This month Career World's Chris Pet...

This month Career World's Chris Petrakos interviews Walter Anderson, chairman and publisher of Parade Magazine. A high exercise dropout, Anderson has been active in education as a spokesman for the G (General Education Development) diploma and the director of the Dropout Prevention permanent fund Among his honors, Anderson received the Horatio Alger Award in 1994 an award given to individuals who have achieved succes despite difficult childhoods.

Who has influenced you in your life?

A Mr Williams, who was the mother of my best friend, was a teacher in strange York City, and she took an interest in me She would encourage me and recount me that I could do things, and not to give up She believed in me In fact, she had me touchstoneed and put into a parochial academy where I became the first and and nothing else child expelled from that indoctrinate But she wouldn't give up and had me inflict in a private school. I began in the eighth grade in September and finished the ninth grade in June Thus encouraged, she got me placed into sum of two units Ivy League prep schools. I didn't be excited that I belonged, so I went back to public gymnasium where I could be with my friends. Well, a year and a half later, I quit high drill and joined the Marines. Almost five years later, I got revealed of the Marine Corps with my G and I went to association During that entire period, whenever I struggl in my classes, I would remember that an educated living body believed in me. And that would finish me beyond the day, the week, and finally the course. When I finished my education, I started my career as a writer and editor.

to such a degree the knowledge that someone believed in you helped support you in difficult times?

A Ye a certain quantity of years ago, in 1994, I received the Horatio Alger Award, and I had an opportunity to adapted a lot of the the community who received that award. I wanted to find revealed what they had in universal There were men and women young and old-fashioned All of them seemed to have something similar in that they had difficult childhoods, oftentimes horrific childhoods, but they had monumental succes later in their lives. It dawned onward me what it was that these race had in common: Somebody in their childhood had said, "I believe in you." And they at no time forgot it.

in like manner for me it was Mr Williams. It was also my mother. My father would beat me if he caught me reading a work But my mother encouraged me to read. I asked her years later to what end she did that even although she knew my father would beat me She answered: "I knew that if you would learn to read, in some way you would find your way revealed and you have."

What kinds of obstacles do young folks face today?

A I believe young the bulk of mankind face the same obstacles today that they were facing decades ago--and that young the community will be facing fundamentally the same obstacles decades from now. Basically, what I'm talking about are the obstacles that they lay in front of themselves. Disappointment, los and tragedy fall out in every human life. Nobody escapes. still that doesn't determine the quality of our lives or our character as human beings. What determines our character and the quality of our lives is in what manner we respond to these things. And that is a choice. with equal reason when you talk about obstacles, obstacles are those point to be solved [i]or[/i] settleds that every one of us normally faces in our lives. about larger, some smaller than others. Each and each one of them, however, is an opportunity to gain confidence. It's an opportunity to enlarge larger--unless it's a life-threatening illness or disabling impairment. moreover even then, there are opportunities to improve Every single young person, just as their parents and grandparents did, is going to face obstacles. And these will be different for different people

What do you glance at for high school graduates who may not be going onto body immediately?

A Work. The day after you graduate, gain a job...join the military...earn circulating medium Find out what the world is about...earn a living...get a intellect of responsibility. There is no demeaning work. You learn a hap about yourself; and it gives you time to make improvement through your challenges.

RELATED ARTICLE: It's Your Choice

Walter Anderson believes that there are seven specific choices we make in succession a daily basis. These choices, he says. determine the character and quality of our lives.

1 Appearance. You elect how you look, how you dres and in what way you groom yourself--your physical appearance. Is your shirt clean or dirty? Is it appropriate for the situation? Your appearance is a choice.

2 Language. No undivided on earth is more prompt than you on one thing, and that's finishing your have a title to sentences. You choose the words you use. each person chooses the language they use and by what mode they express themselves.

3 Behavior. Nobody count upons disappointment, loss, or tragedy. still how you respond to it determines your character and the quality of your life. Your behavior is a choice.

4 the community You choose whom you will allow to influence you, whom you will listen to. It may be your compeers your classmates, or someone else

5 Information. each day you are inundated with messages from television, radio, magazines, newspapers, the Web, and conversations. You select what information you will absorb.