Ideals

While in the end, Ra's al Ghul is hardly the ideal role model, he does bring some good words of wisdom. What are your ideals? Do you have something that you devote yourself to religiously?

I remember back to my time in high school, not in the ag classroom, but in the science classroom. The year I took introductory chemistry was a turning point in my life. I remember back to one experiment in particular. It had something to do with tin foil and measuring mass. I confess, I can't remember much else about it other than those details. However, what I do remember is being able to assist my group members in understanding some concept that we were testing. From that moment forward, I became obsessed with education. It was, in part, an experience that pointed me toward my future career.

Since that time, I have found education to be my ideal. No matter the subject area, I have an intense desire to help others learn and improve their lives. Notice I said 'others' and not 'students'. See, there are two sides to education and at any moment, I am on either side - student or teacher. In fact, if I don't learn something from my students, I view that day as a failure. If I am unable to learn from those I am trying to teach, how can I expect them to learn from me? What are your ideals? Perhaps like me it's a desire to help others improve their lives. Perhaps it's something else. No matter what your ideals are, devote yourself to it. You can't be stopped.

Faith

One of the greatest trilogies of the early 21st century has to be the Dark Knight Trilogy chronicling the story of Batman. That's where today's thought originates from. Despite being slightly dark and depressing, the whole of the trilogy has an air of wisdom and feeling behind it. This quote is from the second movie of the trilogy, The Dark Knight.

In my life, the three biggest things are my faith, my family, and my friends. I suppose you could say that faith is the biggest thing in my life as the other two rely heavily on faith. Perhaps you have these same values as me. For the purposes of this post, I suppose it doesn't really matter. Everyone has put their faith in something or someone at some point. When did you deserve to have your faith rewarded?

I remember back to my high school and FFA days. My senior year I was excited about running for a State Office position. This is what my entire career had been leading up to. I did it right, I went through the Chapter to the Region, and now I should be going on to the State. Well, come convention time, I was not chosen as one of the six State Officers. At the time, I was angry. Had I not gone through the ranks, doing my due diligence at every step along the way? I had put in the faith, where was my reward?

As it turns out, the future, and faith in what is to come, has this funny way of always working out. Looking back, me not being selected was one of the best things to happen to me. Without that, I wouldn't have gotten as involved with my fraternity. I might not have gone on to organize events on campus. I might not even be in my internship that has changed my life this summer. The point is, everything that happens to you must be taken on faith. Your reward might not be what you think, or even what you think you want. But your reward is waiting. Your faith deserves to be, and will be, rewarded.