Principles and Good Character

Last Tuesday in freshman seminar Dr. Segun Gbadgesin came before the student body and presented his lecture on self actualization and communal responsibility. Dr. Segun shared with the students the principles and commandments of African culture. The principles and instructions all focused on morality and maintaining a good character. Dr. Segun also shared with us "The Story of Iwa". The moral of the story is to respect women, don’t take anything for granted, and don’t ever lose your being, character, or existence. He discussed how Africa’s view of morality is not recognized in other cultures even though these same laws and principles are used in today’s society. These principles and instructions built good character which was important because as Dr. Segun quoted from the instructions of Ptahhotep, “A man of good character is a man of wealth”. I got a lot out of this lecture because it reminded me that not only is it important to have an education to succeed but it is also important to have good character because that’s one of the ultimate things that can open many doors for an individual. You can be the smartest person in the world, but if you don’t carry good characteristics your opportunities may be limited. One thing that Dr. Segun continuously repeated throughout the lecture was, “to create oneself you have to apply education”. This quote encourages students to add on to their characteristics by taking what they learn and apply it to themselves. You should always be able to take something you learned in the classroom or in a text book and apply to yourself to help shape and mold you into the person you’re destined to be. This lecture was rather interesting given the fact that he used spoken word to define the topic of his lecture. I enjoyed this past session altogether and will definitely continue to build good character.

-Ramona Williams