Will B. Earning?

I may get some grief for this article, but I have been raised to always stand behind what I believe.

It’s getting close to that time of year when schools will begin to reward students, and we will inevitably be overrun with Facebook posts about who deserves what.

Back in the day—my day to be exact—you didn’t receive awards and ribbons just for participating, doing what you were supposed to do or just plain showing up. You could be in the running for an award or ribbon for achieving what others could not. You might receive an award for excelling beyond what others could. You could get a trophy for battling your way to first, second or third. However, there is no guarantee you will receive any of those things for all your hard work and dedication. There is just a possibility.

So, I am not sure why some nowadays think it’s OK to hand out awards willy-nilly to just anyone showing up or for only participating. It would mean two things by awarding participation awards. 1) By receiving such honors why even try in the future knowing you will be rewarded for just showing up. 2) I believe in my humble opinion that it is a kind of insult to the athlete, scholar, debater or any of the many activities that have competitions that work tirelessly, put in the many hours of hard work to achieve a victory. The ones who deserve the honors, ribbons and awards are the ones who are dedicated to the activity or sport they give their all to.

I am not saying that the non-winners do not deserve a pat on the back with some words of encouragement and job well done. Let’s give them something to work toward and let them know with hard work and dedication they too will achieve the honors, ribbons and awards someday.

I have not won many awards and trophies in my life ,but the ones I did win I worked my bo-hiney off for, and they meant the world to me knowing how hard I worked to achieve them.

This is Will B. Earning saying I will be earning my award.