Wanbang School’s motto is “Be honest, be diligent, and love each other”. Even in the school’s motto, we can see how much the school emphasizes honesty— and throughout my 3 years at Wanbang, I can now clearly see why honesty is such an important value in my life.
Wanbang is not just called a school but as a powernasium, where students get trained for the 7-powers: brain, network, molar, spiritual, body, mental, and leadership. Among those powers, first of all, I believe honesty serves as a great foundation to achieve network and leadership power. For me, the concept of honesty was first got established when I came into the dorm room. In Korea where I could use my room alone, I didn’t need any cooperation and collaboration; my whole life revolved around me. However, in the dorm room where we shared our things, places, and even lives, I began to notice that honesty is not an option but a necessity. For example, when I first came to Wanbang, I oftentimes forgot to do the laundry, which wasn’t a problem back in Korea where I can do it again if I have forgotten. However, here, everything was operated on a minute-based and I sometimes was responsible for my whole roommate’s laundry as well. In this case, I couldn’t be dishonest with both myself and other people. If I made a mistake, I had to be honest in order to minimize further problems— and from that point, I started to grow and mature. I began to notice that the best way to be responsible for my work is, to be honest. In this case, I also realized that this is why an honest person can have a great influence on society.
Moreover, I believe honesty has built moral power. From being honest, one thing I earned was self-satisfaction. I believe greed is the key element that drives people towards dishonesty: if people want more than what is given to them, people start to use various dishonest methods to get what they want. However, after I learned honesty, I began to be thankful for what I have instead of craving my personal desire. Through that, I started to have thankfulness in my life. Moreover, for me, honesty is one of the things that helps me to keep the moral standard. Though standards sometimes fall and I make mistakes, I can always come to the beginning if I have a clear moral standard and honesty.
Finally, honesty builds up brainpower. Initially, I thought honesty has no relationship with my becoming a smart student. However, honesty is not just a concept separated from my life; it was like a guide that is present in every facet of my life. For example, when I am taking a test, I never try to achieve something by cheating or using any dishonest tricks. I regarded an exam as an opportunity to test my knowledge, make assessments, and plan for the next. Therefore, everything that I studied became my knowledge and skill. A college is a place where I’ll be learning much more things in depth. Even there, I hope to make lectures, books, and words my own asset, and this can be only achieved through honesty.
In Proverbs 11:3, it says, “The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity. During my experience at Wanbang, I noticed that every single word of this verse is true and that I shouldn’t forget this even when I go to college. In the next few months, I will face a new community, and if there’s one thing that I should definitely bring, I know it’s honesty.
Writer: Yeyoung Jeon
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