By: Zhi Wallace

As a high school student, I’ve witnessed my peers go down an endless cycle of self-destruction. They skip class, disregard homework as a choice, and disrespect teachers. I’ve known most of these kids since the eighth grade, which I reckon you may say isn’t long seeing that I’m a freshman. However, we graduated from middle school together and formed powerful bonds. My questions to myself upon seeing the behavior has always been, “Am I able to help?” and “Have they gone too far for salvation?”. The answers to those questions have become progressively apparent as I listened to the IFOCUS Podcast by DL Wallace. By implementing the concepts into my routine, I have not only lead a more vigorous life for myself but also showed my peers that a headstrong teen like me can sustain a positive status and excellent grades at the same time.  

The first podcast I received was named Make My Day. DL outlines the significance of mastering what you desire to teach. He informs us that people may not know how to get to their destination, but they know if you have what it takes to get them there or not. That is when I started examining my behavior in class. I picked at what positive attributes I could highlight more, such as my maturity and focus. Then, I looked at the negative characteristics that I didn’t want to advertise such as my disconnected personality. My next step was to make goals for myself, so I made the goal of being more active in class. I got positive responses from my teachers immediately, they liked my change in attitude and loved my perspectives on the topics we discussed. My peers also agreed with my view and chimed in on the conversation. In that way, I’ve made a difference in my life with one podcast. I can’t wait to see how the next podcast inspires my actions in the future.