Remembering My Childhood Essay

â€Å"I want to be just like you† Growing up, Sedaris had a good life. He had a loving family that supported him and made sure he was well taking care of. Sedaris’ friend, Hugh had a very difficult lifestyle. When Hugh was growing up as a child, he saw things that children should not be forced to witness. Hugh’s class took a field trip to a slaughterhouse one day, where they were treated to a pig’s execution. â€Å"†¦One of the brothers drew a pistol from his back pocket, held it against the animal’s temple, and shot the piglet, execution-style.† (Paragraph 6, page 109) At another occasion, Hugh witnesses a dead man on a telephone pole. â€Å"Unlike me, he left the theater two hours later, to find a dead man hanging from a telephone pole at the far end of the unpaved parking lot.† (Paragraph 10, page 110) Hugh was often neglected by this family and spent majority of his adolescence with surrogate parents. Hugh’s life wasn’t the not good at all but Sedaris w anted Hugh’s life. Sedaris describes why he believed his childhood was so bland in comparison to his friend Hugh’s childhood. Sedaris compared his childhood to Hugh’s childhood so much until he started to envy Hugh. Sedaris stated, â€Å"We had a collie and a house cat†¦ They had a monkey and two horses named Charlie Brown and Satan†¦ I threw stones at stop sighs†¦ Hugh threw stones at crocodiles.† (Paragraph 8, page 109) Sedaris thought throwing stones at crocodiles was really fun. He did not realize what kind of danger Hugh was really in. â€Å"No fifteen-foot python ever wandered onto my school’s basketball court†¦ I begged, I prayed nightly, but it just never happened†¦ A military coup in which forces sympathetic to colonel arrived late at night to assassinate my next-door neighbor.† (Paragraph 13, page 111) Sedaris wanted to everything Hugh had. He wanted to travel the around the Continent of Africa too. Sedaris loved Hugh’s childh ood but Hugh did not find his life to be so great. Hugh’s family had moved to Mogadishu, Somalia. Since there was not any English-speaking schools there, Hugh had to stay with a family he did not know. â€Å"Hugh was sent back to Ethiopia to live with a beer enthusiast his father had met at a cocktail party.† (Paragraph 16, page 112) While Hugh  lived with the Hoyts family, he did not feel welcomed at all. â€Å"They invited him to join them at the table, but that was as far as they extended themselves.† (Paragraph 16, page 112) Hugh was not able to celebrate his birthday nor was he able to talk to his family. â€Å"No one ever asked him when his birthday was, so when the day came, he kept it to himself†¦ There was no telephone service between Ethiopia and Somalia.† (Paragraph 16, page 112) The Hoyts had children and they missed treated Hugh every chance they could get. They would say things to Hugh for instead, â€Å"Hey that’s our sofa you’re sitting on† and â€Å"Hands off t hat ornamental stein†¦ It doesn’t belong to you.† (Paragraph 16, page 112) Hugh had a hard life growing up. His life was not what Sedaris make it to be. Although Sedaris had a better life than Hugh, he still envied Hugh’s childhood. He started to take Hugh’s childhood stories and make them his own. â€Å"Rather than surrender to my bitterness, I have learned to take satisfaction in the life that Hugh has led†¦ His stories have, over time, become my own†¦ When my own experiences fall short of the mark, I just go out and spend some of his†¦ It is with pleasure that I sometimes recall the dead man’s purpled face or the report of the handgun ringing in my ears as I studied the blood pooling beneath the dead white piglet.† (Paragraph 21, page 113) There once was a time in all of our lives where we wanted something someone else had and their lifestyle. Do we really see their struggles or are we just looking at what our eyes could see? We should not envy other people and the things they have. Some people work really hard to get the things they have today. We never know what another person had to do or go through in order to get what they have. We should be grateful to God for the things we do have.

