Coming of Age Essay

A coming of age experience can happen any time during one’s life, most often when it is least expected. It is the thread that sews humanity together, a phenomenon, which is undeniable. Society tells us, it is a defining moment in a child’s life, when the world somehow becomes his or her own. Why then is â€Å"Coming of Age† simply relegated to the young? We all experience this phenomenon, from the tender age of four till the ripe old age of ninety-four. It is not an experience based solely on chronological milestones. Coming of age is a defining moment when a person’s wide-eyed nnocence is replaced with something deeper and at times something darker and more sinister, a snapshot in life when one realized the answer rests inside us, not relying completely on God. Consequently, in that way, we are always coming of age, always-losing innocence, gaining understanding, and always discovering new truths about ourselves, emotionally, and intellectually. Coming of age is the act of experiencing a definitive shift in one’s perspective, a greater realization of ones place in the world, and a further understanding of how personal actions and reactions are ntegrally linked. â€Å"That’s not fair† was my signature quotation as a little girl. A life full of Barbie’s, tea parties, and several rounds of Go-Fish card games was very demanding for a five year old. I could only assume the world revolved around which Barbie I wanted to be, what frilly dress I wanted to wear, and my pristine skills of winning every round of Go-Fish. As a little princess, fairness was vital to what made me happy. When I was eight years old, the word â€Å"fair† took on a whole other meaning the day my mom and her best friend, Muffy, took my sister and me to lunch. As we at down at the table, Muffy, the mother of my best friend, Sam, hesitantly twisted the diamond protruding from her gold wedding band. We waited for our lunches in silence, my sister and I only knowing that they had â€Å"something to tell us,† but not knowing what. The silence was unbearable; waiting for something that must have no positive outcome was definitely, as I would term, unfair. After the waitress brought our food, my mom’s voice filled the intolerable silence. Unlike her usual motherly lectures, my mom’s voice seemed Just as excruciating as the previous silence; it was uncertain, unfamiliar, and distant. My mom has always been the woman that I admire and would hope to become. The smiles and love she has given to my sister and me have been unconditional and contagious. At the moment, the slightly tilted frown and the unfulfilled eye contact was not the woman that I knew as my mother. All I wish for was to read her mind, fgure out who she had become so that I could make everything better and change her back to the woman I see myself being one day. Muffy began with her understanding voice, a quality that she and my mother share, â€Å"Emily and Peggy, I can see the concern on your faces and we are here to tell ou that Sam has cancer. He will be undergoing surgery next week and all I ask from you is to be as understanding, mature, and as helpful as possible. I know you are both strong and that it is going to be hard for all of us. My best friend, at eight years old, has cancer. I continued to repeat this in my mind. There was no â€Å"He will be find† or â€Å"Everything will be taken car of. † My mind was running with questions, How long has he had cancer? Will he have to undergo chemo? Will he lose all his hair? But unfair. Two years later Sam went through his third treatment. At this point we were told hat he was not going to make it and at that mo ment, as a young eight year old, I began to understand that life’s trials cannot be won like a game of go-fish. I began to understand that life is not fair because I did not understand why someone so caring and loving like Sam would be put through this. I do wish that fguring these things out at such a young age would not be as tortuous as my best friend getting cancer and passing away. However, for me, maturing at that age is accepting that the world does not revolved around me. That losing in a game of go-fish is not the end of the world and to treasure every day of life.

