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As a child, my Mom was always adamant about me being able to have integrity, humility, and values in life. Since I was old enough to remember, she would always ask me the same question, “what do you value the most?”. Initially I was confused because I thought there was a specific answer to this question. So, when I would answer, her response was always, “think about it again.” As I got older, I finally understood that there was no specific way to answering the question, and the reason why my Mom wanted me to reconsider my answer. She knew I was only saying things that I thought she wanted to hear, and not what I truly valued. Being raised by a single Mom, I understood that it was important for her to instill values in me. Integrity was always a term heard so much throughout the household. I remember times when I would get into trouble, and I was told to take responsibility for my actions, and have integrity about myself. Hearing a word like that, I never really understood what it meant, but I learned that it had to do with honesty, living upright, and being whole. For me, I use integrity as a reminder to stay true to the decisions I make, and have the courage to be honest, no matter how hard it may see. I always felt that as a child I was more impressionable, and peer pressure seemed like a challenge to work through. There would be times where I felt that I had to lie just to feel like I belonged to groups that I thought meant something. Overtime I realized that if I remained true to who I was and my beliefs, I never needed to be concerned about fitting in. Having humility is something that has always remained important to me. It meant that if I ever found myself in a situation where I made a mistake, I needed to have the humility to apologize and admit what I did was wrong. Having humility also meant that I was showing maturity, and simultaneously knew that it meant doing something that was right.