What a beautiful essay from one of my former students

CHARACTER COUNTS by Patrice Nguyen, 5th grade, St. James Academy

Imagine that you are in a department store shopping for clothes. As you shop around, you notice some jeans that fell off the racks. What would you do?

Would you pick up the jeans and place them back on the racks, or would you pass by them like you never saw it? Imagine another situation. You went food shopping and your cart is full. You checked-out and paid for all your items. You leave the food store and had quite a long walk to your car. As you were loading your car with the goods you bought, you notice a box of sodas under your cart worth $5.00. The cashier forgot to charge you for it. Would you go back and pay for it, or would you take it and leave? These are simple situations that I think can judge one’s character. Well, I know someone with good character, my mother. She would pick up those jeans and yes, no matter how far her car is parked, she would go back to the store and let the cashier know of the unpaid item and pay for it. Another thing about her, if I am in an argument with someone and I am wrong, don’t expect her to side me just because I am her daughter, she will always side the person who is right, with an explanation.

Character matters a lot. Your character is WHO YOU ARE. It is how you think, feel, and act. If you have good character, you will earn the respect of people around you and certainly get God’s attention. My mother would say, “Good character is the ticket to heaven.” I think it is hard to have all the character traits. Some of these traits are: honesty, caring, trustworthy, responsibility, citizenship and cooperation. We should try to obtain if not all, some of these traits. I think people who care for small things definitely care for bigger things. Having good character also means doing good things to others and showing you care about what’s around you. In turn, good things will happen to you. To have good character is to have good morals and ethics. If only every person in this world tries to follow the character traits, there would be absolute peace in this world. So, the next time you see clothes fall off the rack, pick it up and put them back. If your in a big or small situation, CARE! Always remember what Mr. Micheal Josephson, a radio commentator, says, “Character Counts.”

NOTE: For her hard work and thoughtfulness, Patrice was awarded first place in an essay writing contest sponsored by the University of San Diego.

From my own personal experience, Cathleen Nguyen embodies good character for all of us and I've been privileged to have been the recipient of her generosity many many times.
Patrice is a gifted student, accomplished pianist, so talented artist and now prize winning author. Congratulations to the whole Nguyen Family!