My Blind Friend Taught Me to See Essay -- Friendship Essay

How My Blind Friend Taught Me to See "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."Â   Helen Keller Twelve years ago, at the birthday party of a friend, was the first time I met somebody my own age who had a disability. He was tall for his age, thin, and wore eyeglasses, just like I did. It was this commonality that initially attracted me to him, since I didn't know very many kindergartners who wore glasses. I had begun wearing glasses to correct a case of strabismus at age two, and was able to see perfectly when I put them on. However, I was not aware of the fact that his glasses did very little to sharpen his vision, and that he was legally blind. On the last day of second grade, at the unofficial annual picnic at Westland Hills Park, we became good friends. As we moved from the swings to the jungle gym to the sprinklers, I realized how much we truly had in common. We enjoyed the same things: Legos, swimming and being Cub Scouts. Throughout third grade, we spent nearly every weekend together. During this time, though I had been informed of his disability, I never made...

Cash Connection Essay

Allen Franks, President of Cash Connections, a short-term cash lending firm realized that the most profitable endeavor in the check-cashing store industry is to set up stores in towns where no check-cash stores exist. Setting up Cash Connections in these places, his business became one of the leading companies in his industry by the mid to late 1990’s. The payday industry grew from larger financial institutions leaving the market, huge overdraft and late fee costs, and increased regulation of the firms allowing higher consumer trust. In an industry that reaches to 10% of all U. S. households, advanced about $40 billion in short-term credit a year, and contributed $2. 9 billion in direct labor income, Cash Connection utilized Sun Tzu’s principle of attacking where unprepared to beat his competitors. Charging these enormous fees and costing only around $130,000 to start-up, the industry entails a lucrative structure. The Complication: There has been some concern for how high the fees are and how the model could take advantage of those caught in a troubling financial situation. Payday loans averaged around $300, and charged fees between around $15 to $20 per $100 loaned, resulting in an annual percentage rate of 520% (Gamble 2011). The media has decried this credit system as a predatory industry thrusting people into debt, which it no doubt absolutely has in some cases. The demographic of payday customers were middle income, earning mostly between $25,000 to $50,000 a year. They were usually of average education, made up of young families, and were a part of the somewhat normal working class. Many companies including Cash Connection had requirements such as holding a job and having a bank account in order to do business with the company. As media and public outcry have risen, lawmakers have begun to react and regulate the industry. The more it does so, the more people use it. On the state level, some completely outlaw it, as 13 currently have (Teegardin 2007). Some states limit the amount of rollovers the vendor is allowed to require, and all supervise with regulatory regimes.

