By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer

Maplesville High School congratulated students who earned all A’s on the second nine weeks reports card with a reception of punch and cookies on Jan. 18.

“We are happy that you achieved this goal,” Principal John Howard told the students have presenting each with a certificate of accomplishment.

C.J. Robinson, 19th District chief deputy district attorney, was the guest speaker for the event.

“He is very knowledgeable in what he does … he is a person grounded in faith,” Howard said of Robinson during the high school presentation. “Someone that you need to look up to that you need to emulate in your transition to real life.”

Robinson encouraged students to stay focused, go hard and do not look back.

“Stay focused, know where you’re doing, know where you’re going and keep your eyes on the prize,” Robinson said. “But it doesn’t help if you just know where you are going, you’ve got to go do it, so go hard.”

He acknowledged that some of the students may have already had to overcome things in life to make it on the all A honor roll and other areas of life. He encouraged students to keep making good choices.

Past close friends may take different paths, so it’s important to not look back, he said.

“There are going to be some of your friends, some of your classmates who, they may have been your friend for a long time, but they may not be very excited that you are making good grades or that you are going to college … or maybe you have a job lined up,” Robinson said.

The speaker encouraged students not to follow friends who choose crime or a party lifestyle.

“There are going to be some people that are going to try to drag you down, get rid of them,” Robinson said. “Don’t let them pull you down.”

He emphasized that students may not get a second chance to do their best, so they need to do their best the first time.

Robinson illustrated his point my telling a story of a builder who was ready to retire but was asked to build one more house.

Reluctantly, he agreed. Rather than focusing on the quality of the house, the builder focused on how to get the job done quickly.

“When his boss gets there, he says, ‘I’m finished. I’m retiring,’” Robinson said. “His boss says, ‘Wait a minute, here is the key to the house. These are your keys. This is your house as my gift to you.’ If only this guy had known, this whole time he was halfway doing this house that he was building his own house. How differently would he have done it?”

He told the students that every decision and every action the students make is building the house of their life.

“Whatever you are doing, don’t just get by,” Robinson said. “Do everything that you do to the best of your ability.”