The drummer in the marching band

The president of the student counsel

The member without an office in the Red Cross Club

The advertising manager for the newspaper

The student in the third row, second seat from the left in AP English

The photographer for the yearbook

The after-school worker at the fast food restaurant

The vice president of the French Club

The center on the basketball team

The lighting tech for the school play

Guess what? None of those roles alone is special. In fact, when each graduates or just decides to move on, they’ll be replaced. Someone did the job before. Someone will be next. Not just at your school—at just about every school.

Are you feeling defensive? Are you thinking, “That’s not true!” Are you not like all those that came before you? Do you do things that others can’t or don’t or won’t do?

Great! Keep doing more of those things.

The role itself doesn’t make you special (this is true beyond high school, too). But what you do within it—the effort and energy and unique talent that you bring—can make you utterly irreplaceable.

Whatever you’re doing, do it in a way that when you leave, people will say, “We’ll never have another…”