Our Amazing Youth (or, The Anti-"Twerk")

Only a short month ago I’d never heard the word “twerk’ and if pressured to speculate on its meaning, I might have guessed it to be some sort of twerp/jerk hybrid. Well, pop culture’s wrecking-ball-of-a-media frenzy gave me an education I’m not sure I ever wanted (and for the record, I like my definition better). Combine that with a recent local high school’s fatal stabbing and one might begin to wonder what’s happening to our youth.

Of course, it only takes a few deep breaths, and a good look around our neighborhoods, high schools, colleges, churches, communities (local as well as online), and yes, even the media, to see that humanity and good will is alive and well amongst our young people.

Take the recent buzz of Joey Prusak, the 19-year-old manager of a suburban Minneapolis Dairy Queen (okay, this fact alone impresses the freckles off me). After serving a blind customer, Prusak notices the man drop a twenty dollar bill. The lady next in line quickly snatches up the bill, tucking it in her purse while the blind man remains oblivious. When Prusak asks the woman to return the money to the blind customer and she refuses, the teen refuses to serve her, requesting that she leave. End of story? Nope! Prusak then takes $20 from his own wallet and gives it to the blind customer. The entire event is witnessed and chronicled by another customer and sent in an email to Prusak’s boss, which is pinned to the restaurant’s bulletin board, which is posted online by a fellow employee, which goes viral. Aaahh… Free press at its finest! Read more of Joey's story HERE.

McKenna Wright finished her senior year on top of the world. The energetic blonde completed a successful term as student body president of her Southern Utah high school, played the lead in several school productions, and wrapped up the year by earning a 4.0 GPA and valedictorian honors. With every scholarship available to her, McKenna chose to first conquer another challenge—teaching English half-way across the world…in China. According to her mom, “McKenna chose to go to China because she wanted to serve a humanitarian mission and feel like she was doing something that would last.” Something tells me McKenna has just begun to make a lasting impression and leave her enduring influence in this great big world.

Then there’s my good buddy, Robert Ybarra who works with me at the store. The two of us love talking all-things music. I’ll never forget the day he helped me dip chocolate strawberries in the bakery as we gushed over our favorite Beatles White Album songs (Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da and I Will for me, Martha, My Dear for him “because the piano intro is amazing, and Paul hides the name of his ex-girlfriend who the song is about and replaces it with the name of his dog, not to mention the orchestration had tuba and I played that in band.”) Robert could be my son and knows all of this and the lyrics to Rocky Raccoon—I LOVE this kid! And I love that he can not only engage in conversation with me (theoretically a middle-age lady, if you insist on being theoretical) but that he’s engaged in life and his future. When he’s not working at the store, he’s a full-time college student at the University of Houston, and works a second part-time job at the mall.

Twenty-three year old Alyssa recently headed south from her home and family in Michigan to commence the first of eight years enlisted with the US Army. Upon completion of her training she will be known as an Army Combat Medic. Not only do Medics, like Alyssa, provide medical treatment to wounded soldiers, they are a staple in the Army as every squad is required to have one in attendance while on any hazardous mission. They live and work with the soldiers day in and out, conducting sick calls and monitoring all aspects of the soldier’s health. As an American, and especially, as a mother, my heart swells with emotion and a sense of pride whenever I see a young person in uniform. As the mother of nine, I realize that this is someone’s daughter or son, sister or brother, and often the case, someone’s mommy or daddy, putting their life on the line to ensure the security, rights and freedom we enjoy as Americans. I hope we never take this sacrifice for granted. Thank you, Alyssa, and the countless others serving our country. God bless you and yours.

And then there’s my son, Josh, almost at the half-way mark of the two-year mission he’s serving for our church. He was assigned to serve in southern California. Josh isn’t paid for these two years of service, and as a matter of fact, worked several of his teenage years as a cook for Popeye’s Chicken to save up for it. Every Monday I receive and email from him, and today he said, “We were able to help Sister “Smith” (a lady in our ward) clean up her backyard. When we got there it looked like a battleground. But after a few hours of hard work from several missionaries, it was looking great! It was really neat because we could tell it really made a big difference for her and her family. I love service!” And I love that my son has developed a love for serving others…because this is how we truly learn Christ-like love in this life. For more info on a day in the life of a missionary, click HERE.

Yup, humanity and good will is alive and well amongst our young people. Look around. Oh, you may find a random "twerk" here or there, but I promise you won’t have to look far to find our not-so-hidden treasure--young people everywhere striving to make this world a better place!

 

 

Tamra Torero is Wife to Paco, Momma to nine, Grandma of two, Bakery Manager, author of Shayla Witherwood: A Half-Faerie Tale and co-author of a Christmas novel, The Lost Son, with her son, Preston Norton. She thinks that the silly goof-balls of the world should stop being such "twerks" and will continue to use this word in this way until the silly goof-balls of the world stop "dancing" silly.