Wednesday, November 27, 2019

The Relationship Between Good and Evil in Beowulf free essay sample

Who Is The Hero? Throughout Beowulf I have been intrigued by the theme of good and evil and their relationship. Primarily how there are a number of different ways to think of the relationship between the two. I think that in Beowulf there are many interesting ways that evil and good are portrayed. For the most part Beowulf represents good/ heroes and then there are three main representations of evil that Beowulf faces. One thing I realized about the relationship between the two is that you could not have one without the other. For example, the reason that Beowulf becomes so well known and famous is because he defeats an evil demon (Grendel). A hero is someone who possesses a vast amount of courage and someone who is known for overcoming a certain obstacle(s). An evil figure is often the obstacle that the hero must over come; it is someone or something that is often thought of as immortal and feared by the public. We will write a custom essay sample on The Relationship Between Good and Evil in Beowulf or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Without Grendel or any short of evil figure, Beowulf would not have made a name for himself. When it comes down to it; evil is what makes someone a hero. In this story, the idea of evil is presented through the three monsters and the action of killing, the idea of good is represented threw Beowulf and comitatus. Universally, pretty much all folk tales, stories, and epics that involve good and evil are about the two battling it out. It is a way of enhancing the story, no one wants to hear a story about a hero achieving a goal easily, the idea of a challenge and struggle is what really interests people. In Beowulf it is more that Beowulf is defending the people from the evil. It is not a pleasant scene when Grendel comes storming into the mead hall; he starts attacking everyone and everything, killing many in the process. Beowulf makes a boast that he will defeat Grendel in battle, but it also seems he just defends the peace of the community at hand, â€Å"So times were pleasant for the people there until finally one, a fiend out of hell, began to work his evil in the world. Grendel was the name of this grim demon. † (99-103) An interesting question to ask is how do you know who is the hero and who is the evil figure? In real life there is no one side to anything. Some people may consider a person a hero and some people may consider that same person the evil figure. It is all about putting it in too perspective, and who the â€Å"hero† is benefitting. For example, Beowulf is a hero to the Danes because he defeats Grendel and that bennifits them because it means they are safe for the mean time and will not be disturbed by Grendel again. Later though in the epic, Grendel’s mother battles Beowulf, and for what reason? She was avenging her son. Avenger a lost love one, seems like something a hero might do. So you cannot say that Grendels mother’s reasoning was very unreasonable, because in the end she was just honoring her son, in that sense Beowulf could even be considered the evil figure, its just all about perspective. Really though Beowulf it would be hard to imagine Grendel, Grendel’s mother, or the dragon as anything else except evil and monstrous, but too some in the story these characters may not be considered evil, so too sum it up, at first it may seem very straight forward too who the â€Å"good guy† is and who the â€Å"bad guy† is, but in the end the line between good and evil can often get blurred. Without a hero you could not have evil, with out evil you could not have a hero. Although we look at good and evil as opposites they need each other to define one another. A hero needs to conquer some sort of evil to earn the title of a true â€Å"hero† and Beowulf is a perfect example. Once he defeats Grendel the Danes adore him, he achieves a task that appeared near impossible. When he does end up finally defeating Grendel he earns the title of a true hero. Beowulf and Grendel are similar in the sense that they share a very similar level of physical strength and this is true with all the monsters Beowulf faces. All of the monsters are very evil and immortal, with Beowulf, since he has such grand power he is also thought to be a little bit immortal in some senses, â€Å"The monster wrenched and wrestled with him but Beowulf was mindful of his mighty strength, the wondrous gifts God had showered on him: He relied for help on the Lord of All, on His care and favour. So he overcame the foe, brought down the hell-brute. † (1269-1274) So another characteristic that Beowulf and these monsters share are that they are all not normal human beings, they all share some sort of paranormal power and strength, which could either be very good or very bad depending on how one utilizes them. I find the idea that Beowulf and the monsters have similar traits and characteristics very interesting, because their power is what makes them similar but what separates them is how and what they actually use that power for. Like Uncle Ben once said in Spiderman â€Å"With great power, comes great responsibility. † When it comes down too it, it is about who has more moral strength, between the hero and the evil figure who is going to use their power for â€Å"the right thing†. Beowulf lives a life of greatness and glory, he gets known as a hero and he dies a hero. When he fights the dragon, it seems that that is the way he would want to die, defending the community. Too be a hero you must take risks, risks that may be considered by the average person too dangerous to even consider taking. Although, these risks are not always about fighting a monster. Heroes do not always come in such an obvious form; some one does not have to have godly strength or any kind of super power to be a hero, most heroes are the every day people. A hero does not have too kill a demon beast or save millions, a hero is just someone who is willing to make a difference, no matter how big or how small.

