No Snooze Button on Life

Posted August 15, 2014 / Last updated March 10, 2015

Print Print Email Email Share Share

Adapted from a Morning Assembly address delivered to student body on Aug. 15, 2014

Peter Kernion_New JHS Principal_030213_HiRes

“There is no snooze button on life.”

Now, I’m not sure where I heard this quote; but I think it is worth some thought as we begin a new school year.

I am sure that many of you hit the snooze button on your alarm clock this very morning, and some of you probably wished you could snooze the whole day away; but life keeps moving along and so do all of the changes that come along with life.

To some of you, change may be a negative term; while for others it is positive. But like it or not, change is inevitable.

As we look around campus today, we see many examples of change: We have new students here with us – and we are excited to welcome them into our community; we have new student leadership; new teachers; new coaches; new moderators; newly renovated classrooms; and soon a newly renovated chapel. We even begin this school year with a new President … well, sort of.

Certainly, we are all a part of a new school year.

So I encourage you to take a look at the positive aspects of change as you begin this school year, and to make some changes of your own. It is never too late for us to make changes for the better… in our work ethic, in the choices and decisions that we make, in the relationships that we form and maintain with family and friends, and even in our spiritual development.

Recently I heard Father McGinn make some statements in a homily that we need to respond to God’s challenge to make the necessary meaningful changes in our lives, and I couldn’t agree more. So, it is my hope that we will all look for ways to respond to God’s challenge to make improvements in our lives and that we will ultimately continue to develop the competence, conscience, and compassion to become Men of Faith and Men for Others.

I look forward to this new school year, and I look forward to working with each of you as we all continue to work for the Greater Glory of God.

Peter S. Kernion, M.Ed., ’90
Principal