My Commitment

So for me, perhaps my biggest commitment is my commitment to my friendships. This friendship is perhaps the friendship that I have committed the most to and that means the most to me personally. These two friends, Jamie and Jayson, are two of my best friends. The three of us trust each other 100%, are always there for each other during times of need, and always create unforgettable memories together. With this friendship, I have had the opportunity to truly test and identify many of my most cherished values.
1. Community. This was one of my core values as well as the name I used to group together other values like friendship, close relationship, influencing others, and quality relationships. I can honestly say that my friendships with Jayson and Jamie involve all of these values. They have both taught me so much about what it means to be a good friend and a good person in general. From them, I have learned that close friends are not necessarily only people who you can always have a good time with, but close friends are those that are there for you during times of need, during times when you are at your worst, and are there to tell you when you really mess up and need to get your act together. They have influenced me so much and have allowed me to truly grow into one who values friendship above all else. They are truly my rocks and are always there to keep me grounded.
2. Growth. Now, if there are any people who have really helped me grow as a person, it would be these two. As  I said before, these two have taught me so much about how to be a good friend and how to have quality friendships, and because of them, I have grown so much in this area. They have helped me understand the person that I want to be and really helped me define what I believe a true friend to be.
3. Adventure. What is a friendship if you all can't have a little bit of fun and adventure together? It's funny because whenever I tell my mom about my adventures or fun times that I've had with these two, she always says just one thing: "You are all joined at the hip," and she laughs and walks away. I have had some of my most cherished experiences, embarrassing encounters, funny mistakes, and some of my most fun memories with these two, and whenever I am with them, it is always an adventure. We all share a similar sense of humor, and we tend to bring out the best in one another. Not only are we joined at the hip, but our little group is a cohesive interaction of three unique personalities.

 

Throughout my lifetime, I have only had one instance where my values have been challenged in a sense. When my father passed away when I was thirteen, much information about my father's death was kept from me because I was at such a young age. There were aspects about his death, the reasons for his death, and the events that happened after his death that I was completely unaware of because my family decided that it was best for me not to know. After learning the truth about his death, I was angry. Not only was I lied to in a sense, but I felt betrayed by my very own blood. At the time, I was full of resent and anger, and it was hard for me to truly feel comfortable with my family again. After such, this is when my value of integrity began to take form. Honor and truth--essentially all of these fall under the same category of integrity and this is what I value above all else. I find that in all aspects of my life, I hold integrity as a value above all else, and that if someone does not fit in this value, I often do not associate myself with them or have a lowered sense of respect for them. Integrity is by far my most cherished value, and from my experience where this was broken, I have learned that I hold this value with the utmost importance and will do anything to preserve it.