Saturday, November 23, 2019

A Case Analysis for Occupy Wall Street Movement

A Case Analysis for Occupy Wall Street Movement Introduction The theory of ‘in place’ and ‘out of place’ tends to stratify the society on the basis of the correct placement of each social stratum. These strata could rely on economic affluence, ideologies, gender, race or religion. This phenomenon is an interesting focal point, when examining the instances when geography intersects with social ideologies of a particular setting (Cresswell, 1996).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on A Case Analysis for Occupy Wall Street Movement specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Therefore, the societal expectations make individuals behave in a certain manner when he/she occurs in a particular setting, and any consequence that may accompany their defiance is blamed more on the correctness of the place rather than on the explicit nature of the occurrence (Hubbard, Kitchin, Valentine, 2010). This research proposal is designed to look at a situation in the social setting that depicts the society’s correctness in relation to place and how this correctness or incorrectness affects them or the surrounding society in that particular place both explicitly and implicitly. The real time study of Occupy Wall Street Movement was chosen as a phenomenon worth analyzing. It is important to note that the movement can be regarded as an illustration of the power of specific space over specific groups of people. The instance of St. Paul’s Cathedral (London) verifies the assumption that place (or space) can play a very important role in the development of societies. For instance, London protestors decided to express their ideas in immediate proximity to London Stock Exchange (â€Å"St Paul’s Protest†, 2011). Therefore, people’s choice was rather predictable, as they wanted to be heard by their opponents, â€Å"financial sharks†. It is also important to note that they people could not simply occupy areas near the Exch ange as the areas were privately owned. Therefore, protestors had an opportunity to find an ideal public place to express their concerns. Remarkably, the protestors were heard as authorities tried to come to certain agreement. More so, dean of the cathedral had to resign which can be regarded as a manifestation of power of such social movements (Walker, 2011). Admittedly, the fact that the protestors were heard is due to the place they occupied. In that case space (or rather specific place) influenced choices different groups of people made. Purpose of the research The purpose of this research paper is to critically examine the situation upon which the aspects of social expectations with regard to the society’s way of life are related to space. It will cast light on different facets of place away from just the spatial implications. Various instances in which an individual taking a particular social place is expected to behave in a certain way will be analyzed looking at the r eal life occurrences that made the phenomenon explicitly reveal itself in a social setting in a real time.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In attempt to bring out the situation in a more realistic manner and in a way that people can relate with, this research paper focuses on the Occupy Wall Street Movement, a kind of uprising that began in September 2011. Inspired by the uprisings in the Arab world that have been associated with ushering in revolutionary changes in favor of the oppressed majority (Gelder, 2011), the movement was on the forefront in demand for a fair share of equality in economic, social and political arenas. Hence, the argument will be based on whether there is a relationship between the ways in which the protesting behave in airing their demands and places where they gather with reference to the social structure. It is important to note that the present movement provides important insights into the assumption that privatization of public places minimizes people’s control over the development of the societies (Mitchell, 1995). The idea of the movement is that a small group of people accumulates all resources depriving the majority of the citizens from those resources. Ironically, the movement was an illustration of the basic idea. People occupied public places and tried to make their ideas heard. Importantly, authorities tried to make the protestors go even from the public areas (Burns, 2011). Therefore, Mitchell’s concerns about minimization of public control can be rather relevant. Apart from this, the protests in London show that the place does shape people’s behavior. Thus, being in immediate proximity to the cathedral made people more preserved and tolerant. In fact, both sides had to consider their actions thoroughly because of the place chosen by the protestors. Hence, the argument will be based o n whether there is a relationship between the ways in which the protesting behave in airing their demands and places where they gather with reference to the social structure. Background Information Occupy Wall Street abbreviated as OWS is a movement that began in Zuccoti Park in New York on September 17th 2011 after being contrived by Adbuster, an activists group based in Canada. The aim of the protest was to disapprove the prevalence economic disparity among the Americans which led to the emergence of social alienation among the middle class and the poor by the few economically affluent people who were perceived to be in control of the Wall Street Business District. In addition, they strongly opposed the participation of the corporate and financial institutions in the political arena, among other basic social wrongs, such as a high rate of unemployment and corruption that have been associated with difficulties of survival among the majority (Apps, 2011).