Call for Character by Ma'at

Call for Character by Ma'at - March 2015 Scholarship Essay

Do you remember the lessons that your parents taught you? “Don’t hit each other”, “Always say please and thank you”, and “Be nice to others”. From elementary, middle, and high school we are told about the moral responsibility of each person in our civil society. Difficulties come to challenge us to step up to a challenge and make tough decisions that test our character, even if the decisions are unpopular among our peers.

I was tested and endured a lesson during an interdisciplinary group project in my tenth grade year. The project was to create a colony on Mars that had its own language, resources, jobs, housing, laws, and more. I was beyond excited to be placed in a group with most of my friends. Initially, our team was promising. Our group was comprised of eight people I had known since ninth grade and this project accounted for ten percent of our grade in each of our core classes. Our enthusiasm was limitless as we brainstormed about our project and its parameters. Everyone was determined to have the best colony in our tenth grade class. We all worked as an “N Sync” team; everyone was on the boat with a paddle and we fought against the rugged waters of daily homework, sports, family events, and personal commitments to completely dedicate ourselves to the Mars colony. During the next two weeks, a few members of our team stopped paddling, some threw their paddles overboard, and enjoyed the scenic ride. I couldn’t believe it! My friends were not living up the team’s expectations. Our friends left two group members and myself battling against the strong current.

I had to make a difficult decision. Do I accept my friends and forgive them as they leave the work for only three? Do I speak up and say something? Maybe I was just overreacting and they didn’t abandon the team. These were my friends; that I ate lunch and joked with daily. I thought hard about what I should do. I decided to not be a passive pushover and I expressed my sincere feelings to the group. Of course, my discourse did not make me popular but the truth had to be said. Instead of taking responsibility and realizing their faults, the lazy group members refused to work and stopped communicating completely.

In the end two other people and I finished the work that was meant for eight. I lost a few friends through this project who still will not talk to me to this day. Often, I wonder whether I made the right decision. Maybe if I had kept my mouth shut and just did their work I would have a few more friends today, but that is not who I am. I had to step up and lead the rest of the team to a successful project. Of course, I could have allowed my friends to take credit for the project, but that would have hurt my other team members who spent hours with me finishing our project. In this situation, I made a tough decision that affected the hard-working team members, and not only me. Our team finished the project and some friends learned a lesson about their character.

Leadership cannot be taught in books or seminars, it is inherent. Character is needed in a successful job, career, personal relationship; business partners and colleagues have to trust the person they are working with. To me a person who is honest, has moral value, takes responsibility for his or her mistakes are indispensable qualities of character. No matter what credentials someone attains receives from an institution, to be a person of moral integrity always matters most. If colleges do not expect their students to become leaders who can thick critically and make tough decisions, then what is the point?

Schools and universities have to produce students who are multi- faceted and have the ability to not only apply skills from class, but also have the wisdom and moral compass to apply their skills appropriately. A person can be as good as his or her personal character allows him or her to be. This experience showed me a different side of myself. I learned that I am content with who I am and that I am not afraid of losing a few friends when the chips fall, and I’m proud of that. Most importantly, I learned that leaderships is not taking all the credit and bossing people around, but supporting your peers and staying until the end. I learned that leadership, loyalty, and responsibility are not buzz words with empty foundations, but traits within a human being.