When I first started my investing journey I read the intelligent investor by Benjamin Graham. This book is full of smart tactics and principles on how to invest at an annual percentage that stays steady over decades. As I read this book, one rule of investing grabbed my attention. When investing, you should first trust and believe in the company before investing in its stocks. When you believe in a company you are far more likely to know everything about the company before investing in it as well as stay true to your investment once it is placed. This principle has wrung true for me and has governed a lot of my investments. Belief in the company is not the only attribute necessary to invest but when coupled with any other knowledge it leads to success. I have a lot left to learn about investing but as long as I stick to this principle of actually knowing about the company behind the letters than I believe my investing ventures can and will be profitable.

I was working as a youth camp counselor when one of the 6 year old kids that I was leading showed me the beauty of the words “love is kind.” One of my kindergarten kids in my group had just run away and sat on the shore of the pond at camp. He sat looking dejected and without purpose. As I walked up to him, he turned and allowed me to see straight into his eyes and the struggle inside him. I asked what was wrong and we talked about how he just never felt like anyone loved him. I ended up trying to make him feel better by making him laugh and that helped for a while. Eventually though he slid right back to his sad attitude. In a stroke of brilliance from the Lord I decided to ask this 6 year old kid a question that a lot of adults can’t answer. The question was, what does love look like to him? Is it getting good food or toys, having time with his parents, or just hearing a few good words? In true 6 year old fashion he said he had no idea but then he paused and allowed me to see that wheels were turning. He looked up into my eyes and said that love is what I was doing right at that moment. Me sitting there and being kind to him was this little kids idea of love. I think this same principle holds true for most adults. We just want to be valued and treated kindly as if we matter. Being kind means stepping outside of your desires and finding a way to value a person. It is to see someone in need and to fill that need. I was lucky enough to be afforded that opportunity of kindness in the form of a summer camp. I was able to spend every day of my summer thinking about someone else’s wants and I was ultimately better for it. That summer shaped my belief of kindness. Kindness is a pinnacle attribute of truly successful people. Through the form of a degree in psychology and then a psychiatry license, I want to spend my entire life being kind to people and filling their needs. Psychology is the platform through which I will exhibit true love and allow myself to be used through kindness. People in this generation are lacking love and kindness and therefore turning to physical things to be filled with purpose. This ultimately leads to problems. Through my psychology degree I will show them the power of love to shape and mold their lives for excellence. Kindness will be an attribute that I will call on daily to show people how true kindness brings out the best in all of us. While this world tries to lead us astray from kindness through love, I will take the knowledge of psychology and kindness from the Lord to help people realize true purpose and meaning.