High School Can Be a Jungle

From the time you were born, we’ve taught you values and character skills that we hope will help you become a great person, and we’ve spent time, money, and energy pouring into you.

Then we send you off to high school, where our voice and message get challenged in ways we can’t imagine.

That’s why I say, “High school can be a jungle.”

It means high school can feel wild, unpredictable, and competitive—like a jungle where everyone’s trying to survive and find their place, and some people will try to bring you down or tear you down in the process.

You are going to learn more about the world and the people in it than I would like sometimes, and you have to—get to—decide who you want to be.

But remember, no matter who you share a classroom or locker room with, you always get to choose who you want to be.

Every day before you leave the house, or before you walk through the school doors, think about that—think about who you want to be, and fight to be it.

I say you have to fight for it because, again, high school—and life—can be a jungle.

Be who you want to be, not what everyone else is choosing or wants you to be. When they make choices you don’t want to make—don’t. When they say things you don’t want to say—don’t. When they do things you don’t want to do—don’t.

Performance coach Alan Stein said two things that really resonated with me: First, “Anytime you don’t show up as the best version of yourself, it is an act of selfishness because you give everyone in this room less of a chance to win because you chose not to show up as the best version of yourself.”

Then, “A disciplined decision is making a decision in the moment that most aligns with the person you are trying to become, or most aligns with the goal that you all are trying to achieve.”

You have to behave as a champion before you can become one. You have to make the decisions of a champion before you can achieve that.

Know who you are. Know who you want to be, what you want to do, and how you want to do it—and make decisions that match that.