Actions have consequences. Before taking action you need to ask yourself, is what I’m doing right? We’ve all been there, standing at the crossroads. Should I cheat off the person sitting next to me so I could maybe get a better grade? Should I take that drink because my friends say it’s okay? To you, I say just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

Recently, I have strongly felt the effects of actions and their consequences. As you may or may not know, there was an issue on the Student Life page of the first issue of this year’s Xpress. Since I was not at school the day the papers got handed out, I had no idea what was going on when Mrs. Wagner called my mom asking if I knew about the issue with my page. I was nervous walking into Xavier to talk to Mrs. Wagner. What happened? Had my page been deleted? Did my fonts end up completely different then what they were supposed to be? I wasn’t so lucky as to have either of these options be the case. As I looked at the open newspaper sitting on the table ,what I saw was different than my final copy of the page. One of the words had been changed to something entirely different. I was horrified. Questions started flying through my head. How did this happen? Was it a mistake on my end? Did it get deliberately changed? As Mrs. Wagner and I kept talking, I eliminated each option until there seemed to be only one reasonable explanation. Someone else had taken action.

My name was attached to that, Emily Jennings’s name was attached to that. Who could have done this? Did they know how much stress and anxiety they were causing in my life? If they would have stopped to think about the consequences not only for them but for me, Emily, or for Xavier, would they have done it? I would like to think they would not have, but the hopeful option isn’t always the truth.

When I found out there were pictures of this change circulating, I was disgusted and disappointed. These people who were sending it around were in my classes, had worked with me on group projects and assignments. Did they think about the consequences of their actions? Maybe they thought it was just a joke. Maybe they thought it was no big deal to press send. Does it seem like a joke now, because I’m not laughing? Imagine if you were in my shoes or Mrs. Wagner’s shoes, would you be willing to take the consequences? The consequences for something you didn’t do, something you didn’t know about, but has your name on it. If the answer is no, then the next time you make a decision that could affect other people, stop and take a minute to think. Think about not only what it could cost you but what it could cost others. If this message is too late for you and your action is out there, own up and take your consequences because no one else should.