not nearly as much as ignorance.
Ten suggestions should be enough, but permit me just two more.
11. If you are away from home, find a good church and attend it regularly each week just as you do at home. If you do not continue to grow spiritually, all your growth in the other areas of life could be pretty much wasted. It was said of Jesus, when he was twelve years old, "So Jesus grew both in height and in wisdom, and he was loved by God and by all who knew him" (Luke 2:52 NLT).
12. Let your most important book, to be read each day, be the Bible. It is God’s book and is far superior to all the others. You will learn much from it that will help you in all your classes. Turn to Exodus 20:1-21 and read God’s "Ten Commandments" and be determined to obey each one. Doing so will save you a lifetime of sorrow, regret, remorse and failure.
If we fail to keep God’s commandments in willful obedience, we will inevitably suffer the terrible consequences of our willful disobedience. The "school of experience" teaches life’s toughest lessons in an unforgettable manner, but the price of the tuition is so extremely high that none of us can afford to pay it.
Before going to school this year, I suggest that you read over and over again the first two books of the Bible, Genesis and Exodus and the book of John in the New Testament.
The choice is yours. Have a super year!
Bill Ellis is a syndicated columnist, and convention and conference speaker on every continent. He is the writer of more than 1600 columns and widely known as a motivator utilizing enjoyment of life and just plain fun and laughter while speaking to high school, university and professional sports teams as well as to business and professional groups of all kinds. His keen understanding of human problems make him a favorite speaker for youth, parent, and senior adult meetings. He is accompanied by Kitty, his wife, favorite singer, editor and publisher.
For information on becoming a subscriber to the Ellis Column for your newspaper or magazine, you may contact him at: BILL ELLIS, P.O.Box 345, Scott Depot, WV 25560 or by calling: 304-757-6089.
This article originally appeared in ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net).