After reading Catherine Conover’s article “Communication is about people, not software packages,” I started thinking back through the years. I realized that just about all my memories involved interactions with other people. Memories about rock climbing, camping, hiking and late night conversations about everything from cartoons to philosophy and religion.

I started thinking, “What are the qualities of a good friend?” I then remembered a man I knew and respected a great deal. He was one of my dad’s friends, and I knew that he was a person who led a life that could be modeled by others. He was quiet, patient, loyal, enduring, humble and meek. When this man’s wife fell into a coma, he went to visit her every day for more than five years until she died. He would always take time to talk to and pray for his wife, even though his wife couldn’t respond in any way. He was a man who put others before himself.

This man was not perfect, but he was more than what I have come to expect from most people.

Many try to justify their arrogance instead of trying to rid themselves of it. Nowhere have I seen this more than on a college campus.

I am not making the generalization that there are no people with integrity and humility; I am just saying that they are becoming harder to find. Qualities like patience, humility, loyalty and service to others are difficult to manifest in one’s life, but the rewards are greater than any material reward.

Matt Graham

Junior

Liberal arts and sciences