In my junior year of high school, I transferred to a military boarding school called Chamberlain-Hunt Academy. From the moment I arrived, I began to learn a new concept that has continually been reiterated into my head ever since. Whenever we were disciplined, we were reminded to shout it out. When hearing the school president discuss what would happen after we as a group messed up, we heard it. Every chance a teacher or staff member got, they reminded us of it. When I spent summers in Colorado at a worldview camp called Summit Ministries, where I learned to think, I was again reminded of it. When I donned a dark blue T-shirt with the words The Citadel on my left breast I would find it followed me there too, and I have continued to experience its lesson in my daily life ever since.
The concept I am referring to is that actions have consequences. In the language of a cadet at Chamberlain-Hunt, “ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES, SIR/MA’AM!” At Summit it was slightly changed to read “ideas have consequences,” but those ideas lead to actions. We might not have a fancy slogan that encompasses it at The Citadel, but the lesson can be seen plainly from the cadets (myself included) marching tours during the precious weekend hours.
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When people decide to do or not do something, there is a consequence as a result. Today’s culture tends to forget this lesson and I am often frustrated and disappointed to read an article or see a story on the news about someone who got away with something wrong without penalty. Even worse, I find that when people are faced with the consequences of their action they claim it is unfair or that they are suffering an injustice.
I don’t mean to say that I am perfect, I have been frustrated at times when I have received tours and I still have my complaints and arguments about some of them. When it comes time for me to be completely honest with myself I have to admit that I really deserve all the punishments and consequences I have had for my actions during my time at Chamberlain-Hunt and The Citadel.
What most bothers me is that many people among my peer group and generation are unable to do just that. Even if they are getting a just punishment they blame someone else and say that they got unlucky or that everyone else does it and they were just unfortunate to get punished. I find that my fellow cadets at The Citadel have a tendency to be better at accepting our punishments, but there are definitely still a number of malingerers among us. Again, this is something I have been guilty of.
In taking action against this trend I will point to another colloquialism we have at The Citadel, “If you do the crime, be prepared to do the time.” What we interpret that to mean is that we are not necessarily going to follow all the rules. Cadets are notorious for breaking rules and leaving when we are not supposed to. We are also pretty vigilant about protecting each other if we can. What this saying asks you to do is count the cost ahead of time. You have to ask yourself before the fact if you are willing to serve the consequence to your action. When you get caught, cause it will happen at some point, do not lie or make excuses. Take your consequence and move forward after it is completed. I can tell you from experience it will go a lot better than trying to cover up your crime or argue your way out of the consequences. Just ask King David or President Richard Nixon.
