Reflective Paper: John is to compose a 4-5 page, typed, 12-point font, double-spaced paper with 1″ margins, and at least 3 appropriately cited resources that address conflict resolution. This paper must address each of the following points: Identify and discuss the five traits of a TrojanThe five traits of a Trojan are essential and foundational for anyone who is a student or faculty member at USC. Each trait is unique and necessary in its own way, and they each build the foundation of what it means to be in the USC community. When all five are coupled together, they make up a well-rounded scholar of the university. The five attributes include faithfulness, scholarly, skillful, courageous and ambitious. Out of these five, there is not a trait more imperative than another, which is why it is important for them all to coexist within an intellectual. It is important to be faithful to not only USC, but also the various other students, professors and workers of the school so that there is a sense of trust in everyone. There must be faith in the character of others and faith in academic honesty.
Another important aspect of faithfulness is to be loyal to the communities to which we give service, whether it be volunteer or professional. It is the school’s hope that the community created within and outside of USC is one that is trusted extremely well. USC students are to be scholarly not only in their field of study, but also across multiple fields, thus creating a well rounded society. A society will not thrive without people who excel in arts, humanities, science and math. Students must understand the importance of knowledge and innovation so they can use the resources given to leave a lasting footprint on the world.
USC seeks to make sure its scholars are skillful in their endeavors so that they achieve their maximum potential. Such prestige will allow greater change to USC, its surrounding community, and any larger society. It takes extreme discipline and perseverance to be skillful of just one area, let alone the multiple fields expected of USC students. Such skill demands dedication. Courage is crucial when met with challenges and innovation that will support a greater university and world. Without fearlessness, goals can’t be met and progress can’t be made.
Ambition is the force that will drive the faculty and students to achieve their greatest goals and dreams. It encourages them to have profound aspirations and achieve their full potential. Ambition will not be fulfilled without the four traits previously mentioned. Each of these values is cherished throughout the Trojan family, making it an extremely high-regarded establishment. https://campaign.usc.edu/campaign/five-traits-of-a-trojan/ Which of those traits do you feel you best exemplify and why While I know I can always improve as a person, and do not display this trait perfectly by any means, I would like to think that I display ambition in several aspects of my life.
Though my own life experiences have defined me as a person, I attribute most of my ambition to looking to my father as a role model. My father grew up on a small farm in northern Indiana. While his parents had not even attended high school and his family was very poor, he decided to change his life my attending college and then IU medical school. He ended up becoming a gastroenterologist and creating his own surgery center, only the second for gastroenterology in the United States at the time.
I also have ambitions to become a gastroenterologist and have always tried to take the hardest classes available in order to learn the most. While I know the road to becoming a physician is difficult in many ways, I have the ambition to pursue the career of my choice. In what ways do you plan to modify your behavior to better exemplify all give traits Though, in all honesty, I must improve in each of the following traits, I think that situation mostly warrants an improvement in faithfulness. That being said, the scholarly trait is relevant in this case and can be greatly improved as well.
In looking back on this situation, I recognize my immaturity and greatly regret it. Though I truly like Brian as a person, I was not nearly considerate enough, and was not nearly as faithful as I should have been. As mentioned above, faithfulness can be described as loyalty to the community. Though I did make several attempts to make Brian feel welcome during the course of the year, like inviting him to lunch, dinner, and helping him with Calculus II, I greatly regret not maintaining welcoming behavior throughout the year. Despite my offense to certain statements he made throughout the year, it does not excuse my lack of consideration and faithfulness to Brian.
Had I been faithful to Brian throughout the year and had simply discussed issues I had with him instead of not considering his desires, as in the case of the heater and the lysol, I could have avoided him much stress and could have greatly improved his first year at USC. In addition, had I been more scholarly, I most likely would have been more organized in every aspect of my life. The door would have remained lock throughout the semester, making it impossible for the events that happened to Brian to occur. The traits of a USC Trojan can be a guide to my actions as I navigate through the rest of my collegiate career. I will continue to adapt my behavior socially to ensure that these five traits are upheld to the highest regard.Evaluate how your conduct has affected the victim, their family, the residential community and the USC community at large.While I reflect upon and formulate ideas for how to change my past actions, I am also considering the ways in which those actions affected the people by whom I am surrounded. My behavior affected my roommate, Brian, his family, the other residents who lived on my floor, my RA, and the greater USC community.
