Making Choices
By: Trevor Marbut

        This past week I got into trouble for pulling what I thought at the time was just a simple prank on one of my really good friends. The main reason I ended up getting into trouble was not  just because of the prank, but mainly because of all the results that came from it. I not only got myself into trouble but other students were dragged into it, and ended up getting in trouble as well, and this all could of been prevented if I had not of made the decision that I did. Although I did not receive most of the blame for what happened, when it comes down to it I could of received all of it, because without me making the choice I made, nobody would of gotten in trouble.

When I had my meeting about my punishment, I was presented the idea of writing an essay. I was given the topic of making choices, and the results that can precede the decision that was made. At first my response was typical about writing an essay (especially since this one could have been avoided). I told myself that I was just gonna give it a 50 percent effort, and just throw something on the paper, and just hope it was halfway decent. I started writing the paper, and with what was my current mindset I had a hard time writing anything, but then I really started to think about the topic. Without having written basically anything, I started really thinking about what had happened, and the decision I had made that got me in trouble. If I had of just thought about what I was doing, and the choice I was making before I had of done it, not only would I of stayed out of trouble, but my friends would have also stayed out of trouble.

This thought opened the door to a lot more thinking, and a lot more ideas. It made me question myself how often do I actually think about the results that could occur from a choice that I’m about to make? Not that often was the answer that I got. Looking back on the big decisions that I have made, I have made the wrong choice so many times. Everybody says not to look back at the past, and have regrets because its over now. I think its impossible to live without regret on incorrect that choices that you made in the past. The only thing that you can do about these mistakes that you made, is to make sure that they don’t happen again, if you made a wrong choice in the past, you have to make sure that you don’t repeat yourself and do it again. For example I’ve been thinking a lot about our basketball game on Tuesday, it was a game that we should have definitely won, but we didn’t. It was a game that I definitely could of, and should of played better in, looking back at that game I can’t do anything to change the outcome, or change the way I played no matter how bad I want to. The only thing that I can do is to make sure that we don’t lose like that again, and to make sure that I don’t play that bad again, and that I don’t make the mistakes I made in that game ever again.

When you make a choice in life it is usually set in stone, and you can’t change your mind afterwards. The choices you make define who you are, so before making a choice always think about the possible results, and all that could happen before you do it. If you still make a bad choice then make sure that it never happens again, learn from what you did, and grow from it.