Throughout this new and challenging period, your values will always be with you. You will instinctively and continually call upon your values to: • Guide and motivate your attitude and actions. • Determine how you will react and respond. • Decide what is acceptable and unacceptable. • Help you take responsibility for yourself. • Provide a solid basis for making decisions. The importance of your values is obvious. Understanding your values is a meaningful personal development opportunity during these formative years when character is challenged. Your values and the Fraternity’s values are among the most important lessons you can learn during the Foundation of Courage (your first year as a member).
How Do We Develop Our Values? Your family, your community, school and church have introduced you to values such as respect, compassion, a good work ethic and honesty. Growing up, you relied on the example of parents and other role models to develop your beliefs. And experiences during pre-college years may have established some of your current values. By following your values, you have made it to this point in your life. Your entry into college and commitment to Phi Gamma Delta places you in another environment with new independence. Your values will continue to form during your college years. The combination of values that define our character continue to develop and are tested throughout life.
What Are Your Values?
Your values are your core beliefs. They guide and motivate your attitudes and actions.
This may seem like an odd question to ask you when learning about an organization like Phi Gamma Delta. If you want to learn about the Fraternity, why are there questions about your values? We ask you this because what you value matters most. Your values are your core beliefs. They guide and motivate your attitudes and actions.
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Understanding who you are, what you value and how you want to live your life is basic to success and happiness. Only when you understand what is important to you can you then evaluate the values of Phi Gamma Delta. Having a clear understanding of the values you want to live by, to use as anchors for the decisions you make, can help you manage your life. The most important thing in life is to decide what is most important.
The Values of Phi Gamma Delta Now that you have explored your personal beliefs and learned more about yourself, it is time to expose you to the values of the Fraternity. Phi Gamma Delta was founded on values and continues today as a values-based organization. Our values are the firm foundation on which the Fraternity has existed for more than 175 years. 29