What is Patience, and How is it Lived in Daily Life?

Patience

What is Patience?

Defining Patience

Many people admit they struggle with patience. Some are not even sure that patience is truly a good thing. If patience is a virtue, what does it look like? And is it something worth cultivating?

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Patience in Action

documentary short

monumental feats

Guru Madhavan is a Senior Scholar and Senior Director of Programs at the National Academy of Engineering. During a day in Washington, DC, he talks about how patience, integrity, civility, and courage are core virtues for good engineers.

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case studies

Business

The Long Game

A business leader must decide whether staying the course on a slow but promising turnaround reflects patience or stubbornness.

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Engineering

Not Quite Ready

A senior engineer must decide whether entrusting a demanding project to a developing colleague reflects patient mentorship or an unwillingness to admit he may not be ready.

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Law

The Negotiation That Won't Close

A transactional lawyer must decide whether giving an impatient client an optimistic timeline is justified to preserve his trust in a careful negotiation process.

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Medicine

The Numbers That Were Fine

A physician questions whether watchful waiting on a patient’s elevated blood pressure was sound clinical patience or avoidance after he suffers a hypertensive crisis.

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class resources

Education

Assignment: Teacher Observation Role Play for Leaders

A leadership role-play assignment in which aspiring school administrators practice teacher observation and post-conference feedback, using courage and integrity to support meaningful professional growth.

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Engineering

Assignment: Civic Professionalism Reflection

First-year engineering students explore civic professionalism, humility, and the responsibilities engineers may have to support democratic and ethical change.

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Business

Assignment: Foundations of Ethical Behavior

Business students analyze ethical dilemmas from the textbook using a structured decision-making model, and focusing on virtues like integrity, empathy, and courage.

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Philosophy

Assignment: Intellectual Responsibility

Using at least three reputable news sources, students describe a real-world case involving a controversial use of data by AI, consider the ethical implications of how data is being used, and recommend ways to avoid unethical data practices.

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Computer Science

Syllabus: Systems Programming

The course emphasizes hands-on practice through daily assignments, larger programming milestones, and exams, with a special focus on craftsmanship: writing clean, thoughtful, well-tested code and taking pride in work that goes beyond “done enough.”

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business

Syllabus: Data Management

Students develop foundational data management skills for business analytics. The course also asks students to think ethically about data privacy, security, quality, and misuse, while cultivating integrity through hands-on labs and applied problem solving.

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statistics

Syllabus: Topics in Statistics

Through weekly quizzes and a semester-long group project, the course emphasizes accurate, transparent reporting of data analysis results, reproducibility, intellectual honesty, and appropriate citation of sources.

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