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on A Case Analysis for Occupy Wall Street Movement specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More According to Apps (2011), the strikers considered themselves as the representatives of the majority that were unemployed, homeless and did not enjoy medical and social benefits, while the political elite and their corporate cronies seemed to benefit from the system. Lower Manhattan has not been spared from the rampant riots and uprisings due to its connection with financial system and the economy (History.com Staff). The overall intent of Occupy Wall Street was connected with those receiving end crossing and wanting to cross barriers, occupy places meant for public use or even to air their dissatisfaction. This approach could be accompanied by possible violence and severe ramifications. The use of social media was seen as a breakthrough on gathering the crowd and circumventing the administration as well spreading their blueprint. L iterature Review Ideological values are a product of social expectations with regard to the conduct in a particular spatial setting (Therborn, 1980). Scholars, such as Goren Therborn (1980), have argued that an ideology could only be considered to be good or bad with regard to the place in which it was taking place rather than time. Hence, it becomes justifiable for someone to judge on the validity of an action basing his argument on the spatial setting upon which the action is taking place. While it is usually unnoticeable when individuals behave normally being â€Å"in place†, it becomes obvious when a person acts â€Å"out of place† because it does not correspond to the expectations of the surrounding society, which may expose the actor to prejudice. Kitchin (1999) also argues that people often see if some individuals or groups do not fit the space occupied. Though the researcher focuses on specific characteristics, the assumption can be applied to various groups ch aracterized by different features. Thus, socio-economic features make people find themselves in different camps. The researcher also dwells upon some issues concerning social justice (Kitchin, 1999). Studies have shown that social injustices are characterized by distinct spatial settings which are exhibited through the control and domination of space by one group of people. When the word injustice is used, unfair treatment comes in mind and is more inclined to the issue of social morality (Smith, 1994).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This implies that people who are oppressed by an economic or political system are more likely to be found in a certain locality away from their oppressors. In order for them to have their outcry given attention, they tend to move to the localities in which they believe they will catch the attention of the oppressors. Such was the case of Occupy Wall Street Movement. Problem statement The problem statement for the research paper is to critically analyze the Occupy Wall Street Movement and determine whether there is(are) any instance(s) the behavior and actions of the protestors intersect with place. The research will examine the interaction between the actions of the protestors and the place in which they decided to camp; whether they were in place to do so or they were out of place. Significance of the problem Zuccoti Park is a privately owned park that is accessible to the public. It was designed for recreational purpose, but on September 17th, 2011, people with absolutely differen t agenda started trickling in the park to protest against the Wall Street system. Thus, these people did not behave with respect to the expectations of the general public and the owners, too. Hence, they were viewed to have taken their motives out of place. The NYPD was not in the capacity to install a curfew in the park to avert the strikers from being there though it seemed to be an appropriate intervention. If the park was not privately owned, the police could have used every means at their disposal to avert the entry into the park. This is because the strikers were not intending to use it in the way prescribed by the common law. If the protesters had decided to air their protests at their homes, possibly, nobody could have noticed it. In addition, there were reported cases of theft of mobile phones and laptops among the protesters who claimed to receive police protection. In some instances, cases of sexual harassment started leaking into the press that led to setting up of tents exclusively meant for female protesters. Some cases of violence went unreported with the police blaming the strikers of infusing â€Å"three strikes policy† which discouraged the victims from reporting any physical violence inflicted upon them until the offender performed the same violence in three different occasions. The protesters claimed the police tell them to deal with their own tribulations or go back to their homes. Thus, this case presents a credible illustration of people