Eighteen year old Justin Combs accepted a full-ride football scholarship this month to UCLA.

This is a little difficult to swallow for some as Justin’s father, (rapper, actor and businessman) Sean Combs, is estimated to be worth well over half a billion dollars and is perfectly capable of forking over the sizable tuition bill that many hard working Americans are unable to pay.

I am already shaking in my pocketbook trying to figure out how much help I will be able to provide my own children with their post-secondary educations. With our oldest starting her junior year at Great Bend High School this fall, time is quickly slipping by and I understand just how unprepared we are to help. I think few parents are truly ever ready.

Thank goodness there are people who realize many students need help and generously provide scholarship funds.  So if my kids work hard now to meet scholarship requirements, there is a good chance they might get a little help and, heaven knows full well, they are going to need it.

So back to P. Diddy’s boy, does he really need help paying for his education? The answer is an unequivocal, unquestionable, well resounding NO!  After all, his father did give him a $360,000 Maybach for his 16thbirthday.  A car worth more than my house!? Don’t you think that is a little excessive for someone just learning to drive?

That being said, does Justin deserve to receive his UCLA scholarship? I think that is a different question all together.

Athletic scholarships are designed specifically for colleges to recruit top athletes to their programs. They are not based on need although sometimes academic accomplishments are considered.

Justin, a top rated 5’ 9” 170-pound cornerback from New Rochelle Iona Prep school in New York, is not only a star athlete, he is also an honor student with a 3.75 gpa. He was one of the scant 100 players selected from across the country for the All American Bowl this year and has received several other prestigious football honors. He gave up his summers to participate in training camps and has worked hard to earn the admiration of his coaches and teammates. He received offers from other Division I schools. In fact he received offers from Wyoming, Alabama, Illinois, Virginia, and Middle Tennessee State plus there were a slug of other schools interested in him, including Kansas.

So does Justin Combs deserve his athletic scholarship? The answer is an unequivocal, unquestionable, well resounding YES, you bet he does!

Wherever our young people can make their marks through hard work and determination; whenever our youth can seize an opportunity to make themselves better; whatever our kids can do to be successful by their own merit, the rewards of those efforts should not be taken away.

Only by eliminating the glass ceiling and giving our children the opportunity to really excel and by letting them reap the benefits of self-reliance and success will our country regain the prestige we once had.

We should expect no less from our youth than they use their God-given talents to make their lives and the lives of others better. Each generation should strive to be better and build on the successes of their ancestors.  But it is important to remember abilities are unique to the individual, and even with equal effort, not everyone will excel at the same thing or at the same level.

America has been long thought of as the land of opportunity and we need to get back to those beliefs.  If we continue down the current path where all people deserve the same regardless of effort and ability, our freedom is truly doomed.