I would like to make a text-to-self connection here as I explore the article “What are Your Values?” This article dives into why values define who you are and how to become more aware of your values. It is important to become more aware of your values because they are guiding factors in situations that will bring forth action. Sometimes it takes those situations to understand your values. I have had to make a number of decisions during my last 3 years in college that brought to light different parts of me that I didn’t know about. I had thoughts and took actions and sometimes didn’t even know the “why” behind what I thought or did. It led me to explore different parts of myself and ask myself “why.” This led me to define a lot of the values that I know am aware of. These beliefs of things I find important now shape my life and help me to feel comfortable in who I am. I am proud of my values and see them as defining pieces of myself. The article says, “Values exist, whether you recognize them or not. Life can be much easier when you acknowledge your values- and when you make plans and decisions that honor them.” I think this speaks to my personal experience that I was referencing. Once I was able to recognize my values, I began to honor them and let them define me in a good way. I appreciate that this class also played a big role in helping me to think about my values and how that translates outside of just my personal life. It killed my stigma of believing that personal and professional life were not related, but I see a connection come to life through the thing I have learned in this class.