acting out of place which draws attention from various actions. These people were denied some basic rights by the police on the claims that they were not supposed to use the park for that purpose. Various evils were inflicted upon them, which looked justifiable in the eyes of the offenders; after all they were not supposed to have camped there. Thus, it is important to take a closer look at the movement in the context of space. It is important to reveal the correlation between the exact place and people’s actions. Crang and Thrift (2000) point out that space cannot be separated from social context and vice versa. Therefore, the movement can be analyzed in terms of socio-spatial context. It can be important to understand the choices people made, and how the places chosen affected the way people acted. Apart from this, it is essential to analyze the outcomes of the protests. It is important to understand whether the place chosen helped protestors to achieve their aims or not. It is also necessary to trace the development of the protestors’ ideas and the development of the movement itself. This analysis can help to more deeply understand the role of place in the development of societies. The precise movement can provide insights into socio-spatial processes that take place in the societies. References Apps, P. (2011, October 11). Wall Street action part of global Arab Spring? Reuters. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-global-politics-protest/wall-s treet-action-part-of-global-arab-spring-idUSLNE79A03Z20111011 Burns, J.F. (2011, October 30). ‘Occupy’ protest at St. Paul’s cathedral in London divides church. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/31/world/europe/occupy-protest-at-st-pauls-cathedral-splits-anglican-church.html?pagewanted=allmtrref=undefinedgwh=647817B4F967C6A37944AB9071E5C5FEgwt=pay Cresswell, T. (1996). In Place/Out of Place: Geography, Ideology, and Transgression. Minneapolis, MN, USA: University of Minnesota Press. Gelder, S.V. (2011). How occupy Wall Street changes everything. In S.V. Gelder Staff of Yes! Magazine (Eds.), This changes everything: occupy wall street and 99% movement (pp. 1-13). New York, NY: Beret-Koehler Publishers. Crang, M. Thrift, N.J. (2000). Thinking Space. New York, NY: Routledge. History.com Staff. (2011). Wall Street: 300 Years of Protests. Web. Hubbard, P., Kitchin, R. Valentine G. (Eds.) (2010). Key Thinkers on Space and Place (2nd e dn.). London: Sage. Kitchin, R. (1999). Creating and awareness of others: Highlighting the role of space and place. Geography, 84(1), 45-54. Mitchell, D. (1995). The end of public space? People’s Park, definitions of the public, and democracy. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 85(1), 108-133. Smith, D. J. (1994). Geography and Social Justice. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. St Paul’s protest: Legal action is launched. (2011, October 28). BBC News. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-15495019 Therborn, G. (1980). The Ideology of Power and the Power of Ideology. New York, NY: New Left Books. Walker, P. (2011, October 31). Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral resigns over Occupy London protest row. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/oct/31/dean-st-pauls-resigns-occupy

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Islam communities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Islam communities - Essay Example Though his message was initially rejected, by the year 630 he had succeeded in gaining control of Mecca, the economic and religious center of the Arabian Peninsula. Muhammed died after two years, this does not stop the Islam religion to spread rapidly. In 750 A.D. Islam spread out in Spain, India, Asia, and Africa. Some of the well known philosophers and mathematician were believed to be Muslim. In the time of the golden era Christianity and Islam clashed, as a result of the so called science of debate or Kalam. Kalam (literally the science of debate) denotes a discipline of Islamic thought which is referred to as "theology" or as "scholastic theology." This discipline involves the political and the religious controversies that engulfed the Islam community in its formative years, it deals with interpretations of religious doctrine and the defence of the interpretations by means of discursive arguments. The introduction of Kalam came to be associated with the Mu'tazilla, a nationalist school that emerged at the beginning of the 2nd century ah and the rose to prominence in the following century. Rationalism was discreted because of the failure of the Mutazilla, leading to a resurgence of traditionalism and later to the emergence of the Ashariyya School. The Asharite School gained acceptability within mainstream (Sunni) Islam. The Sunni comprises the 90% of all the Muslims, their name derived from the fact that they look both to the Koran and to the sunna in establishing proper Muslim conduct. The "sunna" is the behavior or example of Muhammed and of the early Muslim community. Another group arises in the Islam community is the Shiites. It comprises 10% of the Muslim community and usually lives in Iran and Iraq. The word Shi'ite means partisan and they are referred as the partisan of Ali. Ali is the son in law and cousin of Muhammed and one of the early Caliphs or successors to Muhammed as leader of the Muslim people. They believe that