I spend a large portion of my days listening to my students tell me why. Why they are what they are, why they smoke, why they use drugs, why they failed a test, why they’re having a baby in high school. They are full of whys, and it’s funny, the whys are always because of someone else. Their friends smoke, so they do too. Everyone was drinking at the party. They had to babysit their little sister and couldn’t study. It goes on and on and on. They don’t understand that all those things are circumstances, but they are the one who made the CHOICE to do those things. Nobody poured alcohol down their throat, or held the cigarette up to their mouths. And yes, maybe they did have to babysit their baby sister or brother, but if they had been doing their homework and studying all along, they would have been ready for the test without an intensive study session. Life is full of choices, and who we are, what we are is a product of those choices we face and the decisions we make. Who I am is because of my decisions. Have all my decisions been great. Absolutely not, but I still own them. They are my choices and they make me who I am.