A Shining Example

Adults have always had their fair share of apprehension about the youth of the day. And always, along with that apprehension, there have been young people, like Carlos Romo, to remind their elders that the future is, indeed, in good hands.

Romo, raised in the El Campo section of La Habra, was named National Youth of the Year by the Boys Clubs of America, recognition he earned through service and in competition with 1.2 million members of Boys Clubs nationwide.

The selection brings honor to Romo and to Boys Clubs everywhere.

Romo credited his involvement with Boys Club for keeping him away from the influence of youth gangs and drug abuse. He was too busy working in community activities such as raising money for cancer research and assisting senior citizens. Last year he put in more than 1,500 hours of community service work. He also found time to captain the varsity soccer team at La Habra High and carry the Olympic torch for the La Habra Boys and Girls Club in the Olympic torch relay.

” . . . I’ve learned that there is a lot more to life than just yourself,” Romo said. That’s a wonderful lesson to learn so early in life.

In 1956, in a speech marking the 50th anniversary of the Boys Clubs of America, Herbert Hoover said: “A boy has two jobs. One is just being a boy. The other is growing up to be a man.” We congratulate Carlos Romo of La Habra on doing them both so well.