the leader of Islam should be among the descendants of Ali. The last of these divinely appointed leaders, or "imams" most Shi'ites believes to be in "hiding" in another realm of existence. The Ayatollah Khomeini was believed to have been a spokesman for this "hidden imam." The third group of Islam are the Suffis who seek a mystical experience of God, rather than a merely intellectual knowledge of Him, and who also are given to a number of superstitious practices. Beliefs of Islam To Islam there is no God but Allah. The early Islamic Arabs were polytheists. Muhammed is the instrument leading the Muslims to devote themselves solely to the chief God whom they called Allah which means God. They believe that Allah has a magical power and to worship others is considered blasphemy. The Islam religion also believes in angels and jinn. Jinn are spirits being capable of good and evil actions and of possessing human beings. The Muslims believed that they are being accompanied by jinn and angels one on the right to record good deeds and the jinn on the left to record the evil deeds. Muslims has great belief to their God's holy book called Koran. Chief among these are the Law given to Moses, the Psalms given to David, the Gospel (or Injil) given to Jesus, and the Koran given to Muhammed. According to Muhammed the Christian scriptures has been tampered and the real bible is the Koran. Difficulties and

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Declaration of Independence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Declaration of Independence - Essay Example Lee asked for a newly declared independent government, one that could form alliances and draw up a plan for confederation of the separate Colonies. The need for some such move had become increasingly clear during the last year, especially to George Washington, if for no other reason than as a rallying cry for his troops. The Virginia soldier chosen by Congress to general its Continental Army languished in New York, short of supplies, short of men and short of morale while facing the threat of a massive British offensive (House 2007).DiscussionCongress immediately turned to consider Jefferson's document. It would have to serve as a sort of early version of a press release--an explanation that could be disseminated at home and around the globe by broadside and to be read aloud at gatherings. Its statements had to inspire the troops and garner public support for the action Congress had just taken. Not surprisingly, Congress paid close attention to the document's language.The delegates t ook the time to spruce it up a little and edit out what they found objectionable. In general the Congress was fine with the vague sentiments of the early paragraphs that have since become the cornerstone of American democracy. What the delegates were more interested in, however, and what they saw as the meat of the document, were the more concrete declarations. For years, they had based their resistance to England on the belief they were not fighting a divinely chosen king, but his ministers and parliament. But during the previous 14 months the Crown had waged war on them, and King George had declared the Colonials in rebellion, that is, outside his protection. Common Sense had gotten them used to thinking of the king as that "royal brute" and this document were supposed to explain why he should be so considered. Thus Jefferson had produced a catalog of George III's tyrannies as its heart and soul (Hole 2001). Congress at length struck out some sentimental language in which Jefferson tried to paint the British people as brothers unconcerned to American suffering and a paragraph where he ran on about the glories the two people might otherwise have realized together. But more substantive changes were especially telling. Among George’s crimes, Jefferson had listed the slave trade, contending that the king had â€Å"waged a cruel war against human nature† by assaulting a â€Å"distant people† and moving them into slavery in â€Å"another hemisphere.† This was too much for Jefferson’s fellow slaveholders in the South, especially South Carolina, and certain Yankee traders who had made fortunes from what Jefferson called the â€Å"execrable commerce.† Together, representatives of these Southern and Yankee interests deleted the section. In any case, after more than two days of sometimes-heated debate, on July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress approved the revised document that explained its declaration of independence of July 2. The approval was not immediately unanimous, since the New York delegates had to await instructions from home and did not assent until July 9. At the time of approval, Congress

Sunday, November 17, 2019

The limits of my language Essay Example for Free

