Returning to School at 29: My Experience Essay

Revised Returning to School Returning to school at this time in my life has been a great challenge, I’m 29 years old and I know I have a long ways to go but I’ve had so many dreams ans aspiration that I wanted to complete before I turn 29. I plan to be done with college at 23 years old but ended up becoming pregnant at 22 years old and a mother at 23 years old so that shifted things for me with returning to school fully committed to my studies. During that time I just stayed working and making me and my son’s life a little easier. So when the time was right to start school again I will be fully ready. I’ve always planned to go to college right after high school which I did at Los Angeles Southwest Community College located in California and then drop out because of family issues and continue to tried to find my way back into college enrolling and dropping out not staying focus on my education. And now I’m at a point where I have to finish this time. Returning to college has had it’s moments like when I started school I was afraid of returning because it has been a while since I’ve been in school over 10 years and returning I felt was going to be challenging for me learning new things and grasping new learning materials and being able to complete assignments especially online which was some what new to me because I’ve never went to school online before and didn’t know what to expect. I remember when I was taking my first course I had got a little overwhelm with the homework assignments being due and adjusting to my new post at the Senior Center and my job as a Security Guard and was at a point of wanting to withdraw form school because it. But after getting some guidance form my admission counselor and how he explained to me how dedicated I was in the beginning before returning to school made me realize how unfortunate it would have been to end my education journey just because I got timid and scared and wanted to stop. But has I look back on it I also realize that I was trying to take the easy way out from fears of returning to school. Since that time me returning to school has been a blessing and has giving me a new purpose to my life meaning for me it’s never to late to go back to college no matter how old you get, and I feel good about myself that I’m accomplishing something I’ve always wanted which is graduating from college and earning my degree. Being in college has always been my dream to finish and actually have a good paying job with benefits for me and my son which has always been a goal of mind to not depend on public assistance for healthcare for my son and to be able to do it on my own. In closing I now appreciate my decision on returning to college again and finally reaching my goal that I’ve always wanted. I will continue to stay encourage and positive through my journey to success.

