What makes me ME?

Values are what define a person. It is what separates one individual from another, what separates a good leader from a bad one, and what is the basis for finding self fulfillment. Values develop from an individual's upbringing, education, environment, and current and past issues surrounding them. It is how these individuals learn from these situations and take important lessons from their experience that strengthen their values.

My values are something that I strive to live by each day. My family is my top priority and I would give anything up to make sure my family stayed intact. However, I am sad that I have not always appreciated my family and realized how important they are until I came to college. I value my friendships and my passion for helping others whether they are friends, patients, or acquaintances. I think that finding true friends is something that is rare, and I try to show appreciation to the people that I care about as much as I can. As for everyday values, I also value my education because I know it is my key to becoming a successful nurse practitioner someday. I also hold respect, compassion for others, hard work, and responsibility as my values that I try to live up to. However, there are many days when I fail. There are times when I say something that I know I don't mean, give in to something when I know in my heart I don't want to do it, and waste time doing things when I clearly know I have more important things to do with my time. I say and do things that I know don't represent who I am, and I wonder why I said that particular statement or participated in something I didn't really believe in.

In this really busy time, it's so easy to forget the important things in life. When you're involved in Greek life, working, studying, and trying accomplish a million other tasks, it's easy just to get done what you need to get done. It's easy to forget what is truly important to you. It's easy to only focus on yourself. It's easy to forget your values.

I'm really glad that we are talking about our values because I am sitting here forced to refresh my mind about what makes me different from everyone else. Because my schedule is so jam packed with things to get done, I'm glad that I'm reminded to sit here and pick out the things that really are important to me. And, it's reinforced once again that because we have these positions, we are held to such a higher standard now. We can't be successful in all the changes we want to implement if we don't show the rest of the community that we are living by our values. I would not respect nor follow a Greek leader that was contradictory in their words and actions. So, remembering my values and being forced to really think about them has made me more motivated to bring the best I can to my position.

Watch this funny video below to see how values come in all different shapes and sizes, backgrounds, and develop from personal events.



I believe that as long as a person knows in their heart what they believe in, what they stand for, and live these beliefs through their actions, that in the big scheme of life, nothing else really really matters. This is will lead to self fulfillment and feeling successful in their accomplishments. This speaker couldn't have said it any better..."Success comes in all shapes and sizes, and sometimes it comes in color coordinated socks."