Personal Values

 Playing the game helps me learn and polish my own ethical standards. A lot of my values are formed by my own family and religion. Throughout many experiences in my life, my values and morals were formed by the implications of my own and other people's actions. I saw the negative consequences that one could experience if they make the wrong decisions. I also saw how one could benefit from making the correct choices. I would analyze these choices that I and many others have made. My moral code was formed through this process. In professional settings, I tend to take people more seriously, but with family and friends I am more casual and friendly. I have the idea that, in a professional setting, getting work done is the primary priority and responsibility. I agree with my ELI that my greatest analytical tool that I used to think about ethical dilemmas is my experiences for the reasons stated above. I disagree that my vice is becoming greedy. I do not consider myself in that lens.  I like to think that I have a good sense of self-control, temperance, and moderation.

         As stated above, my religion has been influential in my ethical values. Catholicism teaches morals and values that each member should follow. These are based on the Ten Commandments in the Torah and Bible. The church expands on these commandments in order to include things of this day and age. Not only is my ethical code based on the Ten Commandments, but on the 7 holy virtues. The ones that resonate with me the most are humility, kindness, diligence and temperance. Humility is one I subscribe to because it is what combats what I believe is one of my worst vices: pride. Pride can lead me to treating others that are different from me harshly or at least differently. It can make me believe that I am better than someone else when I am not.

         As a follower of Christianity, I try my best to fulfill what Jesus commands us to do. One of these is to care for those less fortunate. Being less fortunate does not always mean monetary resources, but also knowledge. I try to spread the knowledge I have to others seeking it. That is one of the reasons I enjoy teaching others. Right now, I am a Teaching Assistant, and I enjoy my job as I get help and show students my expertise and experience in the subject that I am in charge of.  I am also going to volunteer preparing tax returns for low-income individuals and families. I would like others to do the same. Helping others can only make the world a better place. If everyone were to show a little kindness to someone every day, the world would improve drastically.

         Of course, I know not everyone is going to share the same values and morals as I do. Some people can do great harm by doing unethical things. What would I do if I encountered someone doing something outright morally wrong? After thinking about this scenario, I was concerned. I am not someone that is confrontational unless it is someone's life is at risk or being severely harmed. For the scope of this class, since this is about accounting ethics, I will focus on a possible work scenario. If in the office I notice someone doing something they should not be doing, I will notify my supervisor about the situation with the hopes of them doing something. This would just be for minor offenses. However, if I were to see felony-level activity going on at the workplace. I would like to notify the authorities of what is going on and give my witness. I believe these are the right things to do to make a safe working environment and not cause harm to innocent people.

         As one goes through life, consistently following a moral code can be challenging. I tend to get tempted to do immoral things and it can be hard to follow my values and ethics. The way I improve my ethical resilience is by following the same principles that develop my ethical code in the first place—learning from my mistakes. This method has suited me well so far and I will continue using it. It has worked for other people, so I am aware that it works for a variety of different situations. Building up my ethics is a great skill and exercise to have. It will improve your professional and personal success.

         Throughout this exercise, I learned more about myself and how I make decisions. It gave me insights into my own strengths and weaknesses and how I approach ethical situations and dilemmas. Further on in my life, these exercises can help me with which areas of my ethical code I need to improve on. This should help me in my career as I progress, and my responsibilities will increase. This is where ethics will be extremely important.