Childhood Moral Lesson - Essay Example

The next semester I moved into the International Baccalaureate program at the school. My classes were a lot more difficult, but I appreciated the challenge and for a while, it gave me a real sense of accomplishment and self-esteem. I started participating in class more and found a lot of academic success in my classes.

As the year went on and I gradually began to grow a little tired of the routine, I began to wonder if my original exuberance was warranted and slowly an incipient frustration began to take hold within my thoughts. I started to question why I ever had become so self-satisfied with my accomplishments in school and what difference would it even make. I was frustrated and wanted a new path, or at least some deeper answers. This is when things changed.

I met a student in the classes when had grown jaded with the program. I became entirely convinced that his outlook on life was somehow more accurate than mine and that the frustration I had with my daily existence could be alleviated if I could only understand things the way he did. We slowly became friends and while I was never able to abandon my attention to school, I did gradually adopt his perspective. I needed to find an end to my frustration with school and find something that really meant something. I became curious as to where my friend went when he skipped class, as he oftentimes did towards the end of the day. I once asked him.

When Friday arrived, we met outside of class and off I followed him down a path adjacent to the cafeteria, and into the woods. I thought I would feel a lot more scared than I did skipping school and all, but I’d felt so bored and frustrated with my daily life that it really didn’t scare me as glanced around and then stepped into the forest. I followed him through a path for a few minutes and then we jumped over a fence. When we finally got to the destination there were other kids and they were splayed about acting strange, surrounded by a bag of mushrooms they had collected on the ground. I wasn’t about to eat anything that grew out of cow manure, so I just sat there watching them. As we made our way back towards the school and climbed the fence we had originally gone over, I glanced in front of me and the school’s resource officer was standing there watching us. He later claimed that he had followed us since the moment we entered the woods. I thought we would only get in trouble for skipping, but after we had climbed the fence we had entered private property and the owner had called the school complaining. The officer arrested us for trespassing.

Moral Lesson
As I sat in the lobby of the discipline office I realized that my frustration with life wouldn’t be overcome with stupid rebellious activities and that I needed to accept personal responsibility for my own life and stop looking to others to give it meaning and save me from frustration. From then on I understood that life is what you make it and that I need to make it in the best and most legitimate way possible.

I think that others can take a similar message from my experience. While we may become frustrated with our current situation, it’s important to remain on track and realize that going down the wrong path won’t make things better, and ultimately you will be a happier person if you are able to adhere to your values strive towards sound goals.