The limits of my language Essay Human language is considered to be an exclusively human mode of communication; although other animals make use of quite sophisticated communicative systems, none of these are known to make use of all of the properties that linguists use to define language. Linguistics is the scientific study of language. At the core of theoretical linguistics are the study of language structure and the study of meaning. Edward Sapir and his colleague Benjamin Whorf came up with a hypothesis postulating that a particular languages nature influences the habitual thought of its speakers: that different language patterns yield different patterns of thought. On the basis of this theory we could easily say that community we are born into influences our thinking, our background, education and social interaction. For example, a person born in England would be characterised by different behaviours and same drives as a person born in other country.  Pupils in Poland study quite a lot about patriotism and values. A structure of a Polish school teaching is completely different to English one. Everyone in Poland has to learn Polish language and history until they are 19. Most of books they have to read refer to a hero attitude, death, Poland and its history, justice, anti-Semitism, wars and concentration camps. We are being taught information that will shape us in some way and will help us to answer a question: Am I a patriot? Another subject that Polish students have to learn is religious studies. About 95.8 % Polish people are Catholics today. This is another reason to make teenagers learn religious studies. Some of them choose to not to att end this lesson because they describe themselves as theists, but the majority of them still choose to attend RE to find out more about God and their attitude to our motherland. In my opinion, Polish teaching system differ completely from the English way of teaching youth. English people get to choose subjects they prefer to learn and they are limited with their choice. In Poland, pupils do not get a choice and they have to learn about 15 different subjects to get as great knowledge as its possible. It differs in English schools, because in a typical English College when you decide to do A Levels you are only aloud to do from three to five subjects. It shows that students are under pressure of learning logic points of view and way of thinking. It seems to be better idea of training you people but it doesnt teach them any values. Another factor that shapes us would be our background as it has been said in Saphir-Whorf hypothesis. Personally, I find myself more independent and confident that some English people because Poland is characterised by its industry crisis and this is the reason why such a lot of Poles decide to come to England. Another reason that shaped Polish people in the way they are shaped is a fact that Poland was one of these countries that were damaged the most during World War and World War II. I think that it had some influence on the way Polish people behave as well. Final factor would be the fact that English people interact socially different than Polish people. There are some typical issues showing that Polish would behave in another way that English person. English people try to be polite by saying: Hello, how are you ? to everyone while they are not even interested in a receivers answer. Polish person wouldnt try to make an impression on somebody that they are polite. The form and content of both nationalities say differ as well, and the reason for this, again would be nationality and the community you were born into. To recap, my examples have illustrated that a limited knowledge of language severely limits a persons world. The ones I have presented show that community we are born into shapes us and the way we behave. It makes us other from English people who have to decide on how they are going to behave and what are their values, on their own and without any help. I agree with Saphir Whorf hypothesis and I think that language we speak makes us who we are and what we do.

Friday, November 15, 2019

Leadership is about Forging Relationships

Leadership is about Forging Relationships â€Å"In a nut shell, I believe leadership is about forging relationships and perpetuating communication centered on and around a common vision, goals, and values.† Leaders set vision, strategies, goals, and values in order to guide for desired action and behavior. Leaders are characterized by certain traits which distinguish leaders from non-leaders includes Drive, desire to lead, honesty, cognitive ability, self-confidence and knowledge. Leaders are defined by their personal core values and they lead with their hearts.   In the winter of 1987, I was born in a farmer’s family and I grew up in a joint family of fourteen. Teamwork was not a choice, it was a necessity! I believe my greatest leadership asset is that I am socially resourceful. I can communicate effectively and am comfortable one-on-one or with a large group. I truly believe that learning from the experiences of others is an incredibly valuable resource. Learning about others is also a valuable tool. Exhibiting sincere interest in people empowers a leader with knowledge, perspective and insights they may not have considered. In addition, others are likely to increase their receptiveness to anything you have to say or hope to accomplish when they sense your genuine interest in their point of view. Genuine people who are true to themselves and to what they believe in turned into an authentic leader. They are more concern about serving others than they are about their own success or recognition. My journey into leadership is full of peaks and valleys. Leadership has not always been an easy road for me, but has provided me with several challenges. One of my first experiences was in high school and has continued throughout my professional career. My first experience in leadership was my being elected to represent my high school-Birla school, Mumbai for a state level