I try to follow as many ethical principles and core values as I can. I’m not perfect, but I try to always stick to one single ethical principle.
Commit to excellence.
Much of my life has been school and sports. Five days of school and classroom, and two days on the weekend for sports. I started to abide by this schedule once I started going into the second grade. I had discovered soccer and loved it because the sport is almost one hundred percent running. As a small child with loads of hyperactivity, soccer was the perfect solution to my need for activity.
I have been involved in athletics such as basketball, baseball, football, cross country, golf, and even a week of tennis. Sports are all about perfection. You work hours and hours a day to get that perfect jump shot, that perfect golf swing, that perfect pitch. I remember, before my eight-grade basketball tryout, I had my dad drop me off two hours early to start shooting. It’s really satisfying when you see your hard work pay off.
I don’t play any sports at Penn State. I’m not even on an intramural team at the university. Instead of being the athlete, I’m a student and a sports fan. I like to get to my classes early and I like to talk about sports. I have a radio show every Friday on a student-run organization, CommRadio. Just like with athletics, speaking on the radio is about preparation. Being prepared is important, no matter what medium it takes. As a student, you will appreciate those extra hours of studying the days before a big test. As an athlete, preparation produces production. With broadcasting, there are no mistakes once you go live.
There is always a sense of pride when your hard work pays off. It may be a salary raise, or promotion. People on the outside do not see any of the work put in to any project, sports or not.
I like to think of myself as a hard worker, I attribute it to my dad. A Supervisor and Electrical Engineer, my father works for a company which builds naval submarines. He was always up before I would go to school and sometimes would not come home until minutes before dinner. He put in a lot of hours, but he always made sure to be home whenever there was something important. My father was the coach of all of my sports teams up until I got to high school and never missed a game as an observer. Growing up and being able to see how hard my dad works to provide for our family and spend time with us when it means the most. Because of him, I started to wake up at six in the morning once I got to high school.
Commit yourself to excellence and reap the rewards of your hard work.