Prompt: 750-1000 word essay reflect on your own goals and dreams and how you see this college's liberal arts education helping and/or not helping you attain them.
Selfishness can be a large motivator when it comes to personal goals. Instead of wondering what an individual can get out of a situation, they should be wondering how they can help others. When a person helps others they meet their physical and emotional needs. Helping others also brings compassion and compassion equals a better society. That motivates me to want to help others. Every time I get that chance to help others, I get a feeling of accomplishment and gratification. As for myself I struggle everyday with how to make an impact on each individual that I meet. I want to help people understand why they are in the situation they are in; I want to be a guide, and support them on their way to happiness.
As a little kid, I always wanted to be a pro athlete. I admire them as they get to play the sport they love and make it their career. Many people look down on them because they see all the money they make and think that they live for material things. This is true to a certain extent, but there are many good things that are being done with money that many athletes donate to different charities, causes, and events. I do realize that only a small handful of people end up making it in the long run but that is what goals and dreams are, and if you work hard enough you just might get that chance one day.
The hardest part of life for me is hearing more and more everyday about another problem going on. Whether it on the other side of the world or in our own town, they just keep piling up. It's so frustrating to think that no matter what we do I won't seem to make much of a difference. Yes, we did hear during the EWB CIS presentation that the way they got around this dilemma was that many other organizations were now doing the same thing and the people they had taught over in Africa were branching out to other communities as well. But not everyone has such an easy time justifying their cause. Mostly due to this dilemma I struggle everyday with what I should be doing with my life.
From Spiderman to FDR to Jesus we have all heard some version of the saying, "With great power comes great responsibility." I take this proposition very seriously seeing as I have been blessed with much. Especially Jesus' version in Luke 12:48 "to whom much is given, much will be expected" tends to make me a bit nervous. I have been blessed with much and much is expected to come from that and yet I have no clear idea of what I want to be doing other than I want to 'help as many people as I possibly can. I have no doubt Hope will guide me through this because "a liberal education within the Christian tradition also seeks to develop the whole
person by infusing education with purpose and direction." Hope's Christian heritage will provide a foundation for defining true moral values and making sound moral judgments
One aspect that I try to work on is how to be different, how to be unique. It can be so hard to 'go against the flow' but those who succeed have made some of the biggest splashes in history. From forming a new religion to leading a revolt against a tyrannical government, leaders throughout history are known for their ability to stand out, their courage to go against common thinking, and through this they are able to make, what are in many cases, life changing differences.
One of the toughest ways to do this is to emulate ideals that seem to have been lost. Hope seems to be very mindful of this in its objectives; in its goals to help students understand, effectively communicate, gain a broadened sense of awareness, all of this with an interrelated sense of knowledge, experience, and responsibility. No one ever wants to take the blame and we due to this we have become so accustomed to pointing the finger at others; so much in fact that when someone willingly takes responsibility for their actions we notice it. In today's competitive world most anyone will do nearly anything to get that extra edge. In many cases this means skimping here, cheating there. The difficult thing about this is so many people do and very few get caught, in fact it's very easy to get away with which only makes it more tempting to do. A person's integrity takes years to build up, and just like a friendship, can be destroyed in a matter of seconds, but just like responsibility we all know those few who we would trust with anything.
Not sure if my conclusion will work as is or if I need to add more. I've always had a tough time with transitions so any help there is also welcome.
Selfishness can be a large motivator when it comes to personal goals. Instead of wondering what an individual can get out of a situation, they should be wondering how they can help others. When a person helps others they meet their physical and emotional needs. Helping others also brings compassion and compassion equals a better society. That motivates me to want to help others. Every time I get that chance to help others, I get a feeling of accomplishment and gratification. As for myself I struggle everyday with how to make an impact on each individual that I meet. I want to help people understand why they are in the situation they are in; I want to be a guide, and support them on their way to happiness.
As a little kid, I always wanted to be a pro athlete. I admire them as they get to play the sport they love and make it their career. Many people look down on them because they see all the money they make and think that they live for material things. This is true to a certain extent, but there are many good things that are being done with money that many athletes donate to different charities, causes, and events. I do realize that only a small handful of people end up making it in the long run but that is what goals and dreams are, and if you work hard enough you just might get that chance one day.
The hardest part of life for me is hearing more and more everyday about another problem going on. Whether it on the other side of the world or in our own town, they just keep piling up. It's so frustrating to think that no matter what we do I won't seem to make much of a difference. Yes, we did hear during the EWB CIS presentation that the way they got around this dilemma was that many other organizations were now doing the same thing and the people they had taught over in Africa were branching out to other communities as well. But not everyone has such an easy time justifying their cause. Mostly due to this dilemma I struggle everyday with what I should be doing with my life.
From Spiderman to FDR to Jesus we have all heard some version of the saying, "With great power comes great responsibility." I take this proposition very seriously seeing as I have been blessed with much. Especially Jesus' version in Luke 12:48 "to whom much is given, much will be expected" tends to make me a bit nervous. I have been blessed with much and much is expected to come from that and yet I have no clear idea of what I want to be doing other than I want to 'help as many people as I possibly can. I have no doubt Hope will guide me through this because "a liberal education within the Christian tradition also seeks to develop the whole
person by infusing education with purpose and direction." Hope's Christian heritage will provide a foundation for defining true moral values and making sound moral judgments
One aspect that I try to work on is how to be different, how to be unique. It can be so hard to 'go against the flow' but those who succeed have made some of the biggest splashes in history. From forming a new religion to leading a revolt against a tyrannical government, leaders throughout history are known for their ability to stand out, their courage to go against common thinking, and through this they are able to make, what are in many cases, life changing differences.
One of the toughest ways to do this is to emulate ideals that seem to have been lost. Hope seems to be very mindful of this in its objectives; in its goals to help students understand, effectively communicate, gain a broadened sense of awareness, all of this with an interrelated sense of knowledge, experience, and responsibility. No one ever wants to take the blame and we due to this we have become so accustomed to pointing the finger at others; so much in fact that when someone willingly takes responsibility for their actions we notice it. In today's competitive world most anyone will do nearly anything to get that extra edge. In many cases this means skimping here, cheating there. The difficult thing about this is so many people do and very few get caught, in fact it's very easy to get away with which only makes it more tempting to do. A person's integrity takes years to build up, and just like a friendship, can be destroyed in a matter of seconds, but just like responsibility we all know those few who we would trust with anything.
Not sure if my conclusion will work as is or if I need to add more. I've always had a tough time with transitions so any help there is also welcome.