event named India culture quest. We were team of 22 including dancers, singers, gymnastics, science innovation project team, and team to handle brainstorming and quizzes. I remember being so nervous not knowing how to lead or communicate effectively with my fellow students. It was my primary role that to engage and coordinate my fellow student and also represent our school as of the example for discipline and talent on a state level. I knew I could handle this challenge if I organized the team and prepared the charter. My charter was including everyone’s details about their strength and weaknesses. I organi zed all of them into their respective small groups based on their role in an event and asked each team to choose one leader among them. I distributed my responsibilities among these leaders and kept the track of quality of the performance. I also organized special event and outings to encourage my fellow students to engage them. This to me was my first experience in leadership and it helped me in college where I was pushed to organize and managed the annual cultural event named – ‘Odessy’. I felt challenged, but I knew by extending an outline of my high-school leadership. I agreed to commit that my leadership style improved a lot during those days. It became more authentic. Authentic leaders need to sustain high levels of motivation. Keeping that in mind I started my work by delivering motivational speech to my team and asked them to give best of what they have. I outlined my leadership style in such a way that my team mates should feel comfortable to speak up an d share their views. My contributions allowed others to have a better understanding of the overall planning and execution of the Annual Culture Event. This also helped me overcome challenges and differences by expressing myself among different personalities, ethnicities, and cultures. I learned that leadership has multiple dimensions. Articulating the vision and managing the task are not only the responsibilities of a leader. It’s more than that. It’s to influence others by your core values, your unique characteristics and your authentic and positive approach. You will be most effective as a leader when you find opportunities that highly motivate you and utilize your greatest capabilities. One without the other is insufficient. To find them you must understand your deepest motivations and be honest with yourself about your capabilities. Being motivated by something you are not good at will not enable you to succeed as a leader, nor will pursue leadership roles that do not motivate you. But when you find the role that meshes your motivations with your capabilities, you will discover the sweet spot that maximizes your effectiveness as a leader. I also learned one more lesson that accept both success and failure. My every step, whether it is a mistake or success strategy, will always give me an uncountable experience. I have to learn through that experience. Never afraid of failures because each mistake teaches us the important lessons to succeed. I also developed my listening ability during the whole event. I gained the experience of discovering capabilities which I did not know I had. Another example of leadership includes my managerial experience at my company. The greatest challenge I faced was building a product team at my company. On November 7, 2012 Vice president of my company, Mr. Mahesh Patil, sent me an email and asked me to join him in the cabin. Mr. Patil just returned from a meeting with board of directors. He reported that the company facing challenges to beat the high market competition and we will lose thousands of customers if we are not able to improve our product’s features. As a recently promoted product manager, I was asked to lead the project. I never had experience of leading a huge team of 17 people before. In past, I was working as an associate product manager for the same product and hence I was pretty sure about functionality and technical constraints about the product. I decided to take the opportunity and to challenge myself to enhance my leadership graph. When I entered into my current position, I knew I had to make changes in t he methodologies and product development process. The previous product manager had short of vision and neither organized research work, and process documents. The company relied solely on him, which caused inconsistency in products quality and customers dissatisfaction. I led and supervised 17 employees, coordinated the work of forty two people, and two months later implemented a solution. In order to start with I formed four distinguished teams and re-defined responsibilities and tasks. During the initial discussion with Mr. Mahesh Patil and 5 senior managers, I suggested the methodology for solving the problem. I presented the feasibility of the proposed solution and an initial estimate of the costs, and operational implications. I convinced them that how the new methodology will give us an edge over our competitors and innovative marketing strategy will help us to regain the brand name. However, I felt I have not yet consider all the real time risk factors and it may turn into operationally premature solution due to lack of ability in handling the risk. I asked for more days to conduct trials. I knew that the financial consequences of failure would be tremendous and hence I was very much stressed by this project. Leaders do not