What if your bestfriend sleeps with your girlfriend-to-be?

This is a real story that happened to my friend. For the confidentiality, let’s his name be Peter. Peter was a very lover-like and sweet boy. He could easily fall for girls and be faithful to her for a long time. During the holidays, he met this girl, Helen, in a party. He had quite a good time with her during the party, so Peter asked her out for a few dates. They started getting physically close. Peter realized that the relationship was going quite well, so he wanted his best friend, Fred, to know her. However, Fred was quite good in talking to girls. Off the record, a playboy would describe Fred’s personality.
As Peter wanted his best friend to know his date, all three of them went out together; they all had an enjoyable time, so Fred got her number. Behind Peter’s back, Fred went out with Helen couples of time. Meanwhile, Peter’s feeling for Helen increased tremendously. He liked her very much. Nevertheless, the moment of truth came shortly afterward. Helen told Peter that they should stop seeing each other. Totally bewildered, Peter demanded an explanation, but Helen refused to do so. Nonetheless, after Peter pestered for the answer a few days later, she told him, “Fred and I went out couples of time. Once, we drank together. While we were tipsy, we slept together.” Peter was stoned. His best friend for many years chose to betray him for a girl whom they just knew. He stopped talking to Fred after that incident, although Fred and Helen both apologized and told him it’s because of intoxication. Still, Peter thinks this is too much to forgive them.
Should Peter forgive Fred for his action and talk to him again? After all, if a four-years-long friendship is ended because of a girl who they barely know.

P.S. This story is an account of an incident, so it might not be perfectly accurate. The names in this story are all made-up for storytelling purpose.

Why effective communication is important to me?

‘What is the purpose of my life?’ is the first question I asked before I answer this question. It is of utmost important to know what I want in my life before answering why this skill is important to me. As a 19 years old undergraduate, I have a dream of revolutionizing Thai education system.

As a child born to a middle income family, I am fortunate to be educated in top schools. Therefore, for my teenage years, I always thought of Thai education system as a decent one. However, during the holidays before university started, I had an opportunity to teach at an orphanage house in Thailand for 3 months. It was when I truly understand the education system. The quality of education in the school is so low that primary-one students couldn’t even add two digits numbers together. It may be partly due to their family background. The lack of love from their relatives might suppress their motivation to study. Nevertheless, the problems shouldn’t be blamed on them. We should ask why the government isn’t doing anything to improve the quality of education. Education is not about going to school for 12 years. It is what we learn inside that is important. Without education, quality of life will not improve and they will be idle in society. They could also be used as pawns in political conflicts.

This was the driving force for me to think about how am I going to change this. Personally, I hate politics, especially in Thailand, where corruptions are part of politicians’ lives. Therefore, I have decided I am going to set up a non-profitable organization helping the students especially in rural areas to improve their education and hence their lives.

Now, going back to the question why effective communication is essential in my life. For the goal I am looking at, it is a job that requires effective communication skill ranging from recruiting people to join the organization to effectively teach the children in the rural area. In recruiting and management of organization, effective communication would help in the understanding between colleague. Furthermore, by using speeches to motivate the staffs, the organization would run more efficiently and non-corruptly. Apart from the management side, I also have to go down to the schools and talk to the principals, persuading them to join the movement. We have to convince them that this is not an organization which looking for profits, but we want to help improve the quality of life in those area. Last but not least, I will be the teacher myself. Hence, effective communication will help the student get most from my lessons. Essentially, for my goal to be successful, effective communication is the key.