The Californian lifestyle Essay Example for Free

The Californian lifestyle Essay Having lived my entire life in California, I have always dreamed about expanding my horizons and experiencing a different lifestyle. As a teenager, online games and their model economies would spark my curiosity. This curiosity was the beginning of my interest in the driving force behind money and investments. As a senior year in high school, I was lucky to have my first professional position in charge of advertising, sales and customer service for a small company. In addition to professional experience, I also learned good business values and financial responsibility from working closely with the owner. Thus, when I was accepted to UC Riverside, my decision to be a Business Administration major seemed logical. But after reading a few books on investing and contemplating everything that my mother taught me about being smart with money, concentrating in Finance made perfect sense. But my world still felt enclosed. I had vague ideas of where a degree in business could take me, but nothing concrete. My life was too narrow and Californian. I wanted to see the world and how social interactions and motivations were different in a foreign culture. I needed to experience life away from home and meet new people from around the world to recognize what my career path would be. With these goals and dreams, I applied for the UC Education Abroad Program (EAP) to study abroad in Hong Kong. To say that I have discovered myself would be clichà © and a terrible understatement. The Californian lifestyle is often stereotyped as laidback and carefree but I never realized the merit of this stereotype until I experienced life in Hong Kong. The hustle on the crowded streets of Hong Kong is nauseating compared to even the busiest areas of Los Angeles or San Francisco. As a product of the competitiveness of getting into college, the students of HKUST are insanely driven and literally, the best of Hong Kong and China. The fast paced lifestyle and difficult competition adds crushing pressure and I love it; the pressure drives me towards success. The friends that I made in Hong Kong come from around the world and they broadened my perception on life, education and career. The bottom line of their outlook simply boils down to being passionate about who you are and  knowing what you want. Clichà ©, but what impressed me about my friends was that they all had set career paths, relevant internships and understood how everything that they were doing would help them achieve their goals. Upon broadening my views on the world in Hong Kong, I became motivated with a firey vigor to succeed in the finance world. I took my first finance class at HKUST which was both the worst and best course decision I made in Hong Kong: worst because HKUST is notorious for driving their finance majors insane and best because it solidified my decision in concentrating in finance. My passion and curiosity in the workings of money and investments motivated me to welcome the challenge of beating the curve against the the finance majors of HKUST. Deep conversations with different people such as my friend from UPenn about his internship with Morgan and Stanley, a local friend getting ready for an internship in Shanghai and even a stranger that I met at a rooftop steakhouse about her experiences in a law firm while investing on the side motivated me to walk my career path in finance. I am grateful for the opportunity to apply for the Bank of America Business Leaders Scholarship and Walter A. Henry Memorial Scholarship. Financially independent from my parents since my second year at UC Riverside, the financial aid of the scholarship will be a great support in finishing my college career. Rather than money however, what will truly impact my goals from winning this scholarship is the achievement. This achievement means that I have taken another step and standing that much closer to achieving my goal of a prestigious career in finance.

Personal Transportation vs Public Transportation :: Pollution Environment Argumentative Papers

Personal Transportation vs Public Transportation On my plane trip to the Philippines I had expected Manila to be a beautiful island with nature trails, tropical flowers, white sand and palm trees overflowing with coconuts outlining the border of the beaches. I was taken by surprise when I stepped out of the airport to find enormous skyscrapers; cars backed up bumper to bumper for miles in every direction that I turned my head for as far as I could see and a distinguishable stench of unclean air. My skin felt violated just standing there on the edge of the sidewalk. It felt as if my skin was being penetrated by miniscule pollutant dust particles. The city dwellers rushed around with handkerchiefs pressed against their faces to prevent the harmful chemicals from reaching their lungs. The traffic was so awful that if your license plate ended with an odd number you could only drive on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. If your license plate ended with an even number you could only drive on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. It was mind-boggling. It was like any other large city I had been to, only, more congested and more polluted. Who would’ve thought? This isn’t a single sad tale about an island out in the Pacific Ocean. The truth is the way the population is growing and places are expanding traffic is also greatly increasing. For example, a recent report from the U.S. Department of Transportation in Hosansky’s article on Traffic Congestion estimated that, â€Å"in 1994 governments at the federal, state, and local levels spent $124.5 billion on the nations transportation system. That figure has certainly risen sharply since 1998, when Congress passed the 6-year $217.9 billion Transportation Equity Act†(par.22). In just four years America has spent $93.4 billion dollars to build and repair roads. Citizens in agreement with constructing more roads do not realize that in five years the new roads will be just as congested and land will be even more scarce for further construction. Another negative aspect of constructing new roads is that, once new roads are built, more shopping centers, surplus ho using, food chains, and other sprawling suburbs pop up. These all contribute to more cars, which results in more traffic congestion.

