GOALS Here's the story of a young man who lived on a farm in a small farming community in the Midwest many years ago. This story takes place in the year 1982 and the young man in this story was a junior in high school in a class of 35 classmates. Ever since the young man in this story was a small boy, he had a goal that he wanted to accomplish as soon as he became an adult. But before he could begin that goal, first he had to graduate High School. Now in the year 1982, in the farming community of the state of Iowa, graduating High School was not considered a necessity. It was a different time and a different era then today. In fact, the young man's Father, who he respected more than anyone, dropped out of school in the 8th grade to farm, and his older Brother dropped out in the 10th grade. Also many of his friends were already dropped out of school and pursuing work on farms or other labor type jobs. But the young man in this story wanted different and set his sights on a goal that would take him to a different set of adventures then those around him he knew. And he knew to reach that goal, a high school diploma was first necessary. This young man was popular in School, and in the Community. And he was active in sports, most notably football and wrestling. But unfortunately when it came to school, he was a goof-off and looked at school as only a social event and something he had to do to graduate only. It was not his focus nor did he apply himself to anywhere near his full potential. His time was better spent working on the farm and additionally off the farm to earn money, playing sports, and goofing off with friends in the rare times he had free
time. His schedule was very demanding as he was up at 5 am each morning to do farm chores before heading in to shower and leave for school by 8 am. If it was football or wrestling season, then he'd be at practice from 3:45 until 6:30 and then off to work at a local restaurant 15 miles away until midnight. Getting home usually around 1 AM and then starting the same schedule all over again at 5 AM the next morning. The weekends brought farm work and Friday and Saturday nights if not working, was time with friends. Due to financial necessity to help family and make ends meet at home, he worked the outside job 20+ hours a week along with school, sports, and farm work. And of these four, he viewed three of them as necessary, but school as just a bothersome obstacle. So his Junior year began, and It just so happened that the school hired a new Principal who promised to bring discipline with him. And who better to focus on then the popular goof off kid who was nowhere near his potential. Another part of this story is understanding that young farm boys when they became old enough to drive would choose only one of two types of vehicles. Either a 4x4 pickup, or a muscle car built to go as fast as possible. This young man chose as his first car, a maroon and black, 1970 Dodge Charger R/T. It was fast and it looked cool, but like many of the older muscle cars of that area, It was unreliable. It was many a mornings, after doing his farm chores and then showering to head to school, that the young man would walk out to his pride and joy, turn the ignition, and instead of hearing VROOOM VROOOOM, he would hear only a click click. And then he'd find himself under the hood trying to get the car started. Sometimes while driving at night, his lights would go out completely, causing
him to drive with his head out the window trying to see the moonlight shining off the gravel roads to see his way home. This of course, made him late for school on numerous occasions. Unfortunately, it didn't help that the cocky young kid liked to make a grand entrance, and instead of taking a covered and concealed route into the school, he liked to drive straight across the front for all to see. After parking he'd walk into class, sit down, be greeted by cheers from friends, only to then be followed by a voice cracking over the intercom asking for Mr Riley to please have the young man report to the Principals office. It became a battle of wills. And after the end of the first semester, the young man had accumulated 16 detentions, and three, 3 day suspensions. He was then told that if he had one more incident, he would be brought before the school board for possible expulsion from school. Suddenly reality kicked in and knocked some of the cockiness out of the young man as he knew that if he got expelled, then his goal and his dreams would be shattered. He knew he had to graduate. So instead of pointing a finger and blaming anyone else, he looked in the mirror and blamed only himself for it was his actions and his actions only that placed him in this predicament. He accepted accountability and decided to grit his teeth and buckle down. The first thing to do was quit goofing off, or at least in his mind be better at not getting caught. The second thing that must be accomplished was to fix the problem of unreliable transportation. So he sold his beloved Charger and used the money to buy a newer and more reliable 1975 Oldsmobile Cutlass. The first day back at school driving his new car of course prompted one of his closest friends to challenge him to a drag race. With a