Personal and Team Effectiveness

Personal and Team Effectiveness Introduction: In every organization particularly in the Health and Social Care Industry which involves individual employees and the entire workforce to where they are the company’s backbone of its existence it all rely on the importance of personal and team effectiveness to achieve the organization’s mission statement and service to their customers. In the influence of the management and organisational factors on the effectiveness of the people involved in the care particularly through developing their ability to work effectively in teams and developing their knowledge and skills so that they can contribute to the delivery of a quality service. All organizations require their people, at times, to work in groups. The most successful organizations find ways to realize the full potential and capability of groups. They understand the important contribution that groups can make effective groups usually outperform individuals. Organizations are comfortable establishing, empowering and promoting the participation of people in groups, value change and adaptation as key to improving productivity, quality and customer service and are constantly looking for creative ways to use groups to drive performance improvements. In looking at strategies for personal and professional development which refine behaviours, improve capability and give individuals the confidence and competence to excel not only for themselves but as part of the entire Health Care team as shown in high-performing organizations, the most successful groups function as â€Å"teams†. Teams flourish in organizations which create a climate where people want to work together giving their best efforts. Definition: Personal effectiveness is a branch of the self help movement dealing with success, goals, and related concepts. Personal effectiveness integrates some ideas from â€Å"the power of positive thinking† and Positive Psychology but in general it is distinct from the New Thought Movement. Team effectiveness refers to the system of getting people in a company or institution to work together effectively. The idea behind team effectiveness is that a group of people working together can achieve much more than if the individuals of the team were working on their own. Content: According to Carl Jung’s premise that all change and development starts from within and its principle underpins to the approach and it all start with personal effectiveness. The middle and senior managers in Health and Social Care should develop their skills and competencies in leading and managing the team. It is where the management of each organization would find how to enlighten and have each of them to explore and examining the facets that each of the employees are unique and valuable individual in the organization for the better good of the entire workforce. By exploring the preferences of others to understand why they behave as they do particularly and inspire those that are into the team and show them how to adapt and collaborate for improved interactions. The team leader and managers should see through it that the individuals and the entire team should focus on the implications and evaluating the by using management for the people for improving the organizational performance. In every individual, each has their own personality, style and personal interactions for effectively doing the job. By achieving this personal development and individual effectiveness comes with training, career development, staff development plans and the management will implement the development programs by in-house training, using supervision and appraisal, external courses, action-centred learning, lifelong learning, coaching and mentoring, assessing competence. The monitoring performance of individuals through observation, appraisal, periodic review, and achievement of successful outcomes as well as the use of targets, benchmarks, feedback from others is one key factor in measuring personal effectiveness. By Identifying individual training and evelopment needs: monitoring of performance, career development planning, changing personal circumstances. Strategies for promoting continuous development: achieving competence, training versus education, partnerships, staff development plans, compliance with external requirements, dedicated allocation of resources, use of external kite marks for exampl e Investors in People. In assessing the individual effectiveness is by describing different ways in which the performance of individuals working in health and social care may be monitored and by describing how individual training and development needs may be identified. Analyse different strategies for promoting the continuing development of individuals in the health and social care workplace. The effective staff development programme may be implemented and evaluate the effectiveness of a specific staff development programme with which the management is familiar. Team effectiveness is determined by several factors: †¢ The right mix of skills. Team effectiveness depends in part on bringing together people who have different skills that somehow complement each other. This can mean different technical abilities or communication skills. In fact, teaming up people who share the exact same characteristics is often a recipe for disaster. Team effectiveness depends on people taking on different roles in a group setting. If there is no agreement on who does what in the group, it is unlikely that the team will prosper. †¢ The right motivation. Team effectiveness is directly linked to the interest that the group has on the project. If the job is too easy or too difficult, or if the rewards for achieving the end result do not seem worth the effort, the team may end up working half-heartedly in the project. The task should also have a clear outcome. Working towards a specific goal enhances team effectiveness significantly. †¢ The ability to solve conflicts without compromising the quality of the project. Team work has one major downfall. Sometimes groups end up making decisions they know are not in the best interest of the project, just so they can keep the process moving. Conflict is innate to any work done in groups, and