Great Gatsby Essay

Not only does the idea of money being the most important factor in life means one’s partner comes second, it additionally solidities one’s class, meaning families are separated just by the amount of money they have to their names. Fitzgerald illustrates the theme of doomed love with the relationship of Tom Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson, Tom,  powerfully built and hailing from a socially solid old family yet associating with Myrtle, whose lifeless husband George owns a run-down garage in the valley of ashes, representing two extreme classes. McEwan reinforces this theme in the relationship between Robbie Turner and Cecilia Tallis, Robbie a gardener and Cecilia the daughter of the ministry-employed and wealthy Jack Tallis are also partitioned by class. Consequently, relationships in both novels are doubtlessly doomed due to the impenetrable barriers of class and wealth. Throughout the novel, this theme is reinforced as we discover a consistent number of tragedies in the majority of relationships. The idea of Gatsby’s and Daisy’s relationship being inevitably doomed is emphasized with the Gatsby using the abstract noun ‘passion’ showing the obsession he has with Daisy, highlighting the idea of a Romeo and Juliet relationship, one being so in love that it is bound to end in tragedy. Additionally, Fitzgerald illuminates doomed love with symbolism describing the portrait of Dan Cody, a man who mirrors the average man in the American soceity as a ‘florid man with a hard, empty face’ which reflects the hollowness of people and their materialistic views; they solely focus on their wealth over relationships. McEwan reflects such demeanour in Briony Tallis’ story ‘The Princess was well aware of his remorseless wickedness, but that made it no easier to overcome the voluminous love she felt in her heart for Sir Romulus’ again initiating the predicament of unconditional love. This is obviously bound to end in disaster when such dispute, such as class separation and the ‘importance’ of money is involved in the relationship which reflects Fitzgerald’s relationship of Gatsby and Daisy where Gatsby is unbelievably in love with Daisy and yet we know she does not feel quite the same way, again initiating disaster. Symbolism, a feature Fitzgerald continuously employs for the duration of ‘The Great Gatsby’ additionally emphasizes the theme of doomed loved. Previous to Daisy’s arrival in Chapter Four, Gatsby exclaimed a few minutes before she was due to arrive that ‘Nobody’s coming to tea. It’s too late! ’ and that he ‘can’t wait all day’, this is a very ironic statement, firstly for the fact he says ‘nobody’s coming’ as we know that Daisy really never does return into Gatsby’s life as he wishes she will and secondly that he says ‘it’s too late! and yet he’s waited five years to   see Daisy. Furthermore, when Gatsby and Daisy first sit down together, ‘the clock took this moment to tilt dangerously at the pressure of his head’ which symbolises the idea of time being a very important theme, the adverb ‘dangerously’ clearly highlighting how precarious the desi re to recapture the past really is. The idea that when the clock fell off the mantelpiece, it stopped, symbolises Gatsby’s life, frozen in time, he believing everything between him and Daisy will be exactly as it was, five years before. Fitzgerald carries on using symbolism behind all issues in the novel, after the tragic death of Gatsby, Tom Buchanan and Daisy Fay flee to a new house far away rather than condescend to attend Gatsby’s funeral, ‘They were careless people, Tom and Daisy–they smashed up things’  again mirroring the hollowness of people and the hedonistic attitudes they have to life; all they care about is themselves, nobody else’s feelings and so this is an additional important factor to why relationships end up in pieces. Furthermore, ‘the green light’ is another important symbol in ‘The Great Gatsby’ representing Gatsby’s hopes and dreams for the future. In Chapter One, ‘he stretched out his arms towards a single green light’ as a guiding light to lead him to his goal: Daisy and yet at the end of the novel, we realise his dream was one stuck in the past, impossible to achieve, although Nick as the retrospective narrator observes, the light does still continue to shine one, symbolising hope for the rest of us and yet so much doom for Gatsby and Daisy and the love between them. The prominent theme of doomed love is additionally supported by McEwan’s fragmented structure of the novel symbolising the broken hearts of Robbie Turner and Cecilia Tallis which is mirrored in Nick’s unreliable narrative voice. An obsession with materialism reflects the hollowness of the people of 1920s America, Gatsby reinforces this object-orientated focus when he cries ‘she only married you because I was poor and she was tired waiting for me’, obviously highlighting that the only reason Daisy was to marry was for money, not the fact she loved