Sam Oblak, Class of 2023
The Pillars of Character
Every good citizen adds to the strength of an nation
~Gordon B. Hinckley
When my morning starts I subconsciously think, “what will I be today?” I have an answer to that question, and though I may not think it directly, I know that I will be the best version of myself. I will be the person who cares, who puts in an effort. I will be the person who doesn’t just do the work, I will be the person who does it well. However, while that is what is most important to me, it’s only a fraction of what it takes to be a good citizen. I think today I will be a good citizen, the kind of person that people look up to. The kind of person that tries their best to do the right thing, in school and outside of school; and while I may not know that I want this in the moment, I know I will try my best to be the best version of myself.
Caring matters, and I try to put in an effort in what I’m doing so I can get as much out of it as possible. Caring and putting in an effort is something I try to do as much as possible in my life, because you can’t truly get better if you don’t care. If I’m learning or doing something new, I want to find as many ways as possible to get better at it, or to understand it better. At Fenn school,The seventh grade year was coming to an end, and there was one final science test left. In preparation, I looked for my notes, but since I had so many, I couldn’t find good concepts to review. Even the good sources of information I did find were spread out all over notability. I knew I had to do something, and I knew it would be really annoying, but I knew it would benefit me in the long run. I spent hours searching through all my noises to find important points. I scrolled endlessly through the jumbled jargon-rich text of science readings, lab experiments, and old CERs. I narrowed it all down, I sorted important from unnecessary, and eventually I had several pages of 3 months of information grouped into a few pages. It felt incredible to not have to switch between several notes to find a small bit of information. It took a long time and was a lot of work, but because I cared and put in an effort I saw it through. For a long time I thought my idea was stupid and that I was wasting my time. I thought that I should just stick to searching through jumbles of notes and hope I didn’t miss something. However, I suppressed the urge to be lazy and give up. I saw it through and made the master sheet. I ended up getting an A on the test. Caring about something is good, but it’s only a part of being a good citizen.
It only takes one good citizen to make the world a little better, and throughout my day, from the time I wake up to the time I go to sleep, I try to be a good citizen. I try to be a good citizen, because I know that if I try to be the best possible version of myself, I will be able to take the most out of every day. During any day at random, I try to be a good citizen by being respectful, responsible, kind, and hardworking. Throughout a day at a school, I won’t disrupt class, I’ll pay attention, I’ll do the work. I do this because I know good citizens make the world a better place. I’ll follow the rules, I’ll submit my work on time, and I’ll do what I have to do. Being a good citizen doesn’t just apply to school, I am a good citizen at home, being respectful and helping out. I’m a good citizen in sports, being a useful member of my team. I try to be a good citizen throughout the day. Being a good citizen is the best thing you can possibly be, it is all of the pillars of character merged into one; Being trustworthy, respecting others, taking responsibility, being fair, and caring about what you do and caring about those around you. A good citizen doesn’t just embody two pillars of character, they embody all of them; and that, truly makes the world better.
In the words of Gordon B. Hinckley: “Every good citizen adds strength to a nation.” I try to be the perfect version of myself. I try to be the person who cares and who tries to be a good citizen.