should be taken as part of the challenge rather than as something to be avoided by compromising. Team effectiveness should be increased, not compromised, through conflict. The model of team development as developed by Bruce Tuckman that teams evolve through four main stages. †¢ Forming is when the members are first brought together. It is a period of exploration, testing and orientation. †¢ Storming is a difficult but inevitable stage, where members may compete and conflict. †¢ Norming is the stage where the team starts to pull together, and noticeable progress begins to be made. †¢ Performing is characterized by a high level of task focus, and the team producing consistent and excellent results. Discussion: It is important as well for a team leader to create a climate in which people can develop and contribute to their full potential. The climate must be one of cooperation, commitment, and team focus. A good leader must also be a good coach. Different members are used as resource leaders because of their knowledge or experience. The focus is on how to get the job done, not on who controls the team. Team members are empowered to do the job they must do. Everyone is involved in the functioning of the team. In light of the discussion, the following points summarize the conditions required to create an effective team environment, each of these factors is important, and they are also highly interdependent. All of these factors are critical to achieving an effective and high performing team. Leaders can help create these conditions through the following behaviours. 1. Trust, Respect and Support †¢ Encourage and protect team member diversity in views, backgrounds, and experiences. †¢ Inspire teamwork and mutual support through example. Keep your commitments and expect the same from all team members. 2. Commitment to the Team †¢ Support and positively represent the team to senior management, peers and other employees. †¢ Ensure that individual member and team accomplishments are recognized and celebrated appropriately 3. Shared Vision †¢ Clarify the tasks to be accomplished. †¢ Establish and communicate a vision about what the members can achieve as a team. â₠¬ ¢ Encourage team members to participate in creating their vision of what the team can accomplish. 4. Open and Honest Communications Communicate fully and openly; welcome questions; avoid the â€Å"need to know† limitations. †¢ When seeking solutions, encourage members to suspend assumptions, reflect on their own thoughts and feelings, clearly voice these, inquire about and listen to opinions of others, and be less reactive. 5. Empowerment and Involvement of all Members †¢ Encourage members to participate. †¢ Make it easy for others to see opportunities to work together. †¢ Clarify that problem-solving is a responsibility of all team members. †¢ Mediate conflicts before they become destructive. 6. A Learning Environment †¢ Guide team members to determine where they actually are relative to their goals, and to clarify why the gaps exist and how to bridge them. †¢ Surface and treat conflicts as learning situations. Peter Senge, in his book â€Å"The Fifth Discipline† says, â€Å"One of the most reliable indicators of a team that is continually learning is the visible conflict of ideas. In great teams, conflict becomes productive. Conclusion: In every Health and Social Care organization they must be People Investors to which people or the staffs are a company’s most valuable resource. Human beings have unlimited potential to grow, develop and learn and in that sense constant training and improvement of personal and team development is needed for the organization to be successful and create a greater impact to the service user and the people involved in the care and service. The leader’s role is to help each team member achieve his or her potential and they act as coach which provide more structure, guidance and direction as well as to clarify tasks, goals, management’s expectations, and the way their performance and contributions will be measured. Teams need to be constantly developed for creating an effective approach on how things should be done for the better service to the clients. Members of the team generally have a broader range and depth of skills and experiences. With encouragement and support from the leader and other team members, individual members can enhance their technical, functional, problem-solving, decision-making, interpersonal and teamwork skills by taking some risks and facing some new challenges. Everyone is capable of making decisions that affect them, provided they are given the appropriate information and training. People do not resist changes they have been involved in making for the benefit of the entire team and the effectively managing the entire conflict which will be turned in to an advantage in solving the problem. Gaining true employee involvement is an ongoing process, not a one-time effort it always develop each personal and team effectiveness, If a change is affecting the team, the leader must be a role model of the â€Å"new† way. The leader must be able to â€Å"let go† in order to empower people. The leader must train and coach people first so they will be ready and able to succeed. The leader realizes mistakes are unavoidable, and helps people learn from them. A key factor which differentiates teams from work groups involves the interdependence of people. As Stephen Covey points out in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, â€Å"Interdependence opens up worlds of possibilities for deep, rich, meaningful associations, for geometrically increased productivity, for serving, for contributing, for learning, for growing. Reference: Tuckman, Bruce W. â€Å"Developmental Sequence In Small Groups†. Psychological Bulletin 63, 1965, pp. 382-399 http://gtwebmarque. com/wikis/gtwm/index. php/The_Fifth_Discipline http://www. skillsforcare. org. uk/workforce_strategy/workforce_strategy. aspx http://www. insights. com/LearningSolutions/Expertise/IndividualEffectiveness. aspx http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Team_building http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Personal_effectiveness http:// www. wisegeek. com/what-is-team-effectiveness. htm

