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When the school year comes to an end, a mixture of emotions arises. Some students experience joy, others sense relief and some feel sadness. All these emotions are perfectly normal.
A typical school year (if there is such a thing) is full of many events: making friends, going to class, taking tests, playing sports, working and just trying to survive. Taken together, overwhelming feelings are hardly surprising.
Time also seems to fly by, leaving students scrambling to get everything done before the final bell rings. Because of this fast pace, students may end the year feeling as if they failed to accomplish anything, let alone enough. In such moments, all Christians—students, especially—can find grounding by focusing on our faith identity.
We weren’t put on this earth to simply worry about worldly problems. Our job is to praise God and to enjoy the love of our Lord. Admittedly, we can’t just throw everything aside and say it doesn’t matter; we do have to live our lives. But many of us yearn to address our problems and those of our world—we want to make a positive impact. Our time, however, is limited.
Thankfully, we’re not helpless. True, not everyone has the same abilities to complete tasks the same way; we all have our own reasons and methods. Remember, the Spirit has given each of us a variety of gifts (1 Corinthians 12:4). But with God’s help, we can all do great things. To do anything, we must first trust in God and take a single step forward.
As the school year comes to a close, I want to challenge you to do just one good thing for someone else. Admittedly, this step may not be a milestone you remember for the rest of your life. But if one person does one good thing, then from that good deed, another may feel the touch of the Spirit and do the same for someone else. A chain reaction isn’t necessarily a bad thing, no matter what they say in chemistry class.
Moving mountains
Of course, students can often feel reluctant to take strong actions in school. We feel tremendous pressure from peers, adults and society to maintain the status quo. But we must act. Christ didn’t call us to live lives of silence or simply to love with words and speech (1 John 3:18). We are called to live out our faith with actions.
In my high school, I’ve felt this societal pressure. But I have unquestionably been called to do something different, in my own way: to leave my school in a better place than before I arrived. So this year, a group of my friends and I took action.
Like many students in the United States, my classmates focus on fashion and the latest clothing trends. With the click of the button, we can have the latest looks in a couple of days. But this speed and abundance create waste—many people throw out these clothes after only a couple of wears.
When I realized the harmful impact of this mass consumerism, I told my friends that we needed to make a change. We started a school club to promote secondhand shopping, or thrifting. When we first got this idea, it was perceived as a joke around school, something that wouldn’t last for more than a few meetings. But together, with the support of our administration and with strength from the Spirit, we made a difference.
Together, with the support of our school administration and with strength from the Spirit, we made a difference.
We grew a small club into a force that provided a forum for conversations our school needed to have. It ended up not only educating students but also the faculty, staff and administration about the true costs—social and financial—of their clothing choices.
Now, you don’t have to run to your school tomorrow and start a club. But I am calling you to be more mindful. Think about the world around you. True, it may be easier to go with the quicker option and maintain the status quo. But in doing so, are you losing touch with God and the world he created? To do good, we must first slow down to discern who or what needs help and how we can respond.
The end of a school year may seem like a bad time to start making a change. After all, everything is done, and we can finally relax. But that’s no excuse! In fact, it may even provide a perfect catalyst to act.
Christ called us to love our neighbor. You may have to start small by simply helping a friend with something. But soon your work will gain momentum and, I bet, things will start changing. Your actions may feel insignificant in the moment, but they are like a tiny mustard seed planted in your community. And as Jesus said, faith as tiny as a seed can move a mountain (Matthew 17:20). With an assist from the Spirit, we busy, overstretched students can do great things.
