Lessons Learned
May 29, 2018 Uncategorized 0 comment nleclair18
Class of 2018, we finally made it to graduation. We’ve suffered through four long years at Oak Hill High School just for a handshake and a piece of paper. Throughout these years, we’ve all had our share of experiences. I’m about to share with you a few stories of my experiences during high school and what I’ve learned from these situations.
First story: Sophomore year about four weeks into baseball season, the JV team was on the field doing conditioning drills when Coach had us all line up behind first base. To be honest, I wasn’t paying much attention to what Coach was saying because I was too busy talking to my buddies. Tim went first and ran straight to second base and stayed there. Coach yelled something about sliding and made Tim do pushups. I was next, so I sprinted down the second baseline. 250 lbs of chub accelerating towards the base, when I realized that I need to slide – I didn’t want to end up like Tim. Pushups suck – but that realization came about two seconds too late. I dropped down to the dirt and felt my cleat catch the edge of the base. My foot twisted and made a lovely *crunch* sound. I went to the hospital the next morning to get it X-rayed, and found out that it was broken. I spent 4 weeks in a splint, 4 weeks in a hard cast, and then 4 weeks in a walking boot. A simple error ended my baseball season and had me in pain for over a month. It’s important to pay attention to the situation at hand and to know what you’re doing, otherwise you might fail horribly and cause a bunch of problems for yourself like I did. Plan your actions ahead of time and don’t wait until it’s too late to act, otherwise you might end up breaking your leg at second base.
Second story: Summer before senior year, I worked in the kitchen at Camp William Hinds, a Boy Scout camp in Raymond, Maine. It was a pretty great setup; I would show up Sunday morning and leave Friday night, with Saturdays off. I lived at camp 6 days out of the week, and got paid hourly without any deductions for room and board. Everything was going great and I loved my job. Friday July 7th, I stayed late at camp with some friends and decided to just stay the night in my cabin and then go home in the morning. I woke up Saturday and it was beautiful outside: the sun was shining, a few light clouds in the sky, and it was about 70 degrees or so. I got in my car and started driving home, windows down and music up, just enjoying the day. I remember thinking to myself that when I got home, I was gonna get my golf clubs and go play a few rounds. Not 10 minutes later, I found myself upside down in a ditch. I walked away from the accident completely unscathed, but my car was totaled. It would have still run fine with a little work, but there was too much body damage for it to be salvageable. I had been coming around a right turn on a dirt road going 45 when my rear end started to kick to the left. I oversteered to the left, and my car did a 180 before clipping a stump and flipping onto the roof. I climbed out, called my parents, and called 911 and got the whole thing situated. Needless to say, I did not go play golf that day. One minute I’m planning to go play 9 holes, and the next minute I’m crawling out of my overturned Honda that I had owned for only a few months. Things can change in the blink of an eye, that’s why it is important to appreciate what you have and to not take things for granted. People often say “You don’t know what you have until it’s gone,” and they’re right. We never know when something could happen and change our lives, so take time to be grateful for what you have.
Final story: At some point during sophomore year, I figured out what I wanted to do for my Capstone product: I wanted to build a Les Paul-style electric guitar. Over the next 2 years I drafted designs and templates, ordered parts and materials, and began constructing my guitar. Flash forward to January 2018 – I had done some significant work on the body of the guitar and I was really happy with how it was coming along. My dad helped me find a guy named Steve who works on guitars and would be able to help me (for a low, low price of $60/hour). I brought in what I had completed so Steve could check it out and give me some advice. That was when he revealed that most of the work I had done was wrong and if I decided to continue to finish it as it was, nothing would be lined up and it would never play in tune. I had already invested a lot of time and money, so I decided to take the extra steps to fix it and do it right; this was a BIG setback. Steve told me that the best way to go about it was to plane it back down to mahogany, essentially getting rid of the holes that I drilled for the bridge and pickups. I planed off the nice maple top that was on it and glued on a new one so we could re-drill the holes for the hardware. We finished up the body and added some trim-work that not only hid a couple blemishes, but also looked really sweet. Then I painted it and Steve helped me buff it up and install all of the electrical components. We plugged it in and tested it for sound and intonation and it was perfect. Within a one-month period, Steve helped me turn a piece of wood into a fully functional musical instrument that looks, plays, and sounds like an absolute beauty. In the end, I only ended up owing him over $700, but it was well worth it. As happy as I am with how my product came out, I wish I had taken the time to find the proper spacing for the appliances. Had I done more research or reached out to Steve sooner, I could have avoided the setback and likely have saved a couple hundred dollars. It goes to show that by taking just a little extra time to plan the details, you can avoid the future headache of having to go back and fix everything. My parents told me when I was younger, “If you do it right the first time, you won’t have to do it again,” a piece of advice that has proven true thus far.
Congratulations to the Graduating Class of 2018. We made it here, and now we go our separate ways and decide our future. As we go out into the world and lead our adult lives, try to remember these three virtues: (1) Pay attention to what you’re doing and don’t wait until it’s too late to act. (2) Appreciate everything and everyone around you, because time is fleeting and life can change like that *snap finger*. (3) Plan your moves and do the job right the first time, otherwise you’ll have to go back and correct your mistakes. As YouTuber “Prince Ea” said, “while students may be 20% of our population, they are 100% of our future.” So now, fellow classmates, let’s go build the best future that we can.