Free Essays on Toni Morissons The Bluest Eye

Toni Morisson's novel The Bluest Eye is about the life of the Breedlove family who reside in Lorain, Ohio, in the late 1930s (where Morrison herself was born). This family consists of the mother Pauline, the father Cholly, the son Sammy, and the daughter Pecola. The novel's focal point is the daughter, an eleven-year-old Black girl who is trying to conquer a bout with self-hatred. Everyday she encounters racism, not just from the White people, but mostly from her own race. In their eyes she is much too dark, and the darkness of her skin somehow manifests that she is inferior, and according to everyone else, her skin makes her even "uglier." She feel she can overcome this battle of self-hatred by obtaining blue eyes, but not just any blue. She wants the bluest of the blue, the bluest eye. Pecola Breedlove is an innocent little girl who, like very other young child, did not ask to be born in this cruel world. It is bad enough that practically the whole world rejects her, but her own parents are guilty of rejection as well. Her own father, who is constantly drunk, sexually molests his daughter more than once. The first time he has sexual intercourse with his daughter, he leaves her slightly unconscious, and lying on the kitchen floor with a guilt covering her frail, limp, preteen body. The next time he performs the same act, but this time he impregnates her. Of course, the baby is miscarried. This is obviously not a love a father should be sharing with a daughter. This act displays hatred in the worst way. Her mother's rejection is subtle yet potent. When Pecola tells her mother about the molestation, Mrs. Breedlove does not believe her own flesh and blood. Pecola calls Pauline Mrs. Breedlove instead of calling her mother. Allowing this, Mrs. Breedlove shows that unconsciously she does not acknowledge Pecola as her daughter, and Pecola does not avow Pauline as her mother. Distance is quite evident in this so-called mother-daughter re... Free Essays on Toni Morisson's The Bluest Eye Free Essays on Toni Morisson's The Bluest Eye Toni Morisson's novel The Bluest Eye is about the life of the Breedlove family who reside in Lorain, Ohio, in the late 1930s (where Morrison herself was born). This family consists of the mother Pauline, the father Cholly, the son Sammy, and the daughter Pecola. The novel's focal point is the daughter, an eleven-year-old Black girl who is trying to conquer a bout with self-hatred. Everyday she encounters racism, not just from the White people, but mostly from her own race. In their eyes she is much too dark, and the darkness of her skin somehow manifests that she is inferior, and according to everyone else, her skin makes her even "uglier." She feel she can overcome this battle of self-hatred by obtaining blue eyes, but not just any blue. She wants the bluest of the blue, the bluest eye. Pecola Breedlove is an innocent little girl who, like very other young child, did not ask to be born in this cruel world. It is bad enough that practically the whole world rejects her, but her own parents are guilty of rejection as well. Her own father, who is constantly drunk, sexually molests his daughter more than once. The first time he has sexual intercourse with his daughter, he leaves her slightly unconscious, and lying on the kitchen floor with a guilt covering her frail, limp, preteen body. The next time he performs the same act, but this time he impregnates her. Of course, the baby is miscarried. This is obviously not a love a father should be sharing with a daughter. This act displays hatred in the worst way. Her mother's rejection is subtle yet potent. When Pecola tells her mother about the molestation, Mrs. Breedlove does not believe her own flesh and blood. Pecola calls Pauline Mrs. Breedlove instead of calling her mother. Allowing this, Mrs. Breedlove shows that unconsciously she does not acknowledge Pecola as her daughter, and Pecola does not avow Pauline as her mother. Distance is quite evident in this so-called mother-daughter re...

Constatin Sergeyevich Stanislavski essays

Constatin Sergeyevich Stanislavski essays I. Constatin Sergeyevich Stanislavski: Who was he? Born in 1863 in Moscow, Russia, Constatin Sergeyevich Stanislavski is known for pioneering many of the acting concepts and methods that are used in todays world of acting. It is said that Stanislavski had the greatest effect on acting more so than anyone else in the 20th Century. From his ripe teenage years, Stanislavski was involved in theatrical productions in hopes of attaining his status as a respected actor in the performance community. Over a time span of 40 years he was involved in many facets of the performing arts which ranged from producing and directing plays to analyzing and understanding the meaning of acting. Stanislavski earned international recognition during his lifetime for all of his contributions to the acting genre. However, in the United States and beyond, his legacy lives on today and is demonstrated by some of the greatest performers of the 21st Century who follow his guidelines and concepts. There are a plethora of books and research relating to Stanislavski and his acting method, many of which he wrote during his lifetime. Many today follow his acting methods and comb through his concepts with a fine toothcomb in order to try to fully understand his viewpoints. Complex and intricate as some of his ideas may have been, they have proven time after time to mesh extraordinarily well in relationship to acting. It is especially important to recognize that Stanislavski focused a great deal on the psychological aspects of acting and not just the physical state of acting. Naturalism was of specific importance to Stanislavski and that is the main focus of this paper. There is such a multitude of areas that Stanislavski has written about, it is necessary to zoom in and focus on one specific angle in his areas of research in order to begin to understand what this man was about. I have felt there was nothing for me to do excep...

