Topic 2: Character - Jaehyeong Lee

To me, character is social signage. It exists to help let people know what to expect of you should a certain event or action happen. If a person falls, depending on a person's character, their reaction will be different. Helpful, kind, considerate character will aid the fallen. Apathetic, selfish, busy character will not have enough time to aid. It's important because if the time should come when someone of your character is necessary, people will know who to reference or come to for response. Yes, character is something unique to a person; however, that doesn't mean it isn't influenced by the environment. Character is built naturally as one communicates with other people. The amount that it can change is dependent on how many interactions one has with however many different people. I'll consider how one can build their character and how one can help someone else build their character

1) How one can build character

There are a number of solutions. You can meet people, out topic of consideration last week, you can make more promises and keep them, you can take on more responsibility, you can try to break old habits, you can try to reduce the amount of hypocrisy you have, you can do nice things for others, the list goes on. Find something you have fun doing with a community of people, like group study, dance or music (those are the ones I do). 

For group study, break a difficult chapter into sections and have each person do their little section before the group gets together and then present the information in the most succinct way possible to the rest of the group. Sure, there will be some people who don't do their fair share of work - work around it. Get motivated about the upcoming material, appreciate the coursework, help others with their sections. Make it enjoyable, and people will come back and work hard to give to the group. When the payoff comes with that last A you received on your paper, the number of people interested in studying with you will rise dramatically. This will help you become more responsible, considerate and helpful, improving your character every moment of the way.

For dance, have everyone choreograph to their own music and present it to everyone the next practice. Have some of them teach it and perform it later. When making your dance, pick your favorite song, get the feel for it, add your own styles, nuances and moves. My motto when dancing is, if you think it looks awesome when you do it, everyone else will think it looks awesome too. If you hesitate, you've already made the rest of your audience doubt whether you can do the next move or not. There's no time to take steps back, just do it, evaluate, improve, do it again. This will build a sense of passion and motivation for your work, helping your character be more positive, upbeat and progressive. This is infectious at school, work and home.

For music, orchestras, bands and big groups are excellent forms of responsibility. The conductor already expects a great deal from you, so just do one better. Why stop there? You're already lovin' it, you're already groovin' to the music. Move your body to the music. Change the way you play the instrument. Breathe. Flow. Feel the sound come out of your fingers. The entire world changes if you've ever experienced playing music in this way. This will help you embody your work and give your character an insatiable drive for curiosity. What if I tried applying these new ways of perceiving music to different pieces, scores, styles? What kind of interesting things will happen then? Is there more to learn, to improve, to play? It can only get better from there. Others will notice, some will follow the same path. Charisma is contagious.

2) How one can help others build their character

Well, you've learned about meeting people. Maybe you realize they are shy, non-confrontational, independent. Get acquainted with them. Help them learn to build their character by showing them some of these things you might do that help your character grow. Don't force them to do anything - just show them that you, having build your character in such a way, are shining, and convince them that they can shine too. 

Be a role model. Be yourself.