By: Kristina Mertz

Students who attend high school are under the direction and guidance of teachers along with parents. This means students haven’t really had time to grow, especially when teachers choose to provide every last chance in order for a student to complete their work. Everybody has heard the saying, “You Only Live Once,” but nobody has added the saying “Your life is your responsibility.” Yes you may only live once, but only you are responsible for your life. Students can’t rely on teachers and parents to guide them through everything in life, when the mistakes they make are going to give them experience and the courage to try new things. This also means teachers need to let students fail when they choose to not participate and do the work. When teachers allow students the room to fail, it gives students the feeling of what it really means to fail, that way they can take responsibility and say, “I failed and it’s on me.” It’s sometimes harder for students to accept failure later in life, because they never had the experience of actually failing. This allows students to enable themselves to try better and put in more effort for the next assignment and their future. Only you know what you want in life, and it’s only you that can get you to where you need to be in life. However, asking for help is never a weakness, accepting the help you need is one of the bravest things a person can do. This just means you can’t rely on people for the rest of your life to do the things you’re responsible for. Take this as an opportunity to take initiative and responsibility for your life.