It seems to me some kind of harmony is on the rise.

Those things there? Definitely not words. Not cool, Max.

I thrive on three-word fragments.

School starts tomorrow. (That's a sentence, not a fragment, but it still has three words.) Max, I'm glad you brought up the topic of leadership.

We are leading the school. If some people think that seniors are the only leaders in the school or that being a senior automatically makes them leaders, they should reform their thoughts. However, while it's true that any person of any status can be given the not-so-glamorous title of "leader," what I've noticed at Roncalli is that people spend a great deal of time looking up to the senior class; it's common, automatic, and perfectly natural.

Let me tell you a secret: every year, many, many seniors get away with crappy attitudes. It's easy. It's inconsequential. There are some good leaders, and there are some bad leaders; that's inevitable, right? But what would it be like if every single senior at Roncalli strove to be a good leader? Aren't we capable of that? What kind of attitude should we assume?

"If you want to see the true measure of a man, watch how he treats his inferiors, not his equals." I love this quote, but I cringe at the word "inferiors" in this context. Everyone, do me a favor and give that word a positive connotation. It's absolutely true that we, as seniors, have achieved a higher status than any other student at Roncalli. We cannot equate our status as seniors with our status as human beings.

4.5 billion years ago, the Earth was created, and three years ago, we were freshmen. Maybe sometimes, instead of looking at freshmen as "freshmen," we should think of them as "people." That equates us with them. We orient fellow human beings when they're lost. We welcome them into a family when they feel alienated. We don't cut them in the lunch line to get food sixty seconds earlier.

I'm just going to throw this one out there, too -- I assure you that jokes about freshmen were old even when they were new.

Now that all of that's out of my system, I'll reiterate that any person of any status can be a leader. It's extremely helpful with concrete leadership positions, and I totally encourage that, but it's not by any means necessary.

Lead by example. Remember that we're all humans. Dedicate yourself to what you're passionate about. Remember that any situation can be looked at in two different lights.

Let's make it a great year.

Max, I'm a cheese man.