Category: Dear Next Generation

Dear Next Generation: The Nut Behind the Butt Plate

There are many great colleges and universities in America. The best one by far is the College of Hard Knocks, usually located near you during times of struggle or failure. It is called hard knocks because occasionally life isn’t easy or fair. The greatest lessons in life generally come at these times. Once in a…


Dear Next Generation: Letters From Jail

To the younger generation, “Advice, from the belly of the beast.” I am a 41-year-old federal prisoner, convicted of drug trafficking and weapons possession. I hope you will take heed of this advice and avoid the mess I made for myself and my loved ones. First, it is in your best interest to find a…


Dear Next Generation: 6 Tips for Life

My advice for the younger generations: 1. Follow Christian values, especially that of treating others the way that you want to be treated. 2. Believe in yourself, even if you’re trying to do something totally new. Research what you want to do before you start, and find people who were successful and those who were…


Dear Next Generation: Always Grow and Continue to Learn

I read with great interest the article by Frank Monti about advice for young people. I believe my life is very similar but with a different twist and would also be helpful to young people just starting their careers. I graduated from high school at 16 and college at 20. After college, I started as…


Dear Next Generation: Give It All You’ve Got

My advice to the younger generation is to give it all you’ve got. And you have plenty to give, even just starting out. You have your time to give, and whenever you have heard an old timer say they would scrub toilets to get ahead, or that they would not ask a worker to do…


Dear Next Generation: ‘Dear Older Me’

There’s a song called “Dear Younger Me” by a popular Christian group, Mercy Me. In listening to it one day, I began to think that the younger me should have written “Dear Older Me” in order to envision what kind of person I would have aspired to be. So when I read The Epoch Times’…


Dear Next Generation: What Is Your Most Important Thing?

What is the most important thing? From the time I entered the engineering profession, my primary goal was to rise into the partnership of a major design firm. My steps forward were in every sense methodical. I sat for both professional examinations as early as I could. I finished both exams early and passed both…


Dear Next Generation: Life Is a Gift—That Is Why They Call It ‘The Present’

Tempus fugit—”time flies.” You may not think so today, but it is really true, especially for your generation. We were the most fortunate of all generations—ever! Our parents had survived the Great Depression and World War II. My father was a gunnery instructor for the Navy, and my mother was a registered nurse during the…


Dear Next Generation: Learn by Leaning Into Life

Hello, I am 74 years old and have traveled all over the world to 95 countries. I have taught many young people how to get on with their lives, and I have a pretty good batting average. Lessons to live by: Learn self-responsibility and discipline and how to take care of yourself. Learn to do…


Dear Next Generation: Marriage Lessons Learned the Hard Way

Marriage lessons learned the hard way, including nuggets of wisdom from my third wife, also in her third marriage, this one lasting 25 years: In a “trial marriage,” the one on trial is the one who cares the most, and there is nothing right about that. Learning lessons the hard way can result in lifelong…