“First, show up! Second, try!”

A couple of years ago, I attended a ceremony at a High School in Florida in honor of the eighth graders who were moving up from middle school to high school. I was invited to attend it because my son, Jordan, had just passed the eighth grade and was getting ready for the ninth. Interestingly, they called the ceremony a “Stepping Forth Ceremony.” For me it was an intriguing event because I had never heard of such a ceremony. Of course, probably like many of you, I have attended and heard of ceremonies for seniors graduating, and for fifth graders moving into middle school, and even for preschoolers moving up to the first grade; but never of eighth graders “stepping forth” into high school.

I thought it was a nice thing to have for the kids, but secretly, I wondered why they were doing it. It didn’t take long for me to find out the reason for this special ceremony. The principal of the school got up on stage and explained that they had developed the event to encourage the eighth graders in that area to make it one of their goals to complete their schooling through the twelfth grade. According to him, about forty percent of those completing the eighth grade would not go on to finish their senior year! Can you believe it?! That’s a terrible statistic to hear about! And, a sad one! So, I was glad to see that they were taking some positive steps to encourage these young teens to recognize the value of completing their senior year and receiving a high school diploma.

I was also glad and pleasantly surprised to hear the advice the principal was giving them as he encouraged them to reach that goal. He said, “If you want to be successful in high school you have to do two things. First, show up! Second, try!” Isn’t that great advice? Simple, but profound!

I think his advice could be used to help one be successful in other areas of life too. Don’t you? You want to be a success at work? “First, show up! Second, try!” You want to be success as a friend? “First, show up! Second, try!” You want to be a success as a parent or as a spouse? “First, show up! Second, try!” You want to be a success as a Christian? “First, show up! Second, try!” If you want to be successful at something, this is great advice!

             Ronaldo Ricardo Guzmán