This is the final paper from the good students of Fellowship Christian Academy located in Methuen, MA. We all met at Ovide Lamontagne’s "Return to Red" even held in Manchester the week before the election. Although I had noticed that there were teens in the room, I really hadn’t paid much attention as I was, well, rather quite busy. However, as the event wound down, three of the guys came over and said that they wanted me to interview them. A bit puzzled (er, why GraniteGrok?), I said yes. Well, afterward, they stood politely by as I did a couple of other interviews. They were patient.
I then saw them, said it was time, and then they ALL descended upon me – Yikes! Yes folks, I had been "had" – and it turned out to be GREAT! During the interview, it came out that they were working on these papers and I asked if they would send them to me. They agreed and I have kept my promise.
This last paper is by Meghan (preceded by Peter, Maggie, Laura, Kathryn, Grace & Tim, Catherine, Ben, Tyler, Jillian, Michael, Christie, Nate, and Hannah!)
Warning: This essay contains strong opinions on America’s future, listener discretion is advised. Those of us participating in this contest have been posed with the question, “How will my generation affect America’s future?” But my question is, how could we not?
Just as every generation before us, my generation faces the ever-mounting odds against American youth. With the issues of politics, economics, religion, and pop-culture threatening to overwhelm us the moment we reach adulthood, it would be understandable if we were shaking in our boots. As it has been with every generation since America’s inception, we stand at the door frame leading out into the future, faced with the choice to slam the door and retreat, or to venture out into the uncertainty that awaits us.
You may think he too bold, or too pompous, but I know that my generation will decide if…
…the America we know and love carries on, or simply fades away into obscurity. We are at a fragile point as a country, with our skyrocketing national debt and divisive government, we threaten to become like any other country overseas, losing our place as greatest nation in the world. My generation will decide if we descend the dangerous slope into communism, or if we cling to liberty as our forefathers have.
Even though this fight for American liberty and justice for all may seem bleak at times, we can look to our veterans and to our soldiers for inspiration. We can look to them and know that threats to us have been staved off in the past, and that there are still those out there fighting for us. We have soldiers now still out fighting the War on Terror. Not “Overseas Contingency Operations” or “Man caused disasters,” calling it that would be an insult to those who are out there to this day giving their lives. They are fighting terror, so the weak and oppressed may someday live without fear.
Those of us not stationed in the Middle East have our own roles to play. In stepping outside of our doorway, my generation exposes themselves to the threats surrounding politics and new ideas. Believe me when I say that innovation and new ideas are good things, but not when they compromise America’s values. My generation must focus back to the constitution in our legislation if we have any hope for success financially. Some may say, “We do plenty of things that aren’t in the constitution!” But I ask, has this brought us success? Straying from the constitution economically has brought our nation to trillions of dollars in debt. I certainly do not consider this success. Thanks to our current practices, my generation will have to work harder than ever to decrease our national debt. A great poem was once written about how Abraham Lincoln steered the ship of state away from ruin. It will be up to my generation to choose responsible captains to do the same for us today.
When looking to the past, I cannot think my generation more important than any other. All of our generations have had their challenges, and thus far each has stood up to face them. None of them shirked their duty, and that is truly why we still exist as a nation. Though we do not hold any greater importance than those before us, we are unique in some of our new advantages. We are blessed to have been given more opportunities than those in the past to communicate and reach out to each other and the world than ever before. We will hopefully choose to embrace this blessing, using it to better and unify us as a nation.
Now that it is my generation’s turn to take our place in history, and we will be faced with more challenges than ever before. This realization is intimidating, but for our great nation to survive, we must overcome our fear as we stand at the doorway to the future. I cannot speak for all, but I do know that I stand with a multitude of those in my generation who will stand with me and proudly bear the responsibility of the torch that has been passed on to us. My generation is one that will soon come to realize that we are ready to change the world, so we will step through the doorway to the future with courage.
