What Ethics Mean To Me

Ethics is at the base of everything that we do in life. Anytime we find ourselves at a moral crossroads with no obvious answer, we use ethics to determine the best outcome. Of course, decisions that stem from ethics are not always black and white, since everyone has different life experiences that form their ethical principles. For example, while my neighbor may not find it necessary to volunteer within our community, I believe that it is my moral duty to give back to those around me. With the use of ethics, I take the morals that I have formed throughout my life, such as treating everyone as an equal, and I apply them to every decision I make. To me, that is exactly what ethics means. It is the art of acquiring life experiences and using them
This theory states that a person should make decisions based on obtaining the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people possible. One of the reasons that I am best described as a utilitarian is that I try to use my efforts to help others. For example, I started mentoring for the Bauer Honors program after my Freshman year of college. My decision to volunteer my time to future freshman was fueled by two major factors: getting great experience for both me and my resume and helping eight wonderful freshmen through the difficult transition into college. My decision to become a mentor displayed utilitarian values because it was a small act that had the potential to produce unbelievable good for at least nine people, including myself. Additionally, I used utilitarian values when it became very difficult to balance mentoring with class work. Instead of giving up or putting less effort into mentoring, I buckled down and worked even harder to succeed in both my classes and as a mentor because otherwise I would only hurt all those involved. Due to my utilitarian based decisions, I made a large difference in my mentees lives, whom I have continued to mentor, while improving my confidence and leadership
Before I make each of my decisions, I use a breakdown approach to analyze the possible benefits and/ or consequences. One great example is the dilemma that I faced when searching for internships. After my freshman year, I signed on to intern with Grant Thornton, LLP as an audit associate in my junior year. Though I found excitement in the idea of working for this company, I could not help but feel like I might be limiting myself and my experience by not exploring other options for my future. I soon found myself caught in an extremely difficult dilemma of whether to pursue another internship for the summer. I began to visualize the outcomes: On one hand, I could potentially obtain an industry internship and learn even more about the accounting field, while on the other hand, I could potentially harm my relationship with Grant Thornton. After looking at the situation with much more detail, I found that pursing another internship would bring more benefit than harm to all the parties involved. I realized that even though Grant Thornton may be hesitant about an internship with another company, they have more benefits if I obtained knowledge about industry accounting because I could use this knowledge when working with future clients for the firm. Additionally, I found that the industry company I would be interning for would also have more benefits because they would have someone to