Test 3 Essay

I have heard many cynics say that it is far too optimistic to think that people are primarily motivated to do things out of the kindness of their hearts. To an extent I agree with them: if left without a moral compass, we would all tend toward evil, not good. To say that conscience is not as powerful a motivator as wealth or power, however, is a sweeping statement that deserves criticism. I believe that there is a Higher Power which directs our conscience, sometimes against our nature, toward good. I see it all the time in people I know; people who have given up wealth, power and comfort in order to serve others. Especially in the cases of Susan and David.

David was successful, to say the least. He was a straight A student with lots of potential. He went to Yale University and graduated with honours from their Business school. After graduation he worked for an affluent organization on a monthly salary of six thousand dollars. He was making lots of money and moving up the corporate ladder: everything was going for him. He was not satisfied with what he was doing, however. As a Chinese American he would often think of the country his family came from, of the people there and how poor and hopeless they were. So he quit his job and moved to China to work with the poor. He helped them build businesses and offered them Hope they had never had before. He gave up money and increasing power because his conscience directed him toward helping others. He has never been happier.

Susan was a well-off, comfortable woman from Seattle. She had a great job and lots of friends. Everyone loved Susan: she was warm, loving and always willing to serve others. She had lots of friends who traveled and lived all over the world, living with the natives and doing humanitarian work. Over a long period of time, she began to feel her conscience prick. She was so comfortable with her nice job and great friends, when so many people had nothing. The example of her friends showed her that there were other options for her. So she made a decision that shocked everyone: She moved to A----------. Many people thought she was crazy for going to such a difficult place, but she knew she was doing the right thing, so it did not matter. She moved to one of the most dangerous parts of the country and taught at a girls' school, to try and raise literacy among them. A year after she moved their, she was kidnapped and killed. It was incredibly hard to lose someone close to me in that way. It was the first time something like that had happened to me. But her example is very powerful to me. It convicts me that comfort and money and power are not important. Being willing to give up everything, even your life, for a higher cause is the most noble thing you can do.

Both David and Susan are significant models to me. Through their lives they have taught me what is truly important in life. And it is not money or power or fame. When those cynics sneer at the idea of conscience being more powerful, I point to David and Susan. They prove that the world may not be as hopelessly heartless as the cynics would like us to believe.