It’s graduation season, a time to look ahead to futures filled with good opportunities.

It’s also a time to look back. The graduation ceremony is the final chapter in a high school or college career, a celebration of all that each graduate accomplished.

Everyone made choices. Even as young children, there were decisions such as whether to spend more time at the pool or at sports facilities. There were opportunities to try out for summer musicals and later to begin learning a band instrument.

The number of choices grows as children become teenagers. Before long they have to decide on their top priorities, the activities for which they want to invest large amounts of time.

Most of my choices were easy ones. I wasn’t very musical. I was never one of the best athletes. Town kids in those days very rarely joined 4-H.

I enjoyed hanging out at the pool in the summer, but never seriously considered being a lifeguard. By sixth grade I was too old for the pool.

That’s when I discovered an activity that really turned into a serious pastime. Instead of the pool I started hanging out at the Marshall Golf Club, usually going out to play on weekday mornings as I tried to become more than a beginner.

I set a goal to play golf in high school. Several golf pros, most of whom stayed at the club for only one summer, took an interest in me and helped me to improve. They helped me to overcome a late start, since most kids who knew they wanted to be golfers had been playing since they were about five.

Golf became a very important part of my high school years. I enjoyed how there was competition but also a relaxed atmosphere. It was fun to try out the different courses around the region.

My next door neighbors on Eatros Place, June and Virg Johnson, were avid golfers who were delighted to see me enjoy it. They saved Golf Digest magazines for me. They liked hearing about the number of pars I scored, and wanted me to let them know right away on the rare occasions when I made a birdie.

The one thing that became as much of an interest as golf was my foreign language classes. I was a rare student who was able to take both Spanish and French.

I enjoyed seeing how my abilities in English and history classes transferred easily into foreign language. It was fun to hear about other countries of the world, about everything from food to art to recreation.

Golf and foreign language were on a collision course that led to the hardest decision of my high school years. I had the choice in my junior year of trying for a letter in golf or going to Spain with other members of my third year Spanish class.

My golf coach, Steve Johnson, told me he couldn’t give me a 100 percent guarantee of a letter if I stayed home. It would depend on how well I played, and on the scoring averages of other golfers on the team vying for six varsity starting spots.

My decision came down to how much I really wanted a high school letter. It was a one shot deal. There would be no opportunity later. On the other hand I had my entire life to travel to Europe.

So I stayed home and managed to qualify for enough golf meets to earn my letter. After almost 40 years, I still display my letter jacket on a coat rack on my stairway landing.

I used to put it on my resumes even though it wasn’t an essential qualification for jobs to which I applied. I did it because I was proud of it. It showed that I could reach a high goal.

I’ve still never been to Spain, France or anywhere in Europe. The nice thing is that it’s still not too late. I’d like to travel in future years, and a European destination would be a good option.

Many teenagers make decisions that are more difficult than my example. Some have to drop out of all school activities because of a need or a desire to work.

That’s not something I would ever have done, but I would never have told a classmate back in the 1980s or a student in 2024 that they’re making a mistake.

It has to come down to what they want out of life. My hope for all of our graduates is that they make decisions about work, dating and academics that are right for them, that allow them to make progress toward their long range goals.

— Jim Muchlinski is a longtime reporter and contributor to the Marshall Independent