Power and Dominace

This essay will talk on the definition of privilege and dominance, the application and importance of anti-oppressive practice and the theoretical frame work of Thompson’s Personal, Cultural and Structural (PCS) models of oppression, Burnham’s social ‘GRRAACCEESS’ and Fook’s Micro and Macro approaches. It will also cover my reflection on the article ‘To Address Privilege and Dominance’ and how it influences my social work practice and a reflection on challenges that might arise in my practice.Bailey (1998:109) defines privilege as ‘systematically conferred advantages individuals enjoys by virtue of their membership in dominant groups with access to resources and institutional power that are beyond the common advantages of marginalised citizens’. Tillner (1997:2) defines dominance as ‘a form of identity practice that constructs a difference which legitimises dominance and grants the agent of dominance the illusion of a s uperior identity’. Anti-oppressive practice is the cornerstone of ethical social work practice.It is very important and central to learning in social work practice how to challenge the focused abuse of power and mistreatment of others using specific legislation where applicable and to consider the particular disadvantages resulting from a precise social difference. Dominelli (2002:36) denotes that ‘anti-oppressive practice addresses the whole person and enables the practitioner to relate to his or her client’s social context in a way that takes account of the ‘allocative and authoritative’ that both the practitioner and the client bring to the relationship.Thus, anti oppressive practice takes on board personal, institutional, cultural and economic issues and examines how this impinges on individuals’ behaviour and opportunities to develop their full potentials as persons living within collective entities’. Parker (2007) states that anti -discriminatory approaches highlight disadvantage by association experienced by people with whom social workers practise as the discrimination is directly related to the particular characteristics identified within the legislation.Parker (2007) further explains that anti-oppressive pursue to change systems that upholds the status quo at the expense of carers, service users disadvantaged or marginalised people due to their social division and statuses. Thompson (2006) identifies three levels that can make us better understand the ways oppression or discrimination works in society. These are Personal, Cultural and Structural (PCS) models of oppression. The personal or psychological level is concerned with an individual’s thoughts, feelings, views, attitudes and actions towards a particular group, person, race, gender, sexuality, religion or community.The cultural level centres on ‘shared ways of seeing, thinking and doing’ (Thompson, 2009). That is: cultural levels of interaction within society and shared ways of seeing, thinking and doing, the same values and patterns of thought and behaviour, conformity to social norms and humour as a vehicle for transmitting and reinforcing culture. Culture is also very influential in determining what is regarded as ‘normal’ in any given circumstance. The structural level refers to the network of social divisions and power relations that are so closely associated with them.It also relates to the way in which oppression and discrimination are ‘sewn in’ to the fabric of society or institutionalise. It also relates to the level of social forces; ‘interlocking patterns of power and influence’. Hugman (2009:1142) notes that ‘Fooks approach shows how working at the micro level can be informed by structural understandings of the causes of social needs’. Micro pertains to individual, domestic unit and small groups whilst macro relates to community, organisation a nd policies.It is important to work with macro minded in micro practice as most difficulties faced by service users can easily be identified at that level. Burnham (2005) claims that power and privilege relates to an individual’s gender, race, religion, age, ability, class, culture, creed, ethnicity, education sexuality and sexual orientation. Hence, social workers need to understand their own identities in order to understand the identity of service users. This will facilitate better interaction and good engagement. The aspect of the article that stood out for me is the privileges or advantages enjoyed by males.If we look back in history of time we will see that woman have come a very long way fighting for equality. It is obvious that men enjoy certain privileges based on the fact that they are males as compared to their female counterparts. There are other informed observations that propose that the male dominance in present day society is a function of culturally-installed patriarchy that not only favours men but also oppresses women in society. Robinson (2003) claims that patriarchy enthusiasts would argue that society enjoys most benefit because of male dominance and our respective gender roles.Feminist philosophers and activist are quick to point out the great suffering women have experienced over the years and the discrimination they faced every day in present day society. It is a truism that woman have suffered over the years and are still suffering today due to some aspects of male privilege and dominance in society. It will be of great help to the society if social workers focus on the visible and invisible mechanisms of power, privilege, and influence that males have over females. This will be of great help to fight against inequality and other social ills.There are privileges that that come to some people simply because of the fact that they are males. For example, it will be very difficult for a man be discriminated