Ms. Libby Watts Jordan, member UNA Board of Trustees & Director of Cultural Tourism, was our inspiration for the week. I was glad to have a female speaker, because for some reason there voices keep you involved and help you pay more attention. This week forum started off with the phrase " Things change over Time". Our topic for the week was Honesty in the Business World.
Ms. Jordan told us that we are all salesmen, and that is so true. We go are around everyday parading ourselves to be what we want people to see us as. We sale our intelligence by our school work, we sale our leadership through our activities, and so on. ( This is a complete side-note, but she gave us a stat that stated that 95% of cheaters never get caught.) I really loved her stories they were quite powerful.
At the End of this I came to realize that when you come to face 'conflicts of interests' you sometimes have look at your morals and do what you do because it is the right thing to do. Be Honest and Up Front!
Our speaker at Honors Forum this week was the president of
Bank Independent, Mr. Macke Mauldin. It refreshing to see that not all business
people are like the corrupt you see on TV or hear on the news all the time. It’s
great to know that some of them actually have values. Next, the president of
the bank gave of us his bank’s values:
1. People
2. Community
3. Strength
4. Service
5. Convenience
These values are not just important for Bank Independent,
but for the rest of society as well.
He finished with saying attitude is everything thing
whatever you do, make sure you stand behind. If it’s the wrong thing fix it and
move on! If you want to be look on a person with strong moral values, you will
stay true to your values and act them out!
This week speaker was inspiring. Dr. Wes Desselle, a surgeon Helen Keller Hospital came and shared the experience that help him decide to go into the medical field. He told us about a car accident that he had, which caused him to undergo surgery, that ultimately helped him, and because of that he wanted to be able to do the same thing for others. That's how he chose his career, which is very plausible. It helped me kind of re-capture my goal of working and creating some Non-Profit organizations. To whom I believe much gratitude is owed, because with out those non-profit organization, our communities probably wouldn't be as great as they are now. Back to Dr. Desselle, he mention three human values, not only need in the Medical World but the Real World too, and they are: Mentorship:
In the New Testament passage that we often call “The Great
Commission” (Matthew28:19 –20), Jesus urges all believers to “go and make
disciples” (verse 19). The objective was not that they attract their own
disciples, but that they attract new followers of Jesus. The book of Acts tells
the story of how the Spirit-filled apostles obeyed that command. Closely
related to the concept of making disciples is the mentoring of leaders. However,
neither discipleship nor mentoring were invented by the early church. The
principles involved had been around for centuries.
Perseverance: Many of us harbor hidden low self-esteem. We deem everything and everyone more important that ourselves and think that meeting their needs is more important than eeting our own. But if you run out of gas, everyone riding with you will be left stranded.- T.D. Jakes
Romans 5:3-4 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
This song came in my mind when I was thinking about what to write about Mr. William Lee, The Farmer. Like he was down to earth, but kinda of drab when it came to speaking. He also reminded my of my FFA days, when I did Prepared Public Speaking. I always came in fourth place. The first speech was on animal experimentation and the second was on Potatoes and sustainability. The Forum was one of my least favorites. I really don't know what to say, but "I can't get jiggy with this." The farmer taught me that we are all destined to do something, if don't try to make our own destiny it will find us.
Ross Berry Has been my favorite speaker so far. He started off telling us a story about two young men who were born into different situation.
The first young man was born into a family with siblings who all lived in the same house, he was private school, graduated High School, went to college and flunked out. He got married at 21 and now works at a plant.
The other was born to immigrants and adopted. He lost both his parents. He managed to graduate high school. Went to college and dropped out. He went to work in a plant and got his BS. Went back and his MBA. Then became an International diver, Commercial Pilot, and now the CEO of Shoals Hospital. This young man prevail through the storm. This young man, was Mr. Ross Berry.
Mr. Berry showed me it all comes down to what you want to do, and that you have to be willing to work for it. "If you are gonna go after something you need to plan ahead for whatever you want to do. You may come to some trials, but you came make it through. You are going to need help along the way"
Whenever a speaker talks about having faith, and being bold in your faith, they always gain favor with me. Mr. Berry said "Faith, Family, Career, Community, In that order." But the one thing he said that really had me thinking was: "Do the right thing, the right way, for the right reason."
