By Brandon Abbs

You have to have passion. You have to have purpose.

My first editorial was about how one pulls through troubles. My second one was about how students often resort to illegal drug use to do so. As this article will again be in a similar vein, I feel like it’s the final part of a trilogy.

¨There is likely always going to be a balance of passion based on topics, subjects, or experiences,¨ said Mr. DePasquale, the Assistant Principal for Curriculum & Instruction at Batavia High School. ¨The goal, however, is to be passionate or excited about something. This is what needs to happen and it is very important that students figure out their passion in life. The world and school environment would benefit tremendously if this happened.¨

Passion is one of the most difficult things to have in life. It’s hard to force yourself to be passionate about something. Like Mr. DePasquale said, though, you need to have it.Those who are indifferent towards others and the world around them, who care about nothing, find themselves not wanting to live. The world needs more passion! More locally, the school needs more passion. As I previously detailed, students walk the halls in dazes, with nothing to hang on to in life, nothing to be passionate about, it eats them from the inside, and their behavior is contagious.

¨People feed off of other people’s energy. Students have an incredible power to shape the people around them. Someone’s indifference toward anything (school, home life, the world etc.) could potentially have a negative impact on other students, families, and the community,¨ voiced Mr. DePasquale.

In our society, the trait of not having a care in the world is generally associated with positivity – but it shouldn’t be. Do you want to live without a care in the world?

That’s why the world needs more passion. That’s why you need to be opinionated, why you have to care about things, about your school, about your faith, about the people around you. What the school needs is an inner working built on passion, halls filled with people who want to change the world. You need to be that person.

More passion in the school environment means more focus on lifelong skills and less on ‘rote memorization’ and the like.

¨In all honesty, I put way too much effort into my studies [when I was in school],” said Mr. DePasquale. “Back then, however, much of school was based on rote memorization and less application of skills to real life.  I am happy to say that at BHS we are on our way to ensuring students can be successful by applying the skills they learn in class to life beyond high school.  I spent lots of time memorizing and I can tell you that the amount of time and effort I put into that is probably years of time that could have been spent doing something that mattered way more.¨

Contrary to popular belief, people cannot be blamed for being indifferent; they can’t be blamed for not caring. Therein lies the importance of passionate thinking; no one else can force you to be passionate. It has to come naturally. That’s why passion is so hard to obtain; but it’s worth it. Give the world a hug and get your head in the game.