Our Country's Needs- Janakee Chavda and Ms. Hanes

What does our country need to move forward? What could our generation contribute to make the country stronger and healthier when we are in charge of it?

By Janakee Chavda

Our country needs a lot of things. We are in a state of decline. We have been for a very long time. There were glory-filled days when the United States of America was known to the world as a superpower and the richest country in the world. Sadly, our country is not strong or healthy anymore. We need money, we need resources, we need jobs, we need strong leaders, we need better plans, we need a capable government, we need so much that we are depending on other countries and their resources when we should be able to hunt, catch, and feed for our own.

 

The pressing issue here is, what will happen when the country is in future generations’ hands? Well, we certainly won’t be lighting fireworks above the White House every night if we keep going on the way we are. Our generation is one which will be in a great deal of adversity the day they open those doors on the last day of college, or perhaps even the last day of high school. The country does not look like it will be in fit shape for our generation to come through. There will be hardship, competition, desperation, surrender, but there also has to be determination, resolution, independence, persistence, sound judgment, and rationalism.

 

The only thing our generation can do is to work harder for our country. We can only be devoted to be successful. There is nothing more that we can do. We are supposed to rely on our predecessors to leave a healthy country in our hands, but it seems that is not going to happen. What else is there to do than to take it into our arms, nurture it, feed it, teach it, and raise it to higher heights than ever before, to sculpt and maneuver it to become the best it can be? Our only option is to be ready for great responsibility, otherwise we will never achieve great power. As John D. Rockefeller says, “I believe that every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty.” Being a citizen of this country, whether young or old, means being a part of this country, and this means we have an obligation to it, a responsibility that we must embrace. It is our country and, one day, we will head it. Yet, the best way to overcome our, frankly, frightening future, is to take it on, not because we have to, not because we need to, but because we want to, because we want to better our country and reach up to the stars, not just the tallest skyscraper they’ve built so far.

By Ms. Hanes

Our country needs citizens who are willing to work hard to succeed. We are in a generation that has been handed things for free and it has affected our work ethic. People have expected to get food, money, medical care, etc. for free from the government with no questions asked. I believe this is also the case with education where students have not been held accountable for their education and have moved on without mastery of the material. This generation needs to take control of their education and their success and strive to be the best no matter how many times they fail. When this generation is in charge, I would say the biggest change would be to hold each person accountable for their actions and build on the success of those individuals who work hard to succeed.