Creative Writing – The Bliss Of Acceptance

The plane's contact with the ground woke me from my semi-conscious state and I looked around anxiously, to see where I was. We had finally landed, and I felt life flow back into my limbs as I stretched in my seat. A gentle murmur rose as the plane slowed down, and the reassuring sound of the pilot echoed through the plane. â€Å"Ladies and gentlemen, we have now arrived in Delhi, the temperature is a pleasant forty three degrees with cloudless skies, and local time is four fifteen PM†. Stewardesses strutted up and down isles collecting litter, and passengers began to abscond from the plane. As I lifted myself to my feet, still in a half alert state from jetlag-induced fatigue, I stumbled into the sunshine outside. The blue sky dazzled my agitated eyes, and I grumbled to myself in irritation. The scorching hot sun was already upon me, burning my unconditioned skin in a similar way to a magnifying glass burning an ant. Hours followed as we collected bags; showed passports and performed countless other tasks that made me want to curl up on the floor and lapse into hibernation. Whether I was in Delhi or London, I was still exhausted and cantankerous. Finally we managed to obtain our car, and, as I had suspected, a long trip hundreds of miles upwards to Northern India followed. On our journey, my irritation began to crumble. The first village we stopped at, where I could appreciate the scenery, was near the Punjab, in a rural area. The village itself looked primitive and simplistic, with buildings partially finished, abandoned with no roofs or waterproofing, like an unwanted animal abandoned on the street. Poverty reigned rampant, and incoherent languages flood towards me. We drew nearer to the village market, passing by unsavoury looking beggars and lone children. An old man peered at me through a half developed cataract, before falling into a coughing fit. The world around me seemed dismal. In a split moment, my impression changed. Just as the flood washes dirt from its path, so my notions about India changed. We turned the corner into the market square, and were met with a blissful scene; a crowded square full of laughing, shouting and commotion; stall owners bellowing at the top of their voices to advertise their goods, and amidst the joyful chaos young children scuttled around like playful insects. A rich variety of vivid colours met my eye in the form of scarlet apples, striking yellow bananas and earthy brown yams. Countless fruits held my gaze, which I had never known before. The poor no longer seemed menacing; a half smile on their face was noticeable, as if they were simply satisfied by the atmosphere. Everyone around me seemed happy; and the first question that I asked myself was, why? Back in London for a moment, the answer arrived. A grey sky enveloped the city, and people trudged in their various directions, minding their own businesses and keeping themselves to themselves. After living in my home for ten years, there were still people on my street I didn't know. However, the main question I was posed, which was how could people with little money, health care, and a low standard of living be happier than those living in a modernised world with excessive amounts of money and a high standard of living? The sad answer was, that we appear to have forgotten how to obtain happiness. Epicurus, a Greek philosopher living around 300 BC, spent much of his life finding out what was required to obtain true happiness. A well-known phrase of his is: The human soul is as material and mortal as the human body. To live a good life, is to exercise prudence and to enjoy life through stimulating the senses, subjecting oneself to tranquillity and scientific study. † Later, however, he concluded that to obtain true happiness one must have a number of things. Friends, a frugal lifestyle, time and thought were all considered prerequisites for happiness. Visualising the crowded metropolis of London in my mind, trying to ignore the shouting of the stall keepers intent on making me buy their spinach, I felt that we had all these. What was it that these people had that we did not? This question remained on my mind throughout my trip in India; through the bustle of the city in Jalundar; the peaceful tranquillity in the village; the faint sounds of gunshots near Kashmir; even during the humorous incident of seeing a man squat in the middle of a field only feet away from a road. Sitting back at home in London listening to the gentle drumming of the rain, I contemplated why it was so hard for the Western man to gain happiness. Like the correct document finally being found in a stack of papers, I finally produced the answer. A Ch'an (Zen) Buddhist once said: â€Å"Humans are afflicted with all external forms of life: we are subject to life and death, pleasure and pain, love and fear, good and evil, beautiful and ugly. We tend to sway, or strive towards one side, and reject its opposite. There is no real escape of one or the other, yet we somehow believe that sooner or later, we will be able to conquer the other side if we stay focused long enough. † The reason the average man in the West could not find happiness lies in acceptance. Driven relentlessly by the Capitalist machine, we are constantly told we must improve, do better, get promoted, find a better job, or save for the latest electronic gadget. The real obstacle in the way of happiness was an excess of opportunity in the West, which in turn sows the seeds in men's mind that they can achieve better all the time, leaving only a handful of people who achieve their goal, and reject the rest of the spoiled harvest of the population who are scarred with depression and left with an 'empty feeling' in life: that they have achieved nothing. It could be said that pain is essential for pleasure, if pleasure is to be known as pleasure. If we did not know of evil in the world, then how would we be able to distinguish good? Denial of one of these extremes is similar to denying the existence of both. If we believe that evil cannot exist, or that we can block it from our lives, then good cannot exist, because then there is nothing to measure it against. However, if we accept that both good and evil exist in our lives, it can allow us to feel more at home in the world, perhaps obtaining happiness. Looking back to India as evidence for this, I remembered an encounter with a family of peasants. The husband of the family was a peasant, working for the richer men as a farmer, constantly toiling at the fields every day with no hope of extra pay or advancement in his job. The wife of the family took care of their four children, all destined for the same lifestyle, in what many would call an endless, and pointless cycle. However, far from pitying them, I envied them. They were contented with their lives; they earned enough money to live under a roof with adequate food and drink. The end result of this was that they were happy; they had no ambitions to gain wealth, and were satisfied with their lot. To be truly happy we must not linger in the past, or hypothesise about the future, but live life for the moment, and enjoy its small pleasures. By losing the foresight of the future, or hindsight in the past, we open up that world of acceptance. Some people will steal because they see that they have something more in their future. Some people will perform good deeds because they desire to feel better about themselves. In this society, we can never truly be completely happy. From our first few years of life we have ambitions: to decide what we will be when we grow up, and how we will choose to live our lives. Without these ambitions society would, unfortunately, not function correctly; no one would have any motivation to do well at their jobs and get promoted, as the idea of a Marxist/Communist society shows. It seems to me the human population has dug itself into a pit where the light of true happiness is growing more and more remote as we dig further and further down. There will always be, even in the mind of a Buddhist monk or Christian nun, a growing desire to gain something else, no matter what it may be. This, I conclude, makes it impossible for anyone in the modern 21st Century to gain the status of ‘Buddha', or ‘The Enlightened, or Blissful One'.

