I have been thinking a lot about myself, and how I have come to believe what I believe…what makes me, me and how did I come to these conclusions. My Faith, family, and mentors are all on that list but my home town or even my alma mater never made the list until now.
From what I understand the common thought of people from my home town is that the best thing to do is get out… and to not get sucked in…but really, I have learned many great things and developed a great work ethic and sense of community that I truly appreciate now and can say that you, my alma mater and home town of Great Bend Kansas, have had a huge impact on me and who I have become. I thought that this entire time I was searching for and trying to achieve perfection …knowing and understanding my pitfalls and trying to correct/reduce them…but I find myself going back to my roots and have come to the decision that Striving for Excellence is much better that perfection.
My Alma mater, Great Bend High School has a slogan that reads ” A Tradition of Excellence ” When I was growing up and attending school it was a ” Standard of Excellence ” Lately the word excellence has been resonating with me. This is the definition of excellence: the fact or state of excelling; superiority, eminence. This definition then let me to the definition of excel, which reads: to surpass others or be superior in some respect or area; to do extremely well. Perfection is unattainable, nobody is perfect nor can they be…no matter how great someone or something is, it still is not perfect. Perfection leaves no room for error. I do not believe that I am alone by wanting to limit error, but no one or thing is capable of being perfect all day, everyday.

However, excelling is within reach. Every person on this planet has strengths and weaknesses, which is why it is important to identify your strengths and build on them. With great effort and work your strengths become the areas of life where you excel and your weaknesses will meet the bar that your strengths exceed.
I think that at Great Bend High School, promoting a standard of excellence and now a tradition of excellence could not be more perfect. They have created musicians, athletes, nobel prize winners, actors and actresses, artists, and most importantly people with integrity. The goal to excel has been deeply rooted in the students that pass through and created a passion and hunger for excellence and the knowledge that you give your all in all that you do.
Great Bend is a wonderful community and has really shown me what it means to be a community, to stand by and support the people that make up your community and to be involved. The more involved/invested you are the more ties you have to it and the more you want it to succeed and will invest more of yourself to make that happen.
Community is creating togetherness, unity, support, and gives you something worth fighting for. Build your community and build yourself.
for the alumni, make it a great day or not, the choice is yours.

…it still is great to be a Great Bend High Panther