To Achieve or Not to Achieve?

After more than four years of progressing through the Civil Air Patrol cadet program, I have accomplished more than three-quarters of the program. To me, this means that, at this point of my life, I have the option of choosing to actively pursue completing the cadet program or passively allowing my participation in the organization to dwindle away. Earning the General Carl A. Spaatz Award is approximately only one year out of my grasp, yet I am hesitant to commit myself to the achieving of it at a time where I believe my efforts would be best used in preparing for life after high school. I am at the proverbial crossroad in my cadet membership of the United States Civil Air Patrol, and I must choose to either achieve or not to achieve.

As I have been contemplating the Spaatz Award for a few months now, I have sought opinions and counsel from individuals I interact with in Civil Air Patrol. One of those individuals being the commander of my squadron. He talked to me of the prestige of the award and of the fact that less than 2,000 persons have ever earned it. He also informed me that I would be only the second cadet from our squadron to have done so in the more than fifty years that the squadron has existed. After he talked to me, I realized that my becoming a “Spaatz Cadet” would provide him with a sort of satisfaction and pride that he could claim my achievement as one of his own, also. In my interactions with the cadets in my squadron, I have also noticed that the other cadets in my squadron wish me to succeed even as far as the Spaatz Award. The Spaatz Award is a hope, though usually a distant one, of almost every cadet in Civil Air Patrol. Because of this, I sense that perhaps they would benefit if I, as their cadet commander, were to achieve the Spaatz Award and, thus, make it a not-so-distant hope for them. If I am correct in believing that my earning the Spaatz Award would encourage these other cadets to desire the high achievement, it almost seems to me to be a duty which I must not fail to fulfill as their cadet commander. And so, with the thoughts of others who would be affected in mind, part of me wishes to earn the award for their sakes.

As I have talked to people and tried to explain my thoughts concerning the award, I have learned that few, if any of them, understand why “not achieving” is even an option I am considering. What most seem to assume is that I am simply torn between being lazy and actually applying myself to something worthwhile. And what I wish for others to understand is that my hesitation to commit myself to achieving the Spaatz Award is mostly due to my being uncertain about the path my future will take. As I am getting older and closer to graduating from high school, I am becoming more and more conscious of the short time I have left to prepare for life after graduation next year. If striving to achieve the Spaatz Award is something I choose to do, I wish to make sure that the effort put into it could not have been better placed elsewhere such as at work, at home, at church, or at any of the other numerous activities that may present itself over the next year.

I also have had some other considerations over the past few weeks, which I have kept to myself. One of these considerations is that if I were to choose to “not achieve” the Spaatz Award would the last 4 1/2 years in Civil Air Patrol be for naught? Most cadets are indoctrinated since their first meeting with the belief that the highest goal in the organization is to achieve the Spaatz Award. And so with that in mind, I began to wonder whether my time in Civil Air Patrol would be a waste and failure if I were to never finish the program to completion. I have come to the conclusion, though, that the absence of no award can take away the growth I have made as a person and the joy of my experiences in this organization. Another consideration has been, if I do earn the Spaatz Award, will I only be doing so to build up my own pride? If I choose to earn the Spaatz Award, my hope is that I can do it unselfishly and that God will be glorified in the accomplishment.

In conclusion, I have become convinced that it is unnecessary to be concerned with anything still so far off in the future as my earning the Spaatz Award. My plan is to continue progressing in Civil Air Patrol and to be content with the concern of one achievement at a time. There is no other explanation for this peace I have found for the future except that God has granted my pleas for peace. I choose to wait patiently on the Lord.