High School Advice #2 - Guest Post by Jon Messenger

I have the extreme pleasure of having my 2nd Guest Post regarding High School Advice from Jon Messenger who is the author of Wind Warrior.

Onto his fabulous post:

When I was asked to write a blog about high school, I had to wrack my brain to figure out what I would have done differently.  I’m not saying I didn’t make mistakes in high school; I made TONS!  The difference is that I know that the things I did in high school – both good and bad – helped define the man I became later in life.  And most of that definition came from the fact that I wasn’t afraid to pursue my interests, regardless of what people thought.

So when it came time to figure out the purpose of this guest blog, that was the point.

Don’t be afraid to follow what makes you happy.

When I was in high school, I played Dungeons and Dragons.  If there’s one thing in your life that will result in public ridicule, that’s it.  However, if I hadn’t played Dungeons and Dragons, I wouldn’t have had instilled the creativity to become a best-selling author.

When I was in high school, I was on the Academic Team.  It wasn’t all that popular.  Yet the kids who were on the team with me have gone onto great things.  One is a visiting professor teaching in a university in South Africa.  Two others are very successful business owners.  I’ve been a US Army Officer for the past 11 years.

When I was in high school, I joined the Speech Club.  Of all the clubs, the Speech Club was one of the most ignored by the other students.  Yet we sent more students to national competitions than all the sports teams combined.  The training I received doing impromptu speaking (which was my favorite event) led to a Public Relations degree from the University of Southern California.

When I was in high school, I played in a jazz band.  I don’t think I need to tell anyone how little respect I received for playing the saxophone.  However, the jazz band and the marching band both had some of the greatest camaraderie.  The football team had thirty guys on the team that constantly jockeyed with one another for popularity.  The bands had a hundred people who wanted nothing more than to see each other succeed.

And yes, I played sports.  I was on the varsity soccer team, playing fullback and sweeper.  And yes, I’m glad I played sports too.  The athleticism and discipline to training that it instilled I still use years later as a US Army Officer.

It’s said that high school years are some of the hardest years of your life, since the whole experience boils down to a popularity contest that, frankly, you’ll never win.  There will always be someone smarter, or prettier, or more athletic.  What you can control in the craziness of high school is your own happiness.  If you want to be eccentric, be the strangest person you can be.  If you want to play in the marching band, remember that anyone picking on you will have to deal with the other 99 students who have your back.  And sure, play Dungeons and Dragons.  Just don’t wear your wizard hat to school.

Don’t be afraid to follow what makes you happy.

About Jon:  For the past twelve years, I have found a cathartic passion in artistic endeavors.  I've tried my hand at painting (which ended when my "moon" was fondly compared to a 2-year-olds version of the Death Star) and woodworking (at which point I realized I should not be allowed around power tools), before
finally settling on writing.  Over the past decade my writing has gained a certain level of complexity and maturity, which is a direct result of my own maturing while serving in the United States Army.  I'm now an Army Major with multiple combat and humanitarian deployments.  I've found a balance in my writing between the realism of war (as seen in the Brink of Distinction series), difficulties of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (as seen in Rage), and the complexities of maintaining relationships (which is prevalent in all my
writing).

Jon Messenger (Born 1979 in London, England) serves as an United States Army Major in the Medical Service Corps.  Since graduating from the University of Southern California in 2002, writing Science Fiction has remained his passion, a passion that has continued through two deployments to Iraq and a
humanitarian relief mission to Haiti.  Jon wrote the "Brink of Distinction" trilogy, of which "Burden of Sisyphus" is the first book, while serving a 16-month deployment in Baghdad, Iraq.

If you are interested in finding out more information about him or his writing, please contact him at the links below.

His Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Goodreads

 Click on the picture of Wind Warrior to learn more about it or see my review here!!

Interested??  Find it here:

Smashwords ~ Amazon ~ AmazonUK ~ B&N

Are you still not sure?? WHY??

Ok fine, then Read the free Novella first here.

If you would like to do a high school guest post, contact me by leaving some comment love :)