Knowledge- when first reflecting upon this value as a graduate brother, I had to think about how I value knowledge now that I am no longer in school. Working in higher education is an easy example of how I value knowledge. BUT, outside of work, I see that I value knowledge in my daily life as I seek to learn more about my profession, my community, and the world in which I live.
Morality- I see this as two-fold. I believe I live a moral life and true to my background as a Christian. I also believe that I have a life of integrity and when I commit to something or someone, I keep my word and am honest in all that I do.
Service- I believe in paying forward. While there are days that I don't feel that fortunate or well-off, I look at the world around me and realize that I can have great impact on those around me. Unfortunately, I don't currently do much around my Columbus community and I really do need to change that. Compared to what I did for service as an undergraduate student, I really should be doing more.
Friendship- There is no doubt in my mind that I have made the right choice in making a lifetime commitment when I joined FIJI. My closest friends now are brothers that I met through the Fraternity. Some of those friends were friends before I joined FIJI, but the bond has only been strengthened by our membership in FIJI.
Nathan (OSU, '05) and I celebrating our birthdays last summer.
To this day, I put these friendships first above all my current relationships and obligations in life and model other relationships off of those I have with my brothers.
Excellence- Every day of my life, I strive to do everything to the best of my ability. There are days that I don't do this to my fullest, and often, I find myself feeling guilty about my performance that day. I try to be the best professional I can (whether I do a good job with that or not is debatable) and in all that I do, I live myself the same whether that be in personal relationships, sports, or in my family.
As an individual and as I've grown up, I have also learned that equality for all is important and a much larger issue than any one individual. We all are responsible for changing the world in which we live and hopefully, we can work together, no matter what our backgrounds or beliefs, and make this a better world for everyone.
As a graduate, I think you bring a view that not many of us think about when it comes to knowledge. I think it is crucial that we always strive for knowledge. It doesn't have to be the kind of knowledge that comes from books or lectures, but as someone whose ideal future is intertwined with science and technology, I feel that staying on top of these things is really important. If we can stay educated about the world we live in, we can make smart decisions about how to make that world a better place. New information will be available tomorrow that wasn't available today. That information may drastically change our understanding of how our world works, and I think it is important that we keep our hearts and minds open to such knowledge and use it to benefit ourselves, our families, our communities, our countries, and our world
ReplyDelete