thus illuminating doomed love as the relationship is based on money and materialism. Fitzgerald uses wealth imagery to describe Daisy ‘Her voice is full of money’ symbolising the need for money as a support for her own personality. Kevin Rea writes ‘the sense of hope conveyed by yellow is still present in the light and music. But the fact ‘the earth lurches away from the sun’ hints at the transient powers wealth bestows’’ which again illuminates the theme of money being so important, yet underneath it only leads to disaster in relationships in the novel again initiating the theme of doomed love. Incredibly, Gatsby himself is one factor of his own relationship with Daisy being so doomed. Blinded by the astronomic amount of love he has for her, Gatsby states ‘Can’t repeat the past?†¦ Why of course you can! ’, emphasizing the unachievable expectations he has, all he wants to do is regress to five years before and reunite perfectly with his ‘love’, but coincidently we know this is quite the opposite of what happens. Furthermore Gatsby wants something of Daisy that she can’t give, an unachievable statement, for her to ‘just tell him the truth, that you never loved him and it’s all wiped out forever’ about Tom, but we know this can’t happen as Daisy’s love for Tom was once real and strong as narrated in Jordan’s vignette. Fitzgerald uses an abundance of pathetic fallacy throughout the novel in coordination with the theme of doomed love. Gatsby and Daisy’s first meeting seems particularly awkward which reflects the weather, ‘pouring†¦small muddy swamps and prehistoric marshes’ reinforcing the mood. Additionally, as Gatsby and Daisy began to ‘click’ and ‘bond’ the ‘sun shone again’ initiating an optimistic and joyful mood. Sorrow returns at the tragic funeral of Gatsby along with the miserable weather, ‘thick drizzle’, ‘rain poured down his thick glasses’ showing doom in any love between him and Daisy. Likewise, McEwan uses pathetic fallacy, Leon asks Cecelia if ‘the hot weather’ makes her behave badly, this weather reflecting the difficulties between Robbie and Cecelia, the weather a hindrance, an obstruction, a way of creating misery in one’s life, mirroring Briony Tallis’ role in ‘Atonement’ and how she destroys and completely gets in the way of the relationship, consequently illuminating the theme of doomed love and reflecting ‘The Great Gatsby’ in the way Gatsby is an obstruction with his own affiliation with Daisy Fay. As we begin to draw close to the end of ‘The Great Gatsby’, we come across the reunited relationship of Daisy and Tom ‘sitting opposite each other’. Fitzgerald describes the couple ‘they weren’t happy†¦and yet they weren’t unhappy either’ mirroring the people of 1920s America, in the Jazz Age, as Gertrude Stein stated they were ‘the lost generation’ and had no real point to life and so lived unhappily, happily. Although this image of the two sitting together not showing compassion or love could represent doomed love, some could alternatively say that this relationship, which looked doomed at the start, is now the only good, strong one left, contradicting the theme. Mike Peters writes ‘not only Gatsby, but several of the other characters remain enigmas’, showing mysteriousness to the characters in Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby’, maybe Gatsby did only love Daisy for the money or maybe Daisy never loved Tom? None of us can know, excluding Fitzgerald, we have no final conclusions to draw. However, it is clear that in the heartless and materialism obsessed society that Fitzgerald creates, it is only the most corrupt relationship that survives at the end. To finally conclude, Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby’ leaves us with nothing but disappointment, which shows contrast to McEwan’s ‘Atonement’ which then leaves us with the possibility of hope and faith. Fitzgerald leaves us with sadness and we feel sympathy for the characters in the book, they all seem lost and seeking for something and yet the only solution they discover is money, highlighting again the theme of doomed love, money before love. The death of Myrtle Wilson devastates hers and George’s relationship which is obviously the result of her materialistic values and her longing for Tom’s money, her main focus in a man was his money, this is highlighted when she says that ‘’Oh, is that your suit? ‘ I said. ‘This is the first I ever heard about it. But I gave it to him and then I lay down and cried to beat the band all afternoon† reinforcing the idea that wealth is of huge importance to her. Gatsby obviously dead and Tom and Daisy reunited, but only on the thread of a string, all these sorrows as a result of money and class partition. Additionally, the death of Robbie Turner in ‘Atonement’ is the result of class partitio ning and so is also highlighting the theme of doomed love, a major theme in both F. Scott. Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby’ and Ian McEwan’s ‘Atonement’.

