I happen to use a parable on the last day of my AP Psychology class(es) each year.
It is not my original work, but comes from an interpretation of an old Native American fable written and performed by Bill Miller. It is on itunes, and it is beautiful. I highly recommend you give it a listen for the full affect.
I use it to share with my students the idea that there will be many distractions in their time at college, but that they have the ability and wisdom, even at such a young age, to anticipate many of them and avoid their negative consequences simply through heightened awareness.
How you assign the coyote in the context of the other parable diary on the list, and recent Republican anti-Americanism (in my opinion), I will leave up to you.
A boy heard the voice of a whippoorwill one night, and went out to find where he was singing. He had to walk quite a ways into a big field because the song of the whippoorwill carried so well on the wind, he sounded much closer than he really was. And on the way, the boy found a well worn trail. So he stayed on it for a while. And sitting in the middle of the trail was Coyote. And Coyote was singing, too.
He turned and saw the boy and he said, "Why are you following me?"
The boy was frightened and said, "Well, the trail you made happened to be a short and easy way through this field."
Then Coyote asked, "Well, if you’re not following me then why are you here?"
"I heard the beautiful song of the Whippoorwill and wanted to watch him sing."
"Do you not think my songs are beautiful?" said Coyote.
"Oh," said the boy, "they’re good, but, I hear you all the time. I much prefer the songs of the whippoorwill."
This made Coyote furious, as he was jealous of the whippoorwill. He said, "Listen to my night song. You might like this one." And he pulled back his head, and yodeled out a tune. The boy covered his ears and politely said, "Thank you for the song, but, I must be going now."
"Well," Coyote said, "I can show you a shortcut to the whippoorwill, boy. And where he sings is just over there," pointing his claw, smiling out the side of his mouth. The boy paused and looked around. He knew the night was passing fast, so he agreed to follow Coyote. But Coyote’s trail was rough and rocky. And the boy fell in quite a few gopher holes along the way. Coyote turned around and laughed. Then he yelled to the boy, "We’re almost there! Hurry up!"
Coyote was at a full trot, but the boy had just fallen again and hurt his knee. By the time he got to the place where the whippoorwill had been singing all night, it was morning. Whippoorwill was gone. And so was Coyote. In fact, he could hear Coyote’s songs in another field. So the boy turned, and headed for home, covered with burrs, mosquito bites, and a skinned-up knee.
And it was many summers later when the boy became a wiser man and he realized there are no short cuts to finding something that you really love. But there are many trails in this life, so you must stay true to your path. And always keep an eye out for Coyote.
Lyric Sheet
(I had concerns about copyright, but found the transcription on several "lyric" sites with a simply 3 word google search. Given the political commentary I'm encouraging with use here, I believe I'm probably within fair use principles. If you disagree, please let me know.)
...and interpretation