Allusion Report the Burning Bush

He found it to be an ordinary desert bush, but the fire was far from ordinary. The fire consuming the bush was God presenting himself to Moses. When God spoke to Moses, he told him to unite his brothers (Israelites) and leave the land of oppression, Egypt. The allusion of the Burning Bush has been used in the novel, The Grapes of Wrath, three different times. â€Å"One cat’ takes and shoves ten families out. Cat’s all over hell now. Tear in and shove the croppers out. † (Chapter 2, page 13) Here, the truck driver is telling Tom how tractors are driving people out of the land. This alludes to the Burning Bush as being the harassment which families are fleeing from. Reverend Jim Casy- was a Burning Busher. † (Chapter 4, page 27) Casy is referred to as the burning busher because he motivates and inspires others around him. â€Å"We’d keep together on the road an’ it’d be good for ever’body. † (Chapter 13, page 202) In the Book of Exodus, God tells Moses to unite with his brother so that they will have a change of survival. Here, Tom is telling others that neither fam ily would survive if they traveled alone, but if they travel together they will have a greater chance at surviving. The Burning Bush represents numerous symbols to Jews and Christians, such as God’s energy, sacred light, illumination, as well as the burning heart of purity, love and clarity. It is argued by many skeptical scholars that Moses was under the influence of a hallucinogenic when he says to have encountered the Burning Bush. Many entheogens have been found in south Israel and were used regularly for religious purposes by the Israelites. Works Cited â€Å"Burning Bush – New World Encyclopedia. † Info:Main Page – New World Encyclopedia. Web. 03 Oct. 2011. http://www. newworldencyclopedia. org/entry/Burning_Bush. Ben, Jesse, and Phil. â€Å"The Burning Bush. † Allusions of Exodus in Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath. Web. 10 Oct. 2011. ;http://reufus59. tripod. com/id5. html;. Deffinbaugh, Bob. â€Å"The Burning Bush (Exodus 3:1-15) | Bible. org – Worlds Largest Bible Study Site. † Free NET Bible and Thousands of Bible Studies | Bible. org – Worlds Largest Bible Study Site. Web. 03 Oct. 2011. ;http://bible. org/seriespage/burning-bush-exodus-31-15;. Allusion Report the Burning Bush He found it to be an ordinary desert bush, but the fire was far from ordinary. The fire consuming the bush was God presenting himself to Moses. When God spoke to Moses, he told him to unite his brothers (Israelites) and leave the land of oppression, Egypt. The allusion of the Burning Bush has been used in the novel, The Grapes of Wrath, three different times. â€Å"One cat’ takes and shoves ten families out. Cat’s all over hell now. Tear in and shove the croppers out. † (Chapter 2, page 13) Here, the truck driver is telling Tom how tractors are driving people out of the land. This alludes to the Burning Bush as being the harassment which families are fleeing from. Reverend Jim Casy- was a Burning Busher. † (Chapter 4, page 27) Casy is referred to as the burning busher because he motivates and inspires others around him. â€Å"We’d keep together on the road an’ it’d be good for ever’body. † (Chapter 13, page 202) In the Book of Exodus, God tells Moses to unite with his brother so that they will have a change of survival. Here, Tom is telling others that neither fam ily would survive if they traveled alone, but if they travel together they will have a greater chance at surviving. The Burning Bush represents numerous symbols to Jews and Christians, such as God’s energy, sacred light, illumination, as well as the burning heart of purity, love and clarity. It is argued by many skeptical scholars that Moses was under the influence of a hallucinogenic when he says to have encountered the Burning Bush. Many entheogens have been found in south Israel and were used regularly for religious purposes by the Israelites. Works Cited â€Å"Burning Bush – New World Encyclopedia. † Info:Main Page – New World Encyclopedia. Web. 03 Oct. 2011. http://www. newworldencyclopedia. org/entry/Burning_Bush. Ben, Jesse, and Phil. â€Å"The Burning Bush. † Allusions of Exodus in Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath. Web. 10 Oct. 2011. ;http://reufus59. tripod. com/id5. html;. Deffinbaugh, Bob. â€Å"The Burning Bush (Exodus 3:1-15) | Bible. org – Worlds Largest Bible Study Site. † Free NET Bible and Thousands of Bible Studies | Bible. org – Worlds Largest Bible Study Site. Web. 03 Oct. 2011. ;http://bible. org/seriespage/burning-bush-exodus-31-15;.

Denver art museum Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Denver art museum - Essay Example Al Seckel makes clear that â€Å"Sixteen Century Italian artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo is without doubt one of the most bizarre and distinctive painters in the history of Western Art† (19). One can easily identify that the work is closely related to the seasons and different stages in human life. For instance, the fruits made use in this work are not raw, but ripe. This proves that the man in this art work is in his prime of his youth. One can see that a cucumber is used to denote/portray the nose of the person in the artwork. The dark background of the artwork provides uniqueness to the foreground, i.e. the images of fruits and vegetables which are combined to form the face of a man. Most of the vegetables and fruits that can be seen in the artwork are portrayed in red, grey, brown or different textures of the foretold colors. I like this image because it is entirely different from traditional artworks. II. Two Figures by the Sea, Winslow Homer The art work Two Figures by the Se a (see appendix-2) by Winslow Homer represents the village life in England, especially in the coastal areas of North Sea. In the artwork, one can see two women looking at the horizon with hope. The grayish black rocks that can be seen in the sea are symbolic of harshness of nature. The important colors made use by the artist are shades of black and pink.