Personal Leadership Vision Essay

Everything started to come together in the spring of 2013. I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Graduation was only a few short months away. Okay, so maybe it was more like ten months, but it certainly didn’t seem like that long. My then boyfriend, now husband, and I moved into our first place together in March, and I got the Marketing and Sales Internship that set me up for the perfect job with the Houston SPCA. After graduating in December, I had a Bachelors of Science degree in Agriculture Leadership and Development with an emphasis in Animal Science. But I couldn’t just up and leave quite yet. I still had five months left at my internship. The Marketing and Sales Internship equipped me with so much more than I could have asked for. I built upon my relationship building strengths, and created a substantial network of peers, professors, and mentors. I was able to hone my communication skills, and how I interact with the public and potential customers. And finally, I was able to see interdepartmental communication and operations, also the interaction of one outside agency with another outside agency. This allowed me to see what worked and didn’t work in order to create ideas and plans for any future jobs I would have. After the five months had pasted, I put in my application to Houston SPCA. Ever since I saw an episode of animal cops, I knew this is what I wanted to do with my life. I have always wanted a career with purpose and I though why not join that with my love for animals. I absolutely love getting up and coming to work everyday. No day is ever the same, and so I am constantly learning and building my knowledge and skills. Also, by coming to work, I am able to fight injustice for those who can’t fight for themselves. Presently, I am in my dream job. I am the President of the Houston SPCA. I am able to be involved with every aspect of our organization. Everything from cruelty calls, to media and publications, and community outreach to shelter maintenance, I have my hand in. Now, I am not saying I am a Theory X kind of person, that is in everything because I like to dictate and watch over everyone. That is not a pleasant experience. I have my hand in everything because I love the job. It also allows me to stay connected with my staff and volunteers to make sure their needs are being met as well. Now have the title of President may sound glamorous, but I had to work my way up the chain of command just like everyone else. My first job at the shelter was as an animal behavior specialist. In this position, I not only helped rehabilitate our shelter animals, but I also did a great deal of socialization with our clients as well. I really liked to sit down and get to know a family before they adopted a pet. This allowed me to suggest the best possible animal match for the both the family and the animal to be adopted. If everyone left happy then I had done my job well. This is something I learned back in Marketing and Sales Internship. As the President of the Houston SPCA I can have some very strange, and sometimes inconvenient hours. But thankfully, I have a wonderful family that not only supports me, but they love my job as much as I do. My husband, the boyfriend I moved in with in March, and I have known each other since daycare days. I went to his mother’s daycare, we went to the same high school, and we worked and the same summer job. However, although I knew him and knew who he was, I didn’t really know him. Our friendship grew while we worked together, and our friends always whispered in our ears about the possibility of us taking our relationship to the next step, but neither of us was brave enough to say anything. That is until my first semester at Texas A&M. Don’t get me wrong; my first semester at school was great. I was away from home and at the school I wanted to be at, but something was missing. At first, I couldn’t pinpoint it, and ironically enough, I was talking to my husband about it. God finally got tired of waiting on us to admit how we really felt about each other, so he pushed a little harder. For some reason, I suddenly found the courage to tell my husband how I felt and ask if he felt the same. And, well he did, but it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows after that. We both knew we had feelings for each other, but weren’t sure we wanted to risk our friendship and take things to next level. At this point, God didn’t just push us a little bit harder, He shoved. It was a defiant, I brought you two together for a reason, so stop fighting me, get your butts in gear, and let my plan unfold, kind of moment. And, I am so thankful each and everyday that God put this amazing man in my life. He helps balance me out. He is an honest, trustworthy, hardworking man that does anything and everything to provide for his family. Family, I have always been apart of a family, but its weird to actually say I have my own family now. Yes, that’s right; a husband, three kids, numerous pets all situated on a 15-acre ranch outside of Houston. Now, I am not saying I didn’t expect to have a family. I have always wanted to be a wife and a mother. It’s just weird the time has already come. But once again, God has blessed me. We chose to live on a ranch because both my husband and I have always wanted to live in a place with land and animals. As a girl, we had the land, but never any animals except for our family dogs, which were inside dogs. We wanted to be able to have animals, to plant gardens, and to just have room. We felt it was vital for our family to be able to separate from the hustle and bustle of the city, and just slow down. There is a downside to living on the ranch sometimes though. Because there is always something to do, and there are always mouths the feed, it is difficult to get away and take â€Å"vacations†. But, my philosophy is, if you love what you do, then it’s not work, and if you are not working, then who needs a vacation? I guess that it the key to it all. I finally stopped worrying about finding a job. I took a step back, and asked myself what I wanted from life. Did I simply want a paycheck, a means to an end, or did I want a career that fueled my passion? And when I finally decided to let it all go, and do something that made me happy, things fell into place. I am not saying it was easy; there were some bumps along the road. But I worked through them. With the support and encouragement of my family, I put my faith in God; I took action and turned my dream into a vision.