First, Brian was made to feel uncomfortable in his own room when I sprayed Lysol without asking him whether or not the smell bothered him and had conversations with other members of my floor in the room that he was not comfortable hearing. Though I frequently am cold and received a heater for my Christmas present, I should have not turned the heater above 72 degrees as I did despite the fact that Brian was too hot. I am forgetful by nature, and I forgot to lock the door to our room on multiple accounts. Because I failed to lock the door on several occasions, Brian was left vulnerable to the events he would face through the course of the semester. Though luckily nothing was stolen, I made Brain vulnerable to the theft that had affected other members of the floor.
By not reporting to my RA the ways in which I was pranked by other members of the floor, the pranking culture that was present on my floor continued. I know other members of the hall could have also benefited had I informed our RA of the ongoing pranks and allowed him to put a stop to them. Instead, the pranking continued, and it perturbed both Brian and others who lived there.
When Brian decided not to continue living in our dorm room due to the notions listed above, he chose to live at home, causing him to commute to and from school everyday. This put a huge inconvenience on him and his family. I also realize that the attorneys involved took up much of the family’s time and were likely of great expense. Most of all, my actions and forgetfulness made Brian feel on edge, lost him sleep, and affected his freshman year in a negative way. Although I know that there is no way for anyone to take back the actions committed against Brian, I would like to sincerely apologize to Brian and his family for enabling these events to occur, even if it was not my intention. Though I will not be able to contact Brian in any way, and respect this punishment greatly, I honestly wish I could apologize to him face-to-face so he understands the sincerity of my apology. I would also like to apologize to Brian’s family. I understand that every parent wants his or her child to have the best possible college experience and that the stress Brian faced greatly impacted his ability to be happy and comfortable and a radically new environment.
I am truly sorry that if commuting from home for some time hindered Brian’s social activity and/or his ability to connect with his fellow classmates at USC. While some of the things I did, like turning up the heater were meant to be light-hearted, I should have been much more respectful of Brian’s desires, and for that, I am greatly sorry. What have you learned from this experience and how will this experience influence your future behavior. I know that each person can change over time, and it is important for one to alter their behavior consistently throughout their lifespan to create a better version of themself. As I reflect back on my previous actions and how they affected my then-roommate, Brian, I realize that there are ways in which I can repair my behavior for the future to create an improved living environment. I wish to do so at USC for myself, my peers and all other residents of USC. Because I turned up the heater in the room when Brian did not desire a warmer climate, he lost his faith in me as a loyal, conscientious roommate.
I would later forget to lock the door to our room on multiple occasions, causing him to feel that he could not trust me. In the future, I will be more conscious of how my actions affect the people with whom I live. Instead of making decisions about the atmosphere or safety of the room without consulting the others living there, I will have a conversation with them to make sure they agree with what I am doing. According to the American Management Association, it is important to, “give both people the chance to share their side of the story” so that they can come to an agreement (“The Five Steps to Conflict Resolution”). I know I can make conscious mental reminders to do things like locking the door more often if that helps make my roommate feel more comfortable. I will treat each situation with the courage needed to talk to my roommates, or any peer, about the problem at hand. I will have discussions “expressing appreciation, focusing on problems one at a time and taking responsibility for thoughts and feelings” (Brower). Because it is a shared space, it is imminent that I take into consideration the opinions and feelings of others, not just my own.
http://www.edcc.edu/counseling/documents/Conflict.pdfBrower, Naomi, and Jana Darrington. “Effective Communicating Skills: Resolving Conflicts.
” Utah State University, July 2012, extension.usu.edu/relationships/ou-files/effectivecommunicationskills.
pdf.”The Five Steps to Conflict Resolution”. American Management Association, www.
amanet.org/training/articles/the-five-steps-to-conflict-resolution.aspx.