I learned to be polite, to clean my room and keep it neat, I learned to do my chores and to do them right. I can remember hearing often the phrase,
“There are 3 ways to do things. Your way, My way, and the Milton Hershey way.”
I learned the importance and value of being honest and respectful. I learned to take personal responsibility for my actions and to take pride in the young men I was and find hope in the man I would become. I learned that people were the same, it was there circumstance that differed.
I learned that it’s true, there are people worse off then me. I learned not to wallow in self-pity. I learned I needed to be tough enough to brave a great big world alone one day. I learned to know the difference between toughness and stubbornness. I learned too that kindness was a virtue and that one day I would repay the one that was done for me.
I learned that hard work was a good thing and that a job done well was a job well done. I learned that there were people in the world for whom giving was more important than getting. I learned that I may not be able to change my past but I am the determiner of my future.
I learned no matter where I go I will be able to say I am a Milton Hershey Man and that only a select few will be lucky enough to really know what that means. I learned that even in my loneliest moments, I have a family, born of similar circumstance, raised in the same tradition, living a life of similar values. Brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, teachers, counselors, food service workers, clothing supply room workers, janitors, landscapers, bus drivers, all of them part and parcel of my Milton Hershey experience. Each of them a member of a very select family…my family.
What I learned at Milton Hershey School still lives in me today and it is a legacy that I have passed on to my children. I trust it will be a legacy they pass to theirs as well. Proving that Milton Hershey School truly is the gift that keeps on giving.
