As the old adage goes, actions always seem to speak louder than words, regardless of who you are or what you do. You could be a working-class citizen or a higher-up in the government; either way, we all have the responsibility to take control of our actions and own up to our mistakes.

Change in people is inevitable. You can look back ten years from now, five years from now, even thinking back to last year; you aren’t the same person you once were. But your actions will carry on throughout your entire life. This is something that United States Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh doesn’t seem to understand.

Students of Bloomsburg, please be aware of something: you may think that getting an underage may not affect you now, or that if you do this one stupid thing that it’ll stay in your past. If it involves the law or harming someone in any shape or form, you need to take that responsibility with you and learn from it.

Because your records can become known to the public; job interviewers will do background checks on you and if they see one too many underages or DUI’s or whatever stupid things you got into while in college, that affects the current you.

Past you may not care, and you may not be that same person anymore. Regardless, take responsibility and don’t be so prideful that you can’t apologize and try to make amends.

If you want to become an adult, want people to treat you like an adult, admit your faults from the beginning. Do not be a Brett Kavanaugh and lie about what you’ve done. Your lies will come to the surface and the truth will be found out.

Having a televised temper tantrum and snapping at committee members while being questioned is not how an adult acts. Kavanaugh wants to deny everything, yet there are people telling us he is lying, and since Kavanaugh feels cornered, he’s acting like a child.

He’s basically pointing fingers and crying out “I didn’t do it!” But again, actions speak louder than words, and Kavanaugh’s high school-era behavior is potentially going to cost him his biggest career opportunity.

We at the Voice also believe that Kavanaugh is wrong to deny the sexual assault allegations at every turn. Rather than admit to his troubling past, express his guilt and potentially save a bit of face, the SCOTUS hopeful has dug himself into an inescapable hole.

Kavanaugh had the chance to present himself as the calm and composed justice he is obligated to be. Instead, Kavanaugh reverted to the petulant, angry teenage version of himself, raging about how “unfair” the hearing was and referring to the proceedings as a revenge-fueled “political hit.”

Not once did he seem as grounded and mature as Dr. Ford in his testimony. Not once did he take responsibility for the disturbing allegations that have thrown his Supreme Court approval into disarray.      

Instances of inappropriate behavior coming back to haunt public figures extends beyond the political arena. With the #MeToo movement surging through the film and television industry, media moguls and network executives have fallen from places of power due to accusations made against them for controversial behavior from long years ago.

Just like victims of sexual assault and harassment who carry their scars for the rest of their lives, the decisions you make in college (and in many cases, even before then) will follow you for the rest of your life. Always be cognizant of this, and look no further than the fiasco of Brett Kavanaugh to remind yourself of the potential consequences.

-The Voice