This past semester in English 11, Mrs. Dani DeJong shared a collection of essays from National Public Radio’s program, “This I Believe.” She then challenged her students to write their own personal credo about a core principle that defines their life. The array of topics, concerns, and passions were as diverse as the students themselves.

The ACS Inside Out blog is excited to present their essays in our 2017 summer blog series, “This I Believe: Eight Personal Credos by Eight ACS Students.”

PART SEVEN:  The Janitor
By Tyler Hiebert

One night I was walking home from the corner store with my friend and we were quite far from home. We were hoping to get a ride home, but realized neither one of us had a phone. We knew that we were close to my school.

As we got closer, we noticed some lights were on and the janitor was inside cleaning.

We decided to knock and see if he would let us in and use the phone. We were really hoping he would hear us. Thankfully he heard us and he was nice enough to let us in. We explained what was going on and he let us borrow the phone to call my friends dad to pick us up.

We were very thankful for the super, nice janitor.

A janitor may not have the most glamourous job, like the CEO of a big company, but I have learned that they deserve our respect just the same. Without them, none of us could do our jobs properly.

We need to respect everyone, from the highest positions in careers and down to the lowliest of jobs.

So the next time you see a janitor, make sure to thank them because not many people want or can do the things they do.

Everyone from big company CEO’s to janitors should be treated the same, this I believe.