How does Steinbeck create tension in Section 5? Essay

Steinbeck creates tension in Section 5 through sound and emotion. While Lennie was in the barn minding his own business, panicking about killing the puppy, Curley’s wife entered. _†She came very quietly so that Lennie didn’t see her†_ this makes the reader feel worried as to why she came in so soundlessly, and question to if she is up to something. When Lennie and her get into a conversation, she begins to grow very angry at Lennie as he mentions that he isn’t allowed to talk to her because of orders he had been given, and when her emotion does suddenly turn to this, it makes you feel sorry for Lennie, and the tension builds as the reader doesn’t know how much she will lash out. It is very well described that whenever the clang of horseshoes from outside the barn from the other men playing a game, the entire barn goes silent. No matter what conversation Lennie and Curley’s wife are having, they instantly go quiet. This separates the reader and character from the barn to make them acknowledge the outside world. Curleys wife soon comes to know that Lennie likes feeling textures, and so tells him to stroke her hair for it is very soft†¦ This makes the reader worry as to previous knowledge of Lennie and the girl in weed. When Curleys wife starts to get angry as he is messing up her hair, he panics and holds on tighter. _†Lennie’s fingers closed on her hair and hung on†_ This makes the reader feel sorry for Curleys wife as most people know how painful it is when someone pulls on your hair, also the fact Lennie is very strong. _†She struggled violently under his hands† â€Å"Her body flopped like a fish. And then she was still, for Lennie has broken her neck†_ When the reader realises she is dead it causes them to worry for not only Curleys wife but for Lennie as he didn’t kill her intentionally and he could get into a lot of trouble for it. _†For the first time, Lennie became conscious of the outside†_ this shows how  terrified Lennie really is as he is always in his own little world and it is clearly shown throughout the book that he never takes notice of what others are doing and only what he wants to do†¦ When he remembers what George told him about hiding in the bush if he gets in trouble, it makes the reader hope he has a chance and that George will remember to go and find him there. The way Steinbeck uses description also causes a lot of tension for the reader. _†It was very quiet in the barn†_ as Curley’s wife is dead it blends in with the atmosphere of what has happened. When candy and George are talking in the barn and have realised what has happened, it is all very tense then as well as the reader is so desperate to know what is going to happen. â€Å"Outside the noise of the game stopped. There was a rise of voices in question, a drum of running fee and the men burst into the barn.† During the time of all the men being in the barn, George was quite quiet, he never usually is. Usually he is cursing and being moody, this shows the readers he is worried and not feeling his usual self. â€Å"I’m gonna shoot the guns outta that big bastard myself† Knowing that lots of men want to kill Lennie creates a lot of tension as the reader doesn’t know whether they will be able to or not†¦ In conclusion, Steinbeck uses emotions and sounds to create the tension made in Section 5.

