Character Matters as a Follower of God
Perseverance, respect and trust are three characteristics that I notice in great citizens and
followers of God. I am a fifth grade student at Santa Sophia Academy and I am writing about
these traits because I want to develop a deeper knowledge and understanding of them. My
experience at Santa Sophia Academy has taught me how to be a kind and respectful child of
God. For example, showing trust, compassion, respect, and other kind traits towards others. I
have also learned many new challenging subjects as a student and I continue to grow and master
these subjects every day. At Santa Sophia Academy nothing is impossible because we have our
faith, our teachers and our friends. Since my school has helped me to build my character, I wish
to share what I have learned with the world.
Perseverance is to be patient and never give up, to keep trying until you get it right. I show
perseverance when I really want to complete a task or reach a goal. Most of my perseverance is
shown during games or projects. Whenever I demonstrate this quality, I am focused and ignore
any outside distractions, even fun activities I can participate in. I find it easy to display my
perseverance when I have to get something done or want to achieve an award, honor or trophy. I
have witnessed perseverance when my friend had to finish his homework and he kept getting the
answer wrong, he never gave up until he got it right. From that moment I realized that nothing
should stop me from achieving a goal. I now use perseverance all the time because I know I can
do anything.
In my opinion, respect is to show kindness, politeness, gentleness, and compassion to others, or
an item with much value. I show respect when someone is speaking to me by listening to them,
and giving them my full attention. I am also respectful when I have to follow laws or rules,
because they are made to help guide people between right and wrong. Respect is important
because to receive respect is like receiving a gift with great value, it is a huge honor and it feels
nice to know that you will receive kindness and appreciation from another person. I have
experienced respect many times in my life. Recently, a classmate who does not care for me that
much, showed me respect by helping me with work that I did not understand. After helping me
with my work, my classmate and I became really good friends.
My next characteristic is trust, which is a very important one for me. My older cousin recently
lied, stole, and tricked our younger cousin into using his money for my older cousin instead of
saving up. After being taught good morals and values, I realize that my older cousin is no longer
trustworthy. Trust is to be loyal and honest towards others. I am trustworthy because I don’t lie
constantly and I keep my word. There is no need to lie; lying is like walking farther away from
God and his kingdom. I feel that those who lie are basically failing in life and not trying to get
into God’s kingdom.
Now you know the three characteristics that mean the most to me. I thought I knew everything
about these three traits, but now that I have reflected and written about them, I understand them
better. Looking back, I wish I knew more about these qualities as a younger child so that I could
have made better choices instead of bad ones. Going forward, I have learned that with the help of
my teachers, family and friends, life is better with good characteristics and can help make the
World a better place.