350 V-8 engine, It was certainly no slouch, however he had no desire to tear up his new car and put himself back in the same situation. So he applied the moral courage to say "No." However his friend was relentless and each period that day, and in the hallways between classes, he would continue to ask for a race after school. Each time the young man in this story refused and said no. Finally, the seventh and last period of the day came and it was the agriculture (FFA) class. The two men were in the same class, causing constant disruptions to the class as the conversations of racing after school continued. This caused the teacher to separate the two individuals to opposite ends of the classrooms followed by an order to "shut up" or else a trip to the Principals office would follow. Quiet was brought to the classroom. However now on opposite ends, the young man looked up from his work and saw his friend looking at him. He had his hands under his armpits, with his arms flapping like wings, and silently mouthing the words "Baaaaack...Baaaaack", like a chicken. Fed up, and reacting before thinking, the young man let the words "F--- You Cornelison" escape loudly from his mouth as the stunned teacher quickly dismissed him to the Principals office. Knowing the routine, the young man walked to the Principals office, walked in and sat down. This caused the principal to simply look up and ask, "What did you do now?" The young man replied, "I kinda said a bad word." The principal walked out to the office, called the teacher, returned to his desk to sit down and replied, "Yes, Yes you did say a bad word. You're suspended."
A letter soon followed in the mail informing the young man and his parents that in mid-January, he was to appear before the school board for possible permanent expulsion from High School. The day came, and the young man and his father appeared before the School Board, Superintendent, and the Principal. The Principal spoke first, stating his case of how bad a kid the young man was and why he should be expelled and the school cannot tolerate his behavior. Then came the young man's turn to speak. His father said not a word. As he told each of his sons if they ever got themselves in trouble, he would be beside them, but it would be up to them to have to deal with the consequences and take accountability for their own actions. They'd have to learn life's lessons on their own. So the young man spoke, citing his schedule, his choices, admitting his mistakes, and telling how he tried to correct the problem. Lastly he finished with the statement that yes he did slip the "F" word. But as he explained, the word slipped because in his own 17 year old way he was trying to stand up to his convictions. And ultimately, would the school board rather they hear of his name here today under these circumstances, or by reading about him in the obituary section of the town newspaper after being wrapped around a telephone pole. The school board voted 7-1 in favor of letting him stay in school. This caused the Principal to mount a defense. He fired back with more examples, and ultimately that an example had to be made as his authority needed to be enforced and this young man was clearly detrimental to good order and discipline. The young man said nothing more, deciding to let whatever happen to happen and then deal with it as his father instilled into him. The school board did a revote, and this time they voted 2-6 against allowing the young man to stay in school and thus suspending him for the entire second semester of his junior year.
So the young man was sent home with a choice to make. Either quit and dropout to pursue other avenues besides his dream. Or take an uphill battle and go back to school to try and graduate. He'd have to complete the next school year, and after his classmates graduated, to return again the following year for another semester. He would then graduate 8 months behind his peers. He chose not to quit, and he went back to school. He wasn't ready to give up on his goal. His father taught him not to quit just because adversity or an obstacle stood in front of you. Growing up, he watched his father get hit with adversity many times on the farm and keep going as farming was a tough life. The economy, weather, drought, sick animals, and many other factors made farming a daily challenge for survival in those days. Many of his dads friends had already lost their farms. But his dad continued to push through and somehow always made it work. He knew he had no one to blame but himself. So he went back, did the extra semester and graduated. He then set forth on his goal. The young man's goal, was to join the US Marine Corps. And the cocky young man who was a goof off in this story was myself, 31 years ago. GOAL: GOALS GIVE YOU THE SPECIFIC DIRECTION TO MAKE YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE. S/F Sgt. Maj. Brad A Kasal Sergeant Major Fourth Marine Division