at his place of work on the ground of his sex. Most females are and have been discriminated against on the ground of their sex. To add to the above, men are paid higher than women doing the same job especially if the employer knows that the man has a family. During recruitment, some employers are very reluctant to recruit female workers as they are concerned that she will need time off for maternity, time to take her child to the hospital and other family commitment.Most service users will do what they are asked to do by a male social worker as compared to a female social worker due to the fact that they are male. Most service users especially when it comes to child protection will be more confrontational and verbal with females as compared to males. I have worked with cases that when it came to difficult and confrontational service users, the cases where transferred to male social workers. As soon as the cases were transferred to a male social worker the service user’s attitude towards the male soc ial worker changed.Another aspect in the article that stood out for me is the privileges enjoyed by heterosexual couples over same sex or gay couple. I have a friends and colleagues who are lesbians and they will remind from time to time that I should understand they are lesbians and it is extremely difficult for them to kiss or hold hands in public like heterosexual couples. I have also worked with service users that are gays and lesbians and I have to always remember to use the term partner when I am referring to their boyfriend or girlfriend.They have also explained to me that they do not feel free to communicate with colleagues or people because they feel that they will not be taken serious or they will be perceived as social misfits. The above mentioned facts about privilege and dominance will certainly influence my social work practice in a positive way. Social work is a profession that provide help and valuable support to people who are facing some forms of oppression and soc ial exclusion and other social ills. It is very essential that social workers empathise with service users as they are in the position of power whilst the service users may sometime feel powerless.It should be recommended that much work be done in order to bridge the gap between male and female. The work should be centred towards extending privilege, power, dominance and influence to women. Men also need to assess themselves in order to address the concerns of open oppression of women. This could also include talks and seminars on issues like domestic violence, workplace disparity and other issues related to gender equality. It will ease communication and understanding when a social worker explains to service users their concerns and what they will do in order to address the concern.Some service users believe that social workers are baby snatchers, community police, a tool for the upper class, a control mechanism and in such situations service users can become abusive and confrontat ional. Social workers need to explain the reasons for their visit and what they will do and what they will not do. This will enable service users and other family members to engage with social workers. Worthy of mention is the fact that social workers should be aware of the area of privilege and dominance and as they can discuss this with people who enjoy certain privileges as a way forward.For example, always hold conversation with men about the privileges enjoyed by them. As a social worker you have to be aware of the challenges that you might face whilst trying to address the issue of privilege and dominance. Advocacy is a means of emancipation and it is often not easy to advocate for certain group of people. It might be very difficult for information to penetrate some communities. Again, some people use religion as a defence for not accepting other people’s values, sexuality and religious in society.The fact that social workers need to be polite, speak cautiously and prof essionally at all times might lead to some service users taking them for granted. It is of immense importance for social workers to reflect on the issue of privilege and dominance as they work with service users who have been marginalised or oppressed. This will serve as emancipatory given the fact that the lack of critical reflection on the privileged flank of social division permits members of dominant group to strengthen their dominance. This will enable social workers to best understand issues revolving around privilege, dominance, power and influence.A good understanding of these issues will pave a good way for social workers to work better with service users and also instigate change when and where it is needed. Reference Bailey, A. (1998) ‘Privilege: Expanding on Marilyn Fry’s oppression’, Journal of Social Philosophy. 29, 3: 104-119. Dominelli. L. (2002) Anti-Oppressive Social Work Theory and Practice. London: Palgrave Macmillan Hugman, R. (2009) But is i t Social Work? Some Reflection of Mistaken Identities. British Journal of Social Work, 39, 1139-1153. Parker, J. (2007) Social Work, Disadvantage by Association and Anti-Oppressive Practice. In P.Burke and J. Parker. (eds. ) Social Work and Disadvantage: Addressing the Roots of Stigma Through Association, London: Jessica Kingsley. Robinson, M (2003) Gender, Power and Privilege. Charles Pfeffer: WetWare, Inc. Rochester, NY. Tillner, G. (1997) ‘Masculinity and Xenophobia: The identity of dominance’. Paper presented to the UNESCO conference, Masculinity and Male Roles in the Perspective of a Culture of Peace, Oslo, Norway. Thompson, N. (2006) Anti-Discriminatory Practice (2006) 4th ed, Palgrave, Macmillian. Thompson, N. (2009) Promoting equality, valuing diversity. Lyme Regis: Russell House Publishing.

