Voice Of The Student - May 16, 2022

TRUST

Your life is precious. So, who are you going to trust with it and with what type of trust will you grant them - your parents or maybe your spouse? Can you be mature enough to trust yourself? In what ways is trust provided?  Can it be earned or is it simply handed to you? Trust is not simply a finite reliance, but a growth that you define yourself.

I believe that trust is not simply the belief that someone will do something; it is the reliance on that belief. When you think of someone that you trust, that you truly trust most would think of their mother or father. This type of trust was not earned and there was nothing you could do as an infant to earn it. There was also no choice but to trust your mother and father. Infants lack the ability to feed themselves or change themselves. All they can do is breathe and grow naturally. Without trusting parents, infants would die. That trust lasts into their adolescence and adulthood.

But as a child grows, so does their perception and personal definition of what trust is. Along with this growth they start to identify how to gain trust. I think that most people believe that trust is earned or believe that they have to earn trust. Whether or not they decide this consciously they decide to trust someone based on their actions. People will also try to earn people’s trust. This may be done more consciously by wanting to gain something with that trust.

Gaining trust can be a valuable asset in matters of obtaining something for personal gain, for example, to gain a higher position within the workplace. Even if that trust should not be given but is disguised as something real. So, is that really trust or is it being taken advantage of with the disguise of someone who is deserving of this so-called trust? Furthermore, is being taken advantage of with falsely earned trust a sign of a weak maturity? Because at a certain point, I believe that one must realize their own maturity level to get the best of it. Part of that is trusting yourself and what you decide your maturity level is.

Although there is a difference between trusting yourself and judgement and becoming conceited. This line may be more recognized and easier to stay away from for some than others. For example, look at players in the NBA such as Lebron James and Kobe Bryant. They are the top players and the best of the best and they know it. They are not simply confident but they trust themselves and that allows for more said confidence to show and be used on the court. But high school basketball players will think in their heads that they are the best on the court. Whether this is because it’s how the people they look up to. But they don’t have the maturity to realize and trust their own skills so they will fake that trust and turn it into falsified confidence.

People’s trust that they place in others is constantly developing. From the moment they are born to the moment they pass. Just as their maturity develops to define trust for and within themselves.

Levi Guinn is a Senior at UHS in Mrs. Pfingsten’s English class. He is the son of Todd and Lisa Guinn.

Each week, in collaboration with UHS teacher Jodi Pfingsten, the Ulysses News will feature a student column in this space. Student writings are submitted by Mrs. Pfingsten after being edited in class. Student subjects and writing styles will vary based on the guidelines set forth by Mrs. Pfingsten and the Ulysses News.