succeed on their own. Every leader defined by the members of his team. Strong-support team provides affirmation, advice, perspective, calls for corrections when needed, and, above all, team bonding. I knew that I want to lead a team where I should create comfort and open environment so that during the hard days and low points, as a whole team we should not lose our boost to achieve the target. I knew that it is easy to divert by the expectations of others but as a leader my role is to grounded my team mates with their core values and help them to stay on track. In our first team meeting, I shared my strength and weakness and asked others to join me by expressing their thoughts. Three of seventeen Team members were not open with one other about their mistakes and weaknesses. Such things make it difficult to build a foundation for trust. Teams that lack trust are incapable of engaging in unfiltered and passionate debate of ideas. Instead, they resort to veiled discussions and guarded comments. Again I felt challenged. Whether you are a leader or a team member, you can never take trust for granted. It was a big challenge for me to build a trust and create extremely harmonious and independent environment that embrace my personal values and principles. I took the opportunity and passed Quote of Trust and Accountability a.k.a. QTA based on our discussion. Our Quote of Trust and Accountability (QTA) stated as – ‘Trust lies at the heart of a functioning, cohesive team. Without it, teamwork is all but impossible. Unfortunately, the word trust is used—and misused—so often that it has lost some of its impact and begins to sound like motherhood. That is why it is important to be very specific about what is meant by trust. For me trust and accountability is what I perceive and conceptualize my core values and I am responsible to develop authenticity, integrity, knowledge, authority, respect for others, and trust’. We all agreed to Quote of Trust. Next day I gathered my staff and I presented the issues, emphasized the significance of the business opportunity, and defined a timetable. I also asked my marketing team to evaluate the magnitude of the problem in other markets. I set the vision of our team and also specified the norms of team. I distributed the task among four teams and created guidelines of communication and execution. It was two-way communication session where I asked my teammates to share their views, expert knowledge and level of confidence. It was a great session we had. I learned that being with your team-mates face-to-face; inquiring about their work, their families, their personal lives, and their careers; and being open and vulnerable with them creates an intimacy with people. As we moved forward in the project, I able to developed the series of positive interactions, suggestions, and problem solving methodologies. Initially, few members of my team were hesitating to open up due to language barrier. I organ ized Saturday late afternoon party at my home. I invited all to join and made them to participate in the musical chair game. I had also organized activity exercises’ for my team. We had great fun. The enjoyment ended with musical evening where everyone was singing and all were connected to the music. I was listening to the music with closed eyes but I was experiencing the engagement and strong bonding as a team with open heart. I succeed to diminish the language barrier. Whenever I feel stressed or down, I close my eyes and recollect those memories of empowerment. The breeze of empowerment boosts me to stand again.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Middle school Essay

0 year i was born on 1998/7/5, in shanghai, china. 9 month i learned how to walk. 3 years old my first day of kindergarten. i cried but i also met a lot of cool kids. i learned to read. 4 years old i started to dance and i love dancing. 7 years old i went to elementary school and i was very exciting. i played violin for one year and then i quit. 9 years old lost my first tooth, i’m scared. 10 years old i got a first C in my life. rode my bicycle. 12 years old I went to a good middle school, and most people are very good at study. i felt i’m so lonely and tired. But after 2 weeks, i made a lot of friends and i love my life in my high school. my feet hurt, my doctor told me that i can’t dance anymore, play any spots or P. E. class. 13 years old i moved to america because i got a bad score in my middle school. my parents think that i can’t get into a good high school in china. most my classmates cried, i cried. i really missed them went i first came to here. but after few days, i adjusted my new life and i like my new school taylor middle school. however, i still miss my family members in shanghai and my friends. i still contact them. i also took a lot of classes after school to improve my english. 14 years old i became a eighth grader, i felt i’m so mature. i learned a lot from this year. i started to play guitar. 15 years old i went to mils high school. i got a good grade. 19 years old i went to UC berkeley. i met my boyfriend. had a good time in UC berkely. 24 years old graduated from UC berkeley, became a good psychologist. 26 years old i got married, have a good life. 27 years old got a lot of money and had my first child. 32 years old got my second child. 70 years old i got stomach cancer. 82 years old i died from gastric cancer, i donated my organs.