by: Hikmah Oky Pravitasari
Everybody has their own rules to face the world. Some
of them do the right things, and some of them do the wrong. Everybody wants to
do better, but sometimes they never know how to do the right one???
Here’s some stories related to the young person characters, and you’ll
find the differences of character development.
Adaptable
in Life
Tasha and her
sister Olivia are very different. Tasha is a free spirit who goes her own way.
Olivia pays more attention to the rules and fits in well with everybody. When
their parents announced they were moving, Tasha was miser- able, but Olivia
looked forward to the change. At their new school, they found out that if they
were late for class, they had to go to the principal’s office. In their old
school, things were not so strict.
Tasha had a
hard time adapting and was often late for class. She spent a lot of time in the
principal’s office. Olivia adapted to the rules and was on time to class. She
joined new groups and got along with her new classmates. Tasha spent a lot of
time alone. One afternoon Tasha and Olivia had a fight. “You’re just a wimp,
trying to impress the teachers,” said Tasha. “Well, you spend part of every day
in the principal’s office, while I get to hang out at the mall,” said Olivia.
Here are some people from various walks of
life. Each has a reputation for adaptability.
Helen Keller was 19 months old when she fell ill with
a fever. When she recovered, she was deaf and blind. Her family did not know
how to cope with the situation. When Helen was six, they brought in a private
teacher named Annie Sullivan. Sullivan challenged all the behavior that young
Helen had learned in her short life. She fought to teach her ways to
communicate and behave. Helen not only adapted to survive, but she became an
author and teacher herself. Keller’s triumph can inspire us when we face
change.
Hellen Keller becomes a famous writer and lawyer, her wise words become
popular till now. You can see her story in a movie entitled “hellen Keller”.
Annie Sullivan is a great teacher who teaches her patiently.
Anne Frank was a rebellious girl when her family went
into hiding from the Nazis in World War II. She was forced to live in an attic
with many others and to give up many things. Anne fought some things but
adapted to others, in great part by writing her thoughts in a diary. Her father
found and published that diary after the war—after Anne had died in a
concentration camp. Her diary inspires anyone who must find a way to rise above
change.
Being Altruistic
Being altruistic means caring about the welfare
of other people with-out expecting anything in return. Sometimes we care for
others to geta reward or to make them love us. An altruistic person is unselfish and finds
that caring for others can be its own reward.
Ellen Hathaway
had begun substitute teaching in her town. On her second day, she was asked to
teach an art class. During class, students made a mess with paints and other
materials. Although Ellen asked them to clean up their own spaces before the
end of class, most students did not. With only a 15-minute break before her
next class, Ellen began to clean up herself. She was upset that the students
took advantage of her substitute status to disobey her. After a minute, there
was a knock at the classroom door. It was Tamika, one of the students who had
cleaned up her desk before leaving. “Ms. Hathaway, can I help?” Ellen knew that
Tamika was giving up part of her lunch break to help. Because Ellen was a
substitute teacher, she couldn’t do anything for Tamika, such as give her a
better grade or nominate her for an award. As Ellen and Tamika finished up,
Ellen thanked her. “No problem,” said Tamika, who hurried to the lunchroom to
grab a sandwich before her next class. Tamika’s friend asked her why she was
late, and Tamika just smiled.
Here
are some people who have a reputation for being altruistic.
Florence Nightingale was
a nurse during the Crimean War in the 1800s. During the war, many British
soldiers were dying from disease and wounds. A commission sent a group of
nurses to Turkey. This group was led by Florence Nightingale. Her night rounds
by lamp light earned her the name of Lady of the Lamp because she was tireless
in caring for the sick. Her efforts not only saved many lives, but helped to
raise nursing to a respectable position in society. Nightingale was so
disinterested in fame or reward that she returned home under an assumed name
and refused photographs or interviews all her life.
Sometimes, a kindness doesn’t need a reward and
fame. A kindness is coming from each heart to help and care each other.
Harriet Tubman was born
into slavery in the American South. As a teenager she tried to protect another
field worker from a beating. The overseer swung at the worker and hit Tubman in
the head, causing an injury that gave her pain the rest of her life. After
escaping herself, she helped more than 300 other slaves to move along the
Underground Railroad to safety. During her life, she made 19 trips back to the
South to help others. In doing so, she was in danger of being caught and
returned to slavery.
Dr. Albert Schweitzer was a French missionary and
surgeon. In 1952, he won the Nobel Peace Prize. Earlier in his life, he was a minister
and an accomplished musician. When he decided to go to Africa as a missionary,
he put himself through medical school to become a doctor. He worked in French
Equatorial Africa, building a hospital to offer health care to natives. With
the Nobel Peace Prize money, he started a hospital for people with leprosy, a
disfiguring disease.
References
Stevenson, Nancy. 2006. Young Person’s character Education handbook.
Indianapolis: JIST Publishing, Inc.
