Friday, December 10, 2010

Value

I was visited this past Thanksgiving vacation by one of our PCS alumni. This young man was a former student of ours who also played soccer for me. Consequentially, he was also the namesake of my youngest child, Lucas. This young man had always impressed me with his maturity, insight, and ability to remain calm when everything around him was chaotic. As he grew he had shown tremendous tenacity and drive in all areas of his life as well. I had not heard from him in about one year as he was then preparing to enter an internship for his pending engineering career, therefore, we had a lot of catching-up to do.

Every once in a great while I hear or see something that stops me in my tracks. I had one of those moments when visiting and was struck with a word he used as we talked. He used the word value when he told me about his professors, supervisors, and teachers. He used this word value again as we talked about the other athletes and coaches from the “old days.” He told me what he valued about the various people and situations which helped him develop into who he is today. It was like I was hearing this word for the first time.

Attempting to sort my thoughts regarding this epiphany-type occasion, our dialogue turned to this word. Through discussion, I discovered that he valued these people for what they valued and what they taught him. This young man’s own value system was formed by the ideals expressed by those around him. My mind instantly raced to the implications in our daily interactions with colleagues, students, and parents. What is it that we value and are we portraying this to others?

This time of year is a wonderful time to reconnoiter and rethink about the big picture. Values go to the heart of what’s important. Individuals in our work-family have experienced much loss in recent months, which makes this all the more important. In a quick version of the long answer to the above question, I compiled a list of words which represents what I value; my HOPE is that I’m conveying this to others through my interactions: family, humor, respect, enthusiasm, compliance, work-ethic, compassion, empathy, information.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend – stay warm!


"Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value."
Albert Einstein

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