Since yesterday, I have been thinking about these two questions: How can I build my character? And how am I going to leave a legacy? I am not a powerful or influential person unlike our national hero, Jose Rizal, and the late President Cory Aquino, who became the source of inspiration to many Filipinos around the world. I never thought of the kariton classroom of Efren Penaflorida, the incumbent CNN Hero of the Year, which changed the lives of the Filipino youth who cannot afford to go to school. I am just a simple third year student who is, hopefully, graduating from college soon.
I have big dreams and goals in life. When I was still in my preschool years, I dreamed of going to Disneyland to meet Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy and Pluto. During my grade school years, I studied very hard because I wanted to have a gold medal. When I entered high school, I envisioned myself in a prestigious university. And now, in my college years, I hope to become a better early childhood educator. As I think about these big dreams and goals of mine, I realized that what I want to achieve changes over the years. What I dream about in my preschool years is very different from now. Different factors such as my environment, culture and media may have influenced me to think this way, for the reason that I have been exposed to them ever since I was born.
Through this class, I learned about how the environment, culture and particularly the media shape the minds of the people. For instance, why do a lot of girls today buy beauty products such as powder, lotion, perfume and the like? It is because the magazines, billboards and television advertisements say that if they use these products, they will become more beautiful. I am not saying that it is bad to buy these. What I’m just pointing out is that if there are no magazines, billboards and television, girls will not know about them. In our society today, being beautiful is given much importance because it is believed that it can greatly affect our lives in many ways.
Our professor said that character is something which we cannot buy. It is like education, which nobody can ever take away from us. However, I think it is not easy to build our own character--- our own identity--- because the environment, culture and media dictate how we should live and how we should become. We tend to believe in everything say because we think that it is always right and true.
We always seek for the truth because we want to become involved so we can do something to make a difference. Being curious is our way of knowing about what is going on in the world. However, we also need to be careful as we try to find out the answers to our never-ending questions and dilemmas. Sometimes, we have to be critical thinkers since we do not know if what we see or hear around us everyday is true or not, biased or neutral, right or wrong. We need to analyze in every situation so we would know when to believe or not to believe.
I guess when we begin to learn about making decisions on our own can help us build our identity, or rather our character. Maybe, if we have our own character, we would be able to know what we can really do to make a difference and in the long run, leave a legacy. Perhaps, this is the right time for us to unlock and set ourselves free from the doors of our environment, culture and media so we will be able to look at the different angles of the story. Our perception and point of views do matter too.
I have big dreams and goals in life. When I was still in my preschool years, I dreamed of going to Disneyland to meet Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy and Pluto. During my grade school years, I studied very hard because I wanted to have a gold medal. When I entered high school, I envisioned myself in a prestigious university. And now, in my college years, I hope to become a better early childhood educator. As I think about these big dreams and goals of mine, I realized that what I want to achieve changes over the years. What I dream about in my preschool years is very different from now. Different factors such as my environment, culture and media may have influenced me to think this way, for the reason that I have been exposed to them ever since I was born.
Through this class, I learned about how the environment, culture and particularly the media shape the minds of the people. For instance, why do a lot of girls today buy beauty products such as powder, lotion, perfume and the like? It is because the magazines, billboards and television advertisements say that if they use these products, they will become more beautiful. I am not saying that it is bad to buy these. What I’m just pointing out is that if there are no magazines, billboards and television, girls will not know about them. In our society today, being beautiful is given much importance because it is believed that it can greatly affect our lives in many ways.
Our professor said that character is something which we cannot buy. It is like education, which nobody can ever take away from us. However, I think it is not easy to build our own character--- our own identity--- because the environment, culture and media dictate how we should live and how we should become. We tend to believe in everything say because we think that it is always right and true.
We always seek for the truth because we want to become involved so we can do something to make a difference. Being curious is our way of knowing about what is going on in the world. However, we also need to be careful as we try to find out the answers to our never-ending questions and dilemmas. Sometimes, we have to be critical thinkers since we do not know if what we see or hear around us everyday is true or not, biased or neutral, right or wrong. We need to analyze in every situation so we would know when to believe or not to believe.
I guess when we begin to learn about making decisions on our own can help us build our identity, or rather our character. Maybe, if we have our own character, we would be able to know what we can really do to make a difference and in the long run, leave a legacy. Perhaps, this is the right time for us to unlock and set ourselves free from the doors of our environment, culture and media so we will be able to look at the different angles of the story. Our perception and point of views do matter too.
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