HR manager

As the Assistant to the HR manager, I would make a mandatory requirement that all incoming employees must complete a new program that was created by me with in their first 90 days. This program would be designed to ensure that our new talent understands the importance of working together. My program would include these three key principles of working together. The first principle would be on how to effectively communicate as a team. It Is very Important when working together as a team that all vital information Is communicated amongst each other In a clear positive manner.The next principle I would focus on In my program would be having ur Incoming employees work on a group trust exercise. To ensure a high performance team when working together, the team members must be able to trust all the Individuals In the group. The last principle I would Implement Into my program as the assistant to the HR manager would be a diversity workshop. This workshop will prepare Incoming employees to e ngage creatively, and work out difficult situations with peers of many different backgrounds. ncoming employees will find out immediately that there is a major focus on team work throughout their training. In their first week I would have them focus on how to effectively ommunicate to their peers in the workforce. I would set them up in groups, and have them start with ice breakers, then move on to a small collaborative project. I hope that they learn that effective communication is very important, not only to share the proper amount of information, but by also knowing how to talk in a professional manner.You always want to avoid talking down, and barking orders to your co- workers when working together. Effective communication is not possible if you do not talk to your team members in professional manner. Once the new incoming employees have learned how to communicate effectively when working together, I ould then have them participate in trust building exercises. We all know that trust is the building blocks behind any good relationship, and I would want our new incoming employees to have a good working relationship, and to have trust amongst each other.Some of these trust building exercises would include group projects. These projects are to be designed to have each member of the group to complete a certain task. To accomplish the end result, the overall goal everyone will need to play apart. Groups that complete the project will see that their trust and teamwork lead them to their completion. The other groups that did not finish will also see how Important trust and teamwork is to their success. The last key principle I would Implement in my program for new Incoming employees Is a diversity workshop.Diversity In the workplace has many benefits to It! Some key points that I would want my Incoming employees to get from the workshop will be working together with other cultures to foster a more creative and Innovative workforce. Multicultural employees bring a variety of bring new Ideas, and suggestions to the table. Many Ideas that are refreshing, and sometimes very Innovating. I would want the Incoming employees hat are hired for leadership or managerial posltlons to really focus on diversity when Interviewing, and recruiting talent.Recrultlng from a diverse pool of candidates means a more qualified workforce. A diverse and inclusive workforce also helps Duslnesses av010 employee turnover costs I do believe that my program that will be rolling out to our incoming employees will not only be beneficial to their personal professional development, but also to our organizations. The three key principles listed in my program will have our staff prepared to work together as a highly motivated efficient team!

How is technology helping our understanding of future architectural Essay

How is technology helping our understanding of future architectural space throughout film representation and use of mixed realit - Essay Example Previously, architecture was restricted to the simple two dimensional representations of drawings. Through film media, it is possible to create realistic and fathomable representation of architectural visualizations. The architectural designs create new avenues of creative thinking by analyzing the potential of the film depictions and the possibility of implementing the ideas in the real world (Hiller, 1996). Representing the experience of space Architectural designs are invariably communicated through representation. The link between the architect’s ideas and their implementation is through the process of representation. Traditionally, the most pervasive mode of representation has been through drawing of sketches to showcase the features that the architect wishes to express. In the final stages of architectural design, representation is done by technical drawings. However, these traditional representation methods are limited since they cannot allow one to fully experience spa ce. Film has immense potential to add visual elements into architectural design. Through the use of film media, an architectural design can be experienced in an augmented reality (Aroztegui, 2010). It is possible to append the notion of motion into the representation of architectural design through film. ... Through the use of advanced computer graphics, architectural designs can be represented in films creatively to an extent that one feels to be transported to another space. By using a scripted narrative, film cultivates the concept of space in a compelling space. The interconnection of all senses during a film representation of architectural design makes experience of space to be near reality (Henzel & Menges, 2009). Also, space and body are closely related and they can be tied together through experience. Thus, film can bring futuristic architectural designs into perspective and help in the progress of architecture. Filming and architecture: Filming space and embodiment The core purpose of a film is to create compelling scenes that are as close to reality as possible to keep the audience captivated. The best films are those that immerse their audience in their narration and representation: so much that the audience feels to be actually transported to another place and time as depicte d in the film (Awan et al, 2009). For true appreciation, architecture has to be experienced in the perspective of reality so that the audience can relate to it. The eye is primarily the means by which people relate and experience space. Architectural designs in film are sculpted through a combination of visual and audio narration. The audience identifies with the film’s representation first through the gaze of the camera and seeing architectural objects from a vantage point. As the audience is captivated by this vision, they are bound to engage other senses into the narration. Evidently, the narration and representation in the film can trigger the imagination of the audience