Integrating Technology in Education Essay - 1752 Words

Integrating Technology in Education Educational technologies are being utilized in every facet of school education. Increasingly, teachers are asking students to access information from technological sources. Methods of instruction must change in order to keep up with the ever-changing world and we, as teachers must cease the technological movement. There are many factors and activities that can help teachers develop an attitude that is intrepid in the use of technology, encourages them to take risks, and inspires them to involve technology in the classroom environment. In the technological society of today, is it possible that the integration of computers will change the traditional methods of the classroom? Will the introduction†¦show more content†¦The technology plan should also address the technology proficiencies that teachers will be expected to demonstrate. Once everything is setup a performance report should be printed showing the impacts of student achievement and teacher efficiency. Barnett (20 01) explained that technology effectiveness divides into two areas: 1) learning with computers, using computers as tutors 2) learning from computers, which is when the student uses the computer as a tool in the learning process for communication, collaboration, research, or publishing. However, for any of this to work a well knowledge teacher must be present. Therefore, a technology plan must commit to professional development and continue to support and find ways to integrate technology into the curriculum. What is the purpose of implementing technology? Research indicates that computer technology increases students high order thinking skills. Students are able to conceptualize, analyze and solve more complex problems. Technology provides ways for teachers and school to utilize time more efficiently (Burdette 2001). Technology can be used to present information in a new, more appropriate way. Educational technology tools most commonly used are PowerPoint, Word and Excel. Technology by itself does not guarantee learning. The combination of the teacher, student andShow MoreRelatedIntegrating Technology Into Education Essay838 Words   |  4 Pagesclassroom and an improvement in the educational process. Technology can be an excellent bridge to solve the problem of linking learning with students in their everyday life. Quick suggests, â€Å"too often lesson plans stifle students’ thinking rather that reflecting and deepening their ideas,† (Quick, 2003, pg 156). A way to incorporate lesson plans into today’s’ world is by integrating technology into our lessons. 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This can be correlated with studies finding â€Å"obese children have a greater risk of social and psychological problems, such as discrimination and poor self-esteem† (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, para. 2). It has also been documentedRead MoreClassroom Is Not The Classroom Of Yesterday1050 Words   |  5 Pagesclassroom of yesterday. We are accountable so much more to the learning needs of our students. The use of technology in the classroom is changing the way in which we teach our students. We have a responsibility to prepare students for the demands of an ever-changing world, through facilitating learning in a technology rich environment, where students and teachers don’t just learn about technology, they use it to achieve powerful learning and teaching and improve student learning outcomes. 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