A500.2.3.RB_Andrzejewski

Some of the standards that are most important in my life include both critical-thinking and non-critical-thinking standards.  Growing up like many children my values and worldviews were formed based upon the non-critical-thinking standards of faith and love.   I had faith in what I was taught by my parents and school and the love of my family was the foundation of everything.  As I grew I expanded these standards to include achievements in sports and giving back.  I suppose the achievements in sports was a way to challenge myself to be the best that I could be and this carried into my future career as a display aerobatic pilot, US Team member, competitive wingsuit BASE jumper and display skydiver.  The standard of giving back was often expressed through volunteer work and eventually evolved into working with a non-profit school in Ghana and teaching.  I have always felt that it is important for me to recognize the very fortunate position that I am in as an American living in comfort with the opportunities that have been given to me and to try to give back and share the blessings that I have received with others.
Throughout the years my standards continue to mature and expand and today I would say that while the core standards of faith and love are still my foundation, I have added a few more critical-thinking standards based on life experience.  The world is not always fair and despite our hard work and achievements things do not always go the way that we hope or expect.  Tragedies occur and there is corruption and people who will do everything to put others down in order to elevate themselves and their careers.  These types of truths have a way of crushing the naïve trust that we grow up with and the growing pains that we experience over the years continue to mold our views and perspectives.  When we experience great loss or great perceived unfairness the things that hold value become incredibly clear while those things that are superficial become less and less important.  When we have children things change all over again as our focus moves from ourselves to our children. 
Today I hold a standard of rational thought and integrity based upon life experiences.  Rational thought is a critical-thinking standard that I needed to adapt in both my personal and professional career.  I have a tendency to lean towards being very trusting and following my emotions and my best self-check is to ensure that my decisions, thoughts and reactions are coming from a place of rational thought.  I feel this is something that comes with maturity as we get older and something that is often learned through the consequences of acting upon irrational thoughts.  Integrity is important to me and is something that helps me to always know that I am making decisions from a place that I can feel good about myself no matter what the outcome. 

Sometimes this means walking away from opportunities or not straying from my personal values in order to seek after an achievement or opportunity.  If this means that opportunity passes by, at least I can live with my decision and know that I can be proud of myself for holding my own moral and ethical values.  I have watched many of my colleagues take opportunities that required them to bend to meet a certain mold and the result that I saw was one based on ego and selfishness and putting others down in order to raise themselves up, I could never live with myself if I had followed that path to better my career.  I’m very happy with my achievements and accomplishments and with where my life and the standards that I have based it upon has taken me.  I can look myself in the mirror and I will be able to raise my daughter knowing that I don’t have anything to hide or be ashamed of and that I have done my very best at this life so far.    

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