“I am a firm believer of staying true to my word (which may end up to be pretty ironic by the time I have written this). I’d like to hope my reputation will precede me. To me, being a man or woman of your word requires a certain level of responsibility and respect towards such person you are promising to. Growing up I was always big on honoring the promises I would make, but I was never verbally taught to do so. Funny enough I guess I learned through actions, more specifically those of my parents. I remember one of the best promises I made with my parents was when I was about 7 or 8 years old. The promise was in exchange for me doing good in school, my parents would get me a dog for my birthday. I named him Biscuit. Nowadays words mean very little in this generation with our actions simply being ones and zeroes. It might just be me but I find it pretty sad that we’ve allowed social media to be used as a form of (what is supposed to be genuine) expression for our family, friends, and loved ones. It pretty easy to spot, the all-out essays written for birthdays, anniversaries, and other special occasions. In order to be a man or woman of your word, you have to take action. If there’s anything I’ve learned is that promises mean much more from those that don’t need to.”

–WJL