The Character Experiment: Inventory and Experience #2/ Week 10

1.           The three virtues I chose were assertiveness, commitment, and thankfulness. I took specific steps to make a serious attempt at practicing each, which was different for the specific virtue. For assertiveness, I made sure to have my thoughts ready and payed careful attention to what the teacher requested, to give a well-developed answer. This guaranteed me the confidence I was searching for because I was satisfied with my answer. I also made sure not to raise my hand immediately, which would not have been a keen idea, since my answer would not have been carefully thought through. For commitment, I really wanted to devote and spend my time in extracurricular activities. I needed, and still need to manage my time appropriately. I do this by setting up a board and writing all my homework down. This helps me to organize my priorities and set them straight. I also made sure to go to my practices for cross country and practice at home, even though I had a problem with this which I will explain later. For my last virtue, thankfulness, I made sure to think before I talk and look at the brighter side of situations. Let me clarify, whenever I wanted something or would receive an item I would say a proper reply and think about how lucky I am for all that I have.

2.            There were many situations and opportunities for me to practice the virtues I chose. For instance, for assertiveness there were discussions that I could participate in and which I connected with. It really helped me, since there were no right answers or views, I could voice my opinions with confidence. For commitment, there were a ton of chances for me to show my assurance. Cross country really helped me, as I had practices and meets, so showing up to them would show my devotedness. Science Olympiad is one of my main priorities because committing to this team and excelling in it could guarantee me a bright future. There are, and were openings for team 2. I took the initiative and ordered one of my supplies for my event for Science Olympiad and this convinced my teacher that I was dedicated. So as a result, she moved to the second highest team out of 3, which for me being a ninth grader and new to this kind of competition, is pretty awesome. For thankfulness, there were some occasions in which I could show my respect and in turn benefit myself. I guess I might be a continental type of person. But I do want to excel in my virtue for thankfulness, because I believe it is the right to be appreciative of others. For example, I wanted to go to a party and I had to show my mom that she could trust me and I was very kind to her and showed her respect. I did not just do this because I wanted to go but because it is good and virtuous.

3.           Well for me, many things got in the way of my attempts to practice the virtues I chose. For one, I wasn’t able to complete cross country because of the pain in my knees due to over exertion from running too many days in a row. The pain in my knees was unbearable, and I missed many practices and almost all the meets due to this. Also, I started cross country later, so it was harder for me to catch up with the rest of the team and make up for the meets that I missed. When I thought I was getting better I decided to go to a meet in downtown, and when I was running for warmup, my knees gave up on me and I had to sit and watch while everyone ran. This really brought me down and made me feel disappointed in myself. But I knew that I would take this lesson and learn from it for the future. I also gave up on Secme for this year because I didn’t really like the organization of the club and left. For thankfulness which ties into respect, I had some rough days which would lead to my unpleasant moods; which in turn, led to me taking out my frustration on my parents. This resulted in a strict discipline, and I learned my lesson once again.

4.              I think I am getting there to becoming relatively successful in practicing the virtues. I do not think I have achieved much though because it has only been 2 months, which is nothing to become virtuous. I still need more time to practice my virtues for it to become a second habit. Commitment is something that requires long periods of time, because it is shown depending on the how long you are devoted to a particular activity. I am dedicated to Science Olympiad and I was for Cross Country, but the season ended. I can do a lot better to become assertive but that will progress as the school year continues. Thankfulness has improved a lot, and I have started appreciating my parents more and more. There is not much I have accomplished here. First because this is something that takes getting used to and bringing into your daily life. Most of us don’t even realize the things we do, so how will we begin to change them.

5.           It is very difficult to become a virtuous person and requires a lot of effort and work. Becoming virtuous isn’t something that happens overnight. You have to practice your virtues consistently. This can be hard because remembering that you have to work on you virtues 24/7 is not something that comes naturally. I have noticed that becoming a better person isn’t a simple task. In my case, I went through many difficulties and bumps in the road. Becoming good is not as easy as it seems. People might think that doing the right thing should not be difficult and should that it should come normally, but that is not how it works. For example, when I get bored of something I want to stop doing it. Since I am not used to committing it is quite difficult for me to adapt to. My knee injury also made it very hard on me and brought me down. Thankfulness was the hardest virtue for me because I am not used to being appreciative and it is not easy for someone to open their eyes and realize all they have.

6.           I think the situations that I will likely to encounter over the next two months that will give me a good chance to grow in being a good person is Greek Night and Thanksgiving. Since I will be volunteering on Greek Night, I will be helping out for 5 hours or so. I think this is a good opportunity for me to become a good person and help out the community. I will be donating my time and contribute which will make me a giving person. Thanksgiving is a wonderful situation in which I can take advantage of to become a good person. During Thanksgiving, I meet up with my enormous family and we have different “committees” to divide the work. I always enjoy joining the food committee because I believe that my family revolves around food and it takes a lot of work to make so much of it. So I like to take the part of the load off of the others and help out. I also really enjoy helping others, so doing my chores isn’t really a burden for me.

7.          The situations that I will most likely encounter over the next two months that will
present obstacles or challenges to my growth in being a good person is when midterms come around or a load of homework is dumped. The stress from Midterms and clusters of homework will lead me to crack under pressure. Then that will lead to me being cranky, sleepy from staying up so late, and in turn to failing. Also, coming to Team 2 for Science Olympiad is a little scary for me because this is all new to me. For one of my events I do not know my partner, so it will be difficult for me to get to know them because they are a sophomore and I don’t have any other classes with them. Also, for that same event I will have to consecutively drive to my teacher’s house and other places whenever he demands. I have heard that he keeps you really late and even on weekdays. But I will just have to learn to adjust and cooperate, if I want to win.