Devoid Friday, October 28, 2005: This is the point where I should tell you what you want to hear. List my creentials, my achievements, and my honors. So that these can be added to the equation, considered in tandem with my GPA, and standardized test scores. But to me these are just numbers, they do not define me, and I've come to realize that honor is also a poor way to define myself to the world. Honor has no value when it is a goal in itself. It may be true that those figures in history who have proven to be most virtuous have also been honorable, for virtue in itself seems to imply honor. However, they did not seek honor, they merely happened upon it. What they sought was themselves, and in so doing were admired by many. I believe that this is because such a quest is something few people take on, because it is far to easy to seek after the surface value and side-affects of virtue, rather than virtue itself. The great men and women of history did not define themselves with what would have been long lists of achievements and merits. Their existence was self-defined, as they did not need honor as their crutch, they were much stronger than this. They knew that their quest was much greater than the sum of it's parts, and that honor cannot be traded for happiness. And when they died, they were remembered, not because they had achieved so much, but because they had forgotten so little. Never losing sight of their goal, the real goal, and never being distracted by imitations. So if you would refuse me because I choose to follow the path of greatest resistence, and choose not to be remembered by my GPA or GRE scores, then I do not seek your acceptance. And if you choose to accept me, know that, yes, I do bring with me a list of honors, but I do not belive they are the matter that should really be in question. Who I am is more important, and I am not a number or a statistic. If it is numbers and statistics that you are looking for, then look somewhere else. As for me, I will not sacrifice my identity in exchange for honor; and nothing you can do will stop me. I intend to make this world a better place in whatever way I can, for as many people as I can, and if this is not good enough, I have nothing else to offer you. Chris // 10/28/2005 ______________________ Comments: Post a Comment
This is the point where I should tell you what you want to hear. List my creentials, my achievements, and my honors. So that these can be added to the equation, considered in tandem with my GPA, and standardized test scores. But to me these are just numbers, they do not define me, and I've come to realize that honor is also a poor way to define myself to the world. Honor has no value when it is a goal in itself. It may be true that those figures in history who have proven to be most virtuous have also been honorable, for virtue in itself seems to imply honor. However, they did not seek honor, they merely happened upon it. What they sought was themselves, and in so doing were admired by many. I believe that this is because such a quest is something few people take on, because it is far to easy to seek after the surface value and side-affects of virtue, rather than virtue itself. The great men and women of history did not define themselves with what would have been long lists of achievements and merits. Their existence was self-defined, as they did not need honor as their crutch, they were much stronger than this. They knew that their quest was much greater than the sum of it's parts, and that honor cannot be traded for happiness. And when they died, they were remembered, not because they had achieved so much, but because they had forgotten so little. Never losing sight of their goal, the real goal, and never being distracted by imitations. So if you would refuse me because I choose to follow the path of greatest resistence, and choose not to be remembered by my GPA or GRE scores, then I do not seek your acceptance. And if you choose to accept me, know that, yes, I do bring with me a list of honors, but I do not belive they are the matter that should really be in question. Who I am is more important, and I am not a number or a statistic. If it is numbers and statistics that you are looking for, then look somewhere else. As for me, I will not sacrifice my identity in exchange for honor; and nothing you can do will stop me. I intend to make this world a better place in whatever way I can, for as many people as I can, and if this is not good enough, I have nothing else to offer you. Chris // 10/28/2005
