Growing up in a household where my father is from Oklahoma, I was taught at a young age on how to act like a gentleman. Little did I know, my father, when he was in college had joined the same Fraternity I currently am active in. Sigma Alpha Epsilon teaches their brothers the meaning and guidelines of how to become a true gentleman with their creed, "True Gentleman," which just so happens to be my favorite writing.
The True Gentleman - "The True Gentleman is the man whose conduct proceeds from good will and an acute sense of propriety, and whose self control is equal to all emergencies; who does not make the poor man conscious of his poverty, the obscure man of his obscurity, or any man of his inferiority or deformity; who is himself humbled if necessity compels him to humble another; who does not flatter wealth, cringe before power, or boast of his own possessions or achievements; who speaks with frankness but always with sincerity and sympathy; whose deed follows his word; who thinks of the rights and feelings of others rather than his own; and who appears well in any company, a man with whom honor is sacred and virtue safe.”
- John Walter Wayland (1899)
As you can see this paragraph describes what a True Gentleman is, and even though this is almost impossible to achieve, its give my brothers and me something to strive for. It also sets us up for doing other things outside of our creed. An example would be walking on the street side of a lady, walking anyone home who needs it, treating everyone with the utmost respect, an so on and so forth. For the past three years I have become a better person, a stronger person, and have become closer to being "True Gentleman" than I ever have been. That is why this piece of literature is not only my favorite but it defines my life.
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