Life is not fair.
Get used to it.
The average teenager uses the phrase
"It's not fair"
eighty-eight times a day.
The real world
won't care as much about your self-esteem
as your school does.
This may come as a shock.
Sorry! You won't make $40,000 a year
right out of high school.
And you won't be a vice-president
or have a car phone either.
You may even have to wear a uniform
that doesn't have a designer label.
If you think your teacher is tough,
wait until you get a boss.
Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity.
Your grandparents
had a different word
for burger flipping.
They called it opportunity.
It's not your parents' fault if you mess up.
You're responsible.
This is the flip side of
"It's my life"
and
"You're not my boss".
Before you were born,
your parents weren't boring.
They got that way
paying your bills and listening to you.
Life is not divided into semesters.
And you don't get summers off.
Not even spring break.
You are expected to show up
every day for eight hours,
and you don't get a new life every ten weeks.
Smoking does not make you look cool.
Watch an 11-year-old
with a butt in his mouth.
That's what you look like
to anyone over 20.
Your school may be "outcome-based"
but life isn't.
In some schools
you're given as many times as you want
to get the answer right.
Standards are set low enough
so everyone can meet them.
This, of course, bears not the slightest resemblance
to anything in real life ~
and you will find out.
Good luck! You are going to need it. . .
and the harder you work,
the luckier you will get.