Societal marketing concept Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Societal marketing concept - Essay Example This might also help in enhancement of the total sale and profitability of the organization in the entire market as compared to others. Hence, it might be depicted from the above mentioned points that customers act as the focal point of any organization operating in any segment. Thus, the motive of achieving organizational goals and profits might be attained mainly through customer satisfaction and loyalty as compared to other aspects. Characteristics of marketing concept According to Kotler & Armstrong (2010) the concept of marketing is changing rapidly in this age of globalization and industrialization. In this age, marketing concept is entirely dependent over customer values and satisfaction that might be witnessed in four different stages such as production concept, product concept, selling concept and societal marketing concept. Production concept According to the strategies of previous era, the demand of the product is entirely dependent over its features and price. This means that, if the underlining features of the product are praiseworthy or satisfactory then it would surely be liked by the customers of varied age groups and income groups. However, in today’s age, the concept of production has entirely changed. Now, the demand of any specific product might be retained in the market only by presenting the desired features within it. So that, the target customers of the product might get satisfied entirely thereby amplifying the efficiency and productivity of the organization to a certain extent (Kotler & Armstrong, 2010). Along with this, good customer service is also another important aspect that might act as a backbone in enhancing the reliability and loyalty of the product among other substitutes. For example: the management of Macdonald’s always tries to present varied types of nutrients such as cheese, chilies, nuts and many others so as to satisfy the changing demands of the customers. As well as the management also desires to presen t warm greetings to its customers so as to retain them for longer period of time. Only then, the popularity and demand of the products and the organization might remain dominant in the market among other and the rate of switch over costs of the customers towards other brands (Burger King) might be reduced significantly in this aggressive market among others. Thus it might be stated that relationship marketing and customer oriented products acts as the prime essence of today’s publicity concept. Product Concept In order to retain sustainability and competitive advantage, most of the organizations in this era desire to present value-added products at a lowest price. This strategy acts as a stimulating factor thereby enhancing the demand of the products of the organization such as HP as compared to others. Along with this, such a competitive strategy might also prove effective in satisfying the demands and needs of the customers thereby amplifying their level of loyalty (Tiddy & Bessant, 2010). Apart from this, the organization of HP also desires to implement the strategy of presenting qualitative products so as to retain its dominance and fame in the segment of electronics among many other existing rivals (Porter, 1986). Selling Concept In this age of stiff economy and tough competition, the insurance organizations such ICICI Prudential, Kotak Mahindra are striving hard to create a strong foothold in this market. However, this might be possible only by enhancing the rate of satisfaction

Factors That Lead To Smoking and Alcohol Consumption Essay

Factors That Lead To Smoking and Alcohol Consumption - Essay Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that many articles, books, and documentaries have been written about the advantages and disadvantages of drinking and smoking. The contradiction that exists between the pros and cons is what struck hard. While many concerned scholars have researched on the negative effects of drinking and smoking, a whole lot of others have come up with theories that try to explain the benefits of nicotine found in cigarettes and the positive effects of alcohol. It pains the author when he sees how cigarette manufacturing companies continue manufacturing the same, knowing pretty well of the effects. After thinking about these things, the researcher decided to research and writes nothing but the whole truth regarding alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking. The writing process was not easy. This is because there is a whole lot of literature written regarding these two topics. The author, therefore, had to go an extra mile to ensure that he does not repeat wh at is already known. This, therefore, called for him to do an extensive research, in order to identify what was not covered by those who went before the author. The researcher finds these two topics to be the most appropriate for his project because of how closely they relate to each other, in that before consuming alcohol or smoking cigarette, one is motivated or compelled by something or someone. Nicotine and alcohol are among the most highly abused substances in the contemporary society. The effects might not be instant, but they do take their toll on the consumer’s body ultimately. Alcohol is known by many as the sole cause of liver cirrhosis. On the other hand, lung cancer is directly an effect of excessive cigarette smoking. These are just but a few of the major negative effects.