Issues Faced by Oreedoo Telecommunications Essay

Issues Faced by Oreedoo Telecommunications - Essay Example This paper illustrates that although being one of the largest organizations in its domestic marketplace, Oreedoo Telecommunications is not the biggest market shareholder. The biggest competitor of Oreedo is Omantel. Omantel is also one of the most influential companies in its concerned marketplace. It has set up connections with various influential people and already developed a considerable customer base. Apart from competition, Oreedoo is also facing other challenges related to the regulations of the market and internal problems associated with their talent and employee management. Oreedoo is finding it hard to manage their human resource elements as the employee base is not steady and the employee turnover rate is high. Furthermore, although Oreedoo has acquired the resources for pursuing their strategic objectives, limited employee base in causing barriers to the process. As observed in the given case study of Oreedoo Telecommunications, the company is trying to establish itself in the communications industry of Oman but is facing some critical problems in doing so. The first issue noted was the immense competition faced by the established player such as Omantel. Being one of the early entrants in the communications segment of Oman, Omantel has been able to acquire a large consumer base and have also established relationships with influential and well-positioned individuals. This also focuses on another critical barrier for Oreedoo Telecommunications which is the underdeveloped legal and regulatory structure of the communications segment of Oman. Because of limited regulatory functions in the industry, the manipulation of the legal framework is high. It can be mentioned here that the telecommunications industry of Oman is yet underdeveloped and does not have an appropriate governing body.

Phases of Transition for Nurses Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Phases of Transition for Nurses - Essay Example The gaps between theory and praxis will percolate within their system, as the abyss between reality and expectation brings innate confusion and perplexity. Phases of Transition for Nurses Duchscher (2001) explained that transition shock reinforces the need for new graduates to bridge their educational curricula with increasing workplace expectations with the aim of integrating new nursing professionals into such rigorous and dynamic context of healthcare practice. The transition phases include the following: a. The Honeymoon phase- this is the phase when a new practitioner attempts to reconcile one’s excitement and enthusiasm in the performance of job with such oozing expectations. New graduates express comfortability in the learning the variables from patients; not only settling on default information but also of other possibilities (Duchscher, 2001). They perform their new in accordance to standard policies of the practice in accordance to set of rules and standards set by t he medical institution with hope that they will be accorded with necessary counselling, mentoring, guidance, and evaluative care from their respective managers (Duchscher, 2001). ... b. Shock and Rejection– The feeling of shock and rejection often happens when the new practitioner’s expectation and assumption seemed to be incompatible or is in a mismatched to the empirical realities and demands of one’s job. When the feeling of shock is not remedied or not responded positively, frustration and disappointment may seep in the practitioner’s system. Confronted by this possibility, it is significant that neophyte healthcare provider should be oriented thoroughly of the demands of the job, the policies inherent in their respective duties, the potential stresses that their profession entails, as well as the standards imposed upon them as institutional protocols of the profession. Such orientation will help them cope from the competitive nature of their profession that require their core competence and positive attitude in dealing with the multiple tasks embedded in healthcare delivery. Guidance, mentoring, and professional support from the m edical institution’s management could help provide psycho-emotional balance to new practitioners amid variants present in medical care. It is also significant that new practitioners are able to understand exactly the caring profession hence, there is an imperative for them to act in accordance to their professional and ethical goals while providing support and compassion to patients or clients. Healthcare advocates should fully transcend the hassles and stresses of criticism, lack of support, or maybe those mockeries-- at an optimal level to meet their oath and to cope against potential rejection. It is therefore important that they too are able to understand the entire operational mechanism and framework of healthcare

