People have
standards in their lives. These standards are guiding principles that effect
the majority of decisions made in one’s life. In my life I hold the standards
of honour, discipline, and just being a good person.
Honour is the
first standard that I hold myself too and for me it has multiple meanings. The
first is an obligation in the protection and development of ones family. While
I don’t currently have a family to take care of, I assume that I will
eventually have one and so my current goals and objectives are in the providing
of such future family. For example I don’t have any real desire to become an
officer in the United States Air Force, however I believe that doing so I can
better provide for my family in the long term. The second meaning that I have
with honour is about doing the right thing. Integrity is one of the core values
of the United States Air Force and it is often defined as doing the right
thing, even when no one is looking. An example of which is when I had multiple
opportunities to partake in activities that would be deemed as unacceptable by
the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice). These particular activities would
have made life much more enjoyable, however the sense of keeping ones honour
has stopped me from doing anything that shouldn't be done, especially if it
prevents me from being able to provide for my family.
The second
standard that I hold myself to is a standard of discipline. As a young toddler,
or perhaps just slightly older, whenever I did something wrong my mom used
Korean torture on me. For example one type of punishment was to sit against the
wall with my arms high up in the air. By itself this may seem like a joke of a
punishment, however for a kid and after doing this for a really long time, it
becomes a very painful endeavour. While I don’t really know why I was so
obedient towards my mom's punishments, I was able to hold my discipline and maintain
my bearing so that my arms always stayed in the air, no matter how much I
silently cried about the pain I was going through. In a sense, it would seem
that most Korean (or even Asian) torture were all mostly self-inflicting.
Perhaps because of this, I've been able to develop a sense of responsibility
towards ones actions. There was a time when I tried to manipulate someone into
making a decision they didn't want to do (I was even able to use fallacious
reasoning to convince myself I was doing to right thing), however after I
realized I was acting out of greed and not in the persons best interest, I
pointed out this flaw to the person and later apologized for it. While I
believe the manipulation attempt hurt our relationship, the act of admitting my
own wrongdoing helped strengthen it.
The final standard
that I hold myself to is to simply be a good person. This is mostly because I
want to be remembered in a good light and as someone that’s been able to put
the needs of others before my own. One example of this is through my volunteer
work with the Samaritans. Samaritans was a way for me to connect with people
and to help explore what’s causing them distress, despair, or suicidal
thoughts. Simply by the act of talking with someone I was able to help relax
them, make them see more clearly than they did before, and help them make their
own decisions in bettering their own lives. Another way I try to be a good
person is by volunteering as a Victim Advocate. While the United States Air
Force is focused on stopping sexual assaults within our ranks, I'm focused on
helping those that have already been through the trauma. Being there for
someone when they need it the most and to help guide them through a very long
and difficult process is something that makes me feel good inside.
The three major
standards that I hold myself to is honour, discipline, and being a good person.
These are the standards that I’ve developed over the course of my life and will
probably keep for the rest of my life. Through these standards, I have been
able to create guidelines for myself and for the decisions that I make.
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