Word of the Week: Virtue
by Jacob McMillan, GMC Prep Cadet
Virtue holds a lot of power in all aspects of life. To exemplify virtue, one must be righteous in their presentation of their character and morals. To me, virtue means doing the part you believe to be correct and continuing to strive for it. Regardless of how correct that choice may be, as long as you believe it is morally correct, you are emulating virtue. Virtue is a wonderful characteristic to exemplify.
Someone that emulates the ideas of virtue is Alisha Rochon, teacher of Honors Algebra II, Honors Pre-Calculus, AP Calculus, and AP Statistics. In each and every one of her classrooms, she strives to keep opportunities fair for her students. For example, anytime a student suggests something such as choosing partners for a classwork, she ensures the method of picking is fair to all students, both absent and present. In my class, we had a math project to select partners for and there was one student absent. To keep the selection as fair as possible, she had us select who we wished to work with, then paired us with each other only if we selected the same person. Mrs. Rochon is an amazing example of exemplifying virtue to the best of her ability and knowledge. Her love for her students drives her requirement of a fair class.
Since I am currently a platoon sergeant at GMC and I have held other leadership positions prior to my Junior year, I can say that I have had to emulate my own sense of virtue. In these positions, I have had to inspect friends of mine to the best of my ability knowing that if I wrote them up, they would probably be upset with me. Instead of giving into the idea that they would be mad, I overlooked that aspect of it and wrote them up, as I was taught. GMC has provided me with opportunities to enhance my sense of virtue, increasing my leadership capabilities. For this, I am forever grateful of their dedication to their students, even if it gets frustrating at times.
Once again, virtue is defined as “moral excellence and righteousness; goodness.” All humans should aspire to hold a strong sense of virtue and a dedication to fairness. As I mentioned, a strong example of this is Alisha Rochon, as she strives to exemplify virtue in her daily life. Although I still struggle with remaining virtuous in my life, I can admit my time as a leader at GMC has greatly strengthened my capabilities to be virtuous