By Joette Kunse
Special to the Clarkston News

The Sashabaw Plains Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution recognized on Jan. 29 the annual school winners of the Good Citizen Award for Clarkston High School and Our Lady of the Lakes High School.
Aidan Rosser was the Clarkston High School honoree, and Alison Anthony is the honoree for Our Lady of the Lakes High School. Both students are Clarkston residents.
The award has been given to Clarkston High School students since 1958 and Our Lady of Lakes students since 1986.
Rosser, son of Andrea Rosser, has not decided on a university for the 2023-24 school year yet but is deciding between William and Mary College, Drew University, and the University of Michigan.
He wants to study political science and is looking at a career as a lobbyist.
“I want to provide greater representation to trades people, a voice in politics, and make unions strong again,” said Rosser.
His school honors include American Legion Boy’s State, Council for Exception Children Technology award, Junior Varsity CHS Cross Country and Track teams, CHS Executive Board, National Honor Society board member, and Orchestra board member. He is most proud of his mentorship of younger cello students in the orchestra.
Anthony, daughter of Joseph Anthony II and Peggy Anthony, is looking at attending Oakland University in the fall to study dietetics and nutrition. She is interested in helping hospital patients with a specialized diet. She enjoys baking and cooking.
Anthony has danced for many years including ballet, tap, hip hop and jazz. She enjoys writing fiction, fantasy and contemporary stories and hopes to be a published author someday.
Students are chosen for the DAR Good Citizen Award by school staff, who focus on dependability, service, leadership, and patriotism. Students also write an essay of up to 550 words. The 2023 essay topic was “Our American Heritage and Our Responsibility for Preserving It.” Students sit for up to two and half hours and answer the questions: how do the qualities of a good citizen – dependability, service, leadership, patriotism – help support our nation.
Colleen Blackwood of Linden High School and Abby Logan of Fenton High School were also honored as Good Citizens for their high schools.
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AIDAN ROSSER’S ESSAY

Aidan Rosser – Senior Clarkston High School
National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution 2023 Good Citizen Essay Prompt: “How will the essential actions of a good citizen (dependability, service, leadership, and patriotism) meet the challenges that America faces in this decade?”

Our American Heritage and Our Responsibility for Preserving It
When many think of America an eagle of freedom and apple pie fills the mind, but what many don’t understand is that America is a century-old experiment in the pursuit of democratic knowledge. In our modern America, we fight as a people and we fight out of great resilience. And when we divide and fight one another and the wounds eventually heal we are stronger and closer than ever before. The 50 states are like brothers to one another yes, they squabble but they are family. Being a good citizen is using empathy, morality, and a sense of justice to lead, being a good American is innovating when innovation seems impossible and changing when change is inconceivable. To truly preserve our American experiment, we must first understand how the average American thinks and that is where we must begin.

The average American is poor and the average American is tired,  yet the challenges are daunting. Imagine struggling for the food that’s in your fridge, imagine struggling just to make ends meet. Imagine waking up one day and feeling no water or heat. To truly preserve the fairness that America was supposed to accomplish we first must feed the poor. A good citizen would feed the poor but an American would create a system where there are no poor. American Ingenuity like SNAP benefits and job programs like Michigan Works aided the creation of a system where the bottom doesn’t fall out from under us. It is our Empathy that leads us to change, it is our struggle that leads us to act, And it’s our American gumption that allows us to throw a punch when one’s back is shoved against the wall.

While our Camaraderie and patriotism are strong we must also focus on the other aspects of America. The American dream can be imagining a future for someone else that is better than yours. The American dream is willing to look at the exclusion and take it as a guide to a new door with a better prize. The American dream is nothing more than American optimism and the idea of always pursuing something greater than what you already have, it’s the idea of risking everything for something in return. This perspective of thought is how we truly preserve America. We don’t preserve America through conformity and suburban existence. We preserve it by fighting to survive because America will never forget the past of being that scrappy kid with blood on his face looking for his next meal. The American dream is a prophecy of ambition and resilience fueled by empathy. This realm of thought is achieved by being able to think outside the parameters of survival. It’s comfort with acknowledgment of how lucky we are.

To truly survive the long dark path that lies ahead we must admit to our flaws and our mistakes. What we need is change on a political level but, an empathetic level as well. While a good citizen gives pocket change to the poor, a good American creates a program that builds them a home. Americans are Ambitious, Americans are Empathetic, and Americans are Resilient.
With blood comes love and with love comes change. We are Americans, brothers, and sisters, we will always find a way.
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ALISON ANTHONY’S ESSAY

Alison Anthony – Senior – Our Lady of the Lakes High School

Our American Heritage and Our Responsibility for Preserving It
“How will the essential actions of a good citizen (dependability, service, leadership and patriotism) meet the challenges that America faces in this decade?”

Challenge and struggle are constants in human life. There has been no time in history without turmoil. In the world today, it feels as though we have become more divided and hateful as a society. It can be easy to wallow in this despair, believing that this is the way it will always be. However, there are those who rise above this mentality and truly strive for the betterment of our country. These are the people who believe in the value of unity; who believe in fighting these injustices and for what is truly right.
To invoke change in our country, we must first be optimistic that such change can occur. Being dismissive or pessimistic about how our country runs is a fruitless thought; to follow that line of reasoning, nothing will change because nobody believes anything can change. To want the best for our country is a sense of patriotism on its own. We want to be a part of somewhere that we can be proud of and where we feel a sense of connectedness. We live in a highly diverse country with many different cultures and ways of life: it is a beautiful thing that it is our patriotism that can bring us all together.
“One country, one people” doesn’t mean we all need to share the same beliefs or have the same opinions. One of the greatest things about our democracy is that it allows everyone to have a voice. This is how change is made; this is how issues can be solved. Being united as a people means we will stand up to face challenges together.
When there is injustice in our world, we can rely on each other to fight for what’s right.

Naturally, there will be some who rise to the mantle of leadership. It is important to have leaders in all places: our cities and schools, our communities and religious
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PHOTO: Aidan Rosser, Clarkston High School, and Alison Anthony, Our Lady of the Lakes High School, the DAR Good Citizen winners for their high schools. Both are Clarkston residents. Photo: Provided by Joette Kunse