My Commitment to America’s Future

Editor’s Note: The following is the winning essay in the daviess county Voice of Democracy contest and the second place essay in district competition, sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Katie is a sophomore at Gallatin R-5 High School. She is sponsored at the district contest by Gallatin Post 2172.

by Katie Patton

Commitment. A word often said, but seldom acted upon. An act often promised, but rarely carried through. I began this essay knowing this and looking to answer the question, “What can I, an ordinary 16-year-old, commit to America and its future?”

Roger Baldwin once said, “So long as we have enough people in this country willing to fight for their rights, we’ll be called a democracy.” Our country has been fortunate in the past to have many brave souls that have been willing to fight for our right to freedom, not only for themselves, but for their posterity. They were committed to their nation, to its well-being, and to its future. They thought not of themselves, but of the generations of Americans to come.

Now, more than ever, Americans have to act upon their own commitment to their nation’s future. We must reflect upon the actions of our forefathers and rise to meet the legacy that men such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson left behind. We must strive to meet these standards and to ensure that the ideals of our nation do not become an object of the past.

I feel that my generation has the ability to do just that. I feel that the teenagers of today have seen enough destruction and damage to our country at the hands of others, and even at the hands of our own people, to take a stand and commit to our nation’s future. It is up to us, as the future generation of Americans, to continue the war on terrorism, to continue fighting for our rights and our freedom, to follow in the footsteps of our nation’s founding fathers.

But ability and commitment are two separate acts. I have made the point that my generation has the ability to fight for America’s future. We have the resources, we have the intelligence, but do we have the commitment? Are we, as many people perceive, a generation more concerned with material possessions and appearance than democracy and the good of our nation? I, for one, believe that we can commit, we can fight, and we can succeed. We will stand up for our nation, and we will prevail.

Helen Keller describes, in short, my commitment to America. She stated, “I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; I will not refuse to do something I can do.” I am only one citizen, only one person in my generation, but that is no excuse for not taking an active role in the nation’s future. Instead, my commitment to America’s future is simply to do all that I can to ensure that America remains what we know it to be — a land of the free, and a home of the brave.