Real Time flash flood forcasting Research Proposal

Real Time flash flood forcasting - Research Proposal Example Such a plan is aimed at raising the preparedness levels and making response activities by the local authorities’ and the general public more efficient especially during a flash flood3. Such plans integrate the use of technological variables of weather forecasting and GIS-based system for data management processing. This research is aimed at contributing to the development of integrating flash flood management plan in some flood prone areas. The most important things about planning for a flash flood is warning the general public and the response to the floods ensuring that loss of lives and property is minimal. Warnings about flash floods are transmitted by the meteorological departments and the hydrological services in various countries. In all flood management plans, organization and dissemination of information to warn the people is the most important thing4. The first element of a flashflood management strategy is finding out about all those who are at risk and whatever else is at risk. Risk is determined through assessing by establishing the hazards, the levels of exposure and the vulnerability of the people. The hazard entails the magnitude and the probability of occurrence of the flood5. This information can be given in form of maps which outline the borders of the areas at risk and their expected velocity6. Exposure on the other hand is the information of all those who are in danger as well as all what is in harms way. Vulnerability entails the expected losses which are looked at in terms of the geophysical, economic and the societal attributes of a given region. By establishing all the three elements enables those involved in the flood management to adopt the most effective strategies, be it to deal with engineering problems or dealing with the social challenges7. To establish the extent of the three elements, a risk analysis must be conducted. Metrological and hydrological data is essential in determining the hazard levels of an

Discourse Community Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 4

Discourse Community Analysis - Essay Example The way the group looked at Anne as she went towards them showed that they were not in the least bit interested in making friends with her. They did not reach out to make her feel welcome. The group being members of the church should have been gracious to welcome her since Anne happens to be the visitor. In fact when Anne reached out to them one turned her back to Anne to block her from communicating with the rest. These actions distinctly showed Anne that she does not belong to the group. The words â€Å"From what church are you from?† could have meant something positive like they want to get to know her more and possibly become friends but the succeeding remark, â€Å"But your Minister Rinaldi, is a foreigner, right?† and the negative intonation showed disapproval. Even if Anne mentioned that their churches were affiliates, they still didn’t accept Anne as part of their group. Their intention to disassociate from Anne can further be seen when they left her and they did not show interest if she followed them or not. The way they looked at Anne from under their noses and when they emphasized about Minister Rinaldi being a foreigner shows that they feel that they are higher in stature than Anne and Minister Rinaldi. It appears the women do not approve of the foreigner being a Minister for whatever reason and they also do not approve of Anne for being part of that Foreign Minister’s church. The group uses non verbal actions to show people they do not like their true feelings for them. They do not want to easily admit people in their tight circle. They would really try to make one feel the odd one out. They initially tried pushing Anne away by not reaching out to her, by moving and turning ones back to her, and by not letting her finish her sentences. They made their final point when they finally left her without cordially saying farewell. They are typical people who want to make a stand but prefer not to say things