We do young men no favors when we pretend that effort does not matter. But we do them no favors either when we act as if the race is over at mile one.
A young man is not finished yet.
I was held back a grade. By high school, I was a C-minus student who nearly lost his place on the swim team. My coach spoke to my English teacher so I could stay eligible.
That was not my proudest season. But it was not the end of the story either.
By junior and senior year, those grades inched up. In college, I was earning B-pluses. In graduate school, I graduated valedictorian.
I did not suddenly become a different person. I grew into work I had not yet learned how to do.
Adults can become impatient with a young man who is not yet impressive. It is tempting to look at the present and decide we have seen the future.
We have not.
This is not an argument for excusing drift. Standards still matter. So do consequences. But standards and despair are not the same thing.
Patience means staying present, naming the truth and refusing to write him off.
Some young men take the long way around. The long way can still produce a man of depth, competence and conviction. Often it does.