“What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” Film Review

The film â€Å"What's Eating Gilbert Grape,† based on the novel by Peter Hedges, is an out of the ordinary middleweight observation of a dysfunctional, although regular family. The film has some touching scenes which take the audience away from the reoccurring humour of the Grapes' ways. Set in Endora, which is described as being â€Å"like dancing with no music,† the most exciting thing that happens throughout the film is Arnie's 18th Birthday Party and the arrival of the â€Å"Burger Barn.† Arnie, Gilbert's (Johnny Depp) mentally handicapped brother, always finds a way to escape Gilbert's watching eyes and climb up the tempting water tower. This is his way of getting in trouble with the cops, not shop lifting or drug dealing, but just exploring the local water tower. And when the police finally arrest him it causes his 500 pound mother (Darlene Cates) to leave the house after seven years and demand for her precious son back. The director, Lasse Hallstrom, is very clever in how he uses humour and pathos in this scene. On the family's way to the station the audience is able to laugh as the car tips up, nearly scraping the road, weighed down by the angry 500lb angry mother. However, on their way out of the station they find themselves part of a freak show, leaving the audience to feel horror and sympathy. Gilbert also has many of other responsibilities as well as keeping a constant watchful eye on Arnie: earning the money, maintaining the house and caring for his overweight mother and his two sisters. These things play heavily on his mind which is why his secret affair with Mrs. Carver (Mary Steenburgen) is very welcome at first. However when a free-spirited beautiful young woman arrives in a RV with her grandmother (Penelope Branning), the affair has to come to an end, helped by the death of Mrs. Carver's husband, who has formerly been threatening Gilbert. Becky, played by Juliette Lewis, is a down-to-earth character; someone like Gilbert has never met before. Becky and her Grandmother have been travelling almost everywhere and stop in Endora long enough for Becky and Gilbert to get to know each other very well and to start a romance. The arrival of Becky, however, changes the Grapes' routine and way of life. This film equals Lasse Hallstrom's other art house films such as â€Å"My Life As A Dog† and â€Å"Something To Talk About.† This Scandinavian director risked a great deal in experimenting with this film. One of the things he tries is the use of a voice over. This, used at the beginning, introduces us to the characters and the setting, Endora. At the end it lets us know where the characters end up and what they do. I think this is a bad technique in this film mainly because of the use of Gilbert's humdrum voice, which in a way warns the audience of the dullness that's to come. Hallstrom purposely chose the camera shots he uses throughout the film to give the film its homeliness. The recurring picture of the water tower in the background lets the audience appreciate Gilbert's responsibility. Gilbert's truck is also another frequent occurrence, which us see everyone in it, so we can observe their reactions and emotions to what is happening. This links to the camera shots through windows. These are also very common in the film and tie in with the â€Å"fly on the wall† technique, which is a favourite with reality T.V programs. As I previously said the film is like an observation of this family and this technique enables us to just watch them and feel like we are there with them, which makes us feel more ‘close' and we can sympathise with them because of their circumstances, as I'm sure that there is a little bit of Gilbert Grape in all of us. If you were a top famous Hollywood actor, would you be able to significantly play a mid-west, average twenty-odd year old man? In my opinion there would have been no one better than Johnny Depp in this case. He plays the part of Gilbert excellently, not over-the-top or over dramatic but perfectly, just how you'd imagine Gilbert to be after reading the novel. Compared to Depp's previous roles, such as in â€Å"Edward Scissorhands,† he really did have to act ‘down' in this film Johnny Depp is not the only actor in the film that I feel played an excellent performance. Leonardo Di Caprio also had a hard role to play as the ‘retarded' eighteen year old with the mind of a four year old. He obviously researched and thought greatly about how he should act such a difficult character, but he definitely pulled it off! Although the film is mainly pivoted around Arnie's eighteenth birthday party, the film has many sub-plots, which all have their own significance throughout the film. For instance the water tower, Mrs. Carver, the scenes in the cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ and a few others. These all bond the film together in order to make it what it is; a great family film. A really important recurring point that is made throughout the film is when Arnie says â€Å"we're not going anywhere.† In a way this is the key point of the whole film as only until the very end Gilbert has no choice but to stay in Endora and look after his mother and the rest of his family, unlike his older brother, Larry, who ‘got away' and went to college. And now, the question, what actually is eating Gilbert Grape? Personally I think that it is all his responsibilities but mainly, not looking after Arnie as much as having the burden of his overweight mother sitting at home doing nothing, him having to care for her and his siblings, when really it should be the other way around. Although I really enjoyed watching this film many people didn't and have slated it in the past. I think it depends on your own personal taste in films and what you expect and want from a film. And whatever that may be I recommend you watch â€Å"What's Eating Gilbert Grape.†

Service Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Service - Assignment Example In fact, the company had no policy on how to deal with chronically complaining clients versus this critical case of a one-time customer. According to Churchman, a system is defined as a distinct set of parts that are designed in a coordinated manner to deliver some set objectives (churchman, 1968). In the case of Presto cleaners, the entire business operations formed the core system, and the newly installed computer system was just an additional component to the system. The additional component was expected to streamline business operations and improve efficiency, but it ended up creating inconveniencies. A critical analysis of the vents reveals that the computer system installed was alright, but the root cause of the problem resulted from poor reception of the components into the system. The newly introduced computerized environment was responsible for a change in the system. It is plausible that the general manager at Presto had only one week to familiarize the personnel with the workings of the new computer system. However, the employees took longer than expected to acquaint themselves with the workings of the new system. Ion adequate training resulted in incompetent personnel, who ended up making grave mistakes leading to customer complaints. The system was designed and expected to reduce customer waiting time and improve service delivery. The system was expected to increase the rate of picking and dropping laundry items, hence increase the total bulk of clothes processed daily. It is apparent that there was nothing wrong with the whole system in the first place. It only required the management to create an enabling environment that will make it possible to introduce new components into the system in a smooth transition. The considerations of systems thinking as elucidated by Churchman can serve as vital ingredients in an organization

UKCCA Event Project assessment brief Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

UKCCA Event Project assessment brief - Essay Example Therefore, I project there will be a total of 500 fans. This is a good number which will enable the organizers to get adequate returns and make profits at the end of the event. Given that this is expected to be a spectacular event, it will have to be advertised to enable all the target audience to have adequate information about it. Because this event will be targeting the college students, adverts will be placed in the broadcast (TV) and online media. By using popular web sites and social media platforms, the organizers of this event will have to access the students who are so popular with these sites. Thus, they will acquire all the necessary information about it. In order to appeal to the target audience, all the necessary steps should be taken to ensure that event is made colorful and enjoyable. The target age group is made up of young excited and curious individuals who need to get a high level of satisfaction from such events (Carr, 2009). A part from inviting a renowned band of Jazz musicians to thrill them, the event organizers should extend their services to invite a DJ and offer a variety of dishes in the normal list of UKCCA menu. This will include the following meals: As a matter of fact, the organizers of this event are expected to incur lots of expenses. These will be used to cater for advertisement, hiring the artists, venue, staff and purchasing of food and drinks which will be consumed during the event. These expenses can be summarized in the table below: In order for this party to succeed as planned, there needs to be adequate preparation. Meaning, the organizers have to allocate enough time and resources. However, since it will not be a free event, each and every participant will have to be charged. No service will be granted free of charge. Therefore, the expected income is stated in the table below: Actually, one of the major objectives for

Management in context Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Management in context - Assignment Example According to the authors of this article, in order to avoid the negative connotation that have become associated with the title ‘manager,’ they have resorted to titles like professional, entrepreneur or project leader. The author not only expresses strong feelings about the behavior of managers but also condemns it, thereby calling for changes to be made on the responsibilities that go with this title. The way every context that the authors looks at the title is simple spellbinding, which therefore calls for serious research and analysis on management as a discipline in order to correct the situation (Brocklehurst, Grey and Sturdy, 2010). Surprises in JA2 Academicians and intellectuals in our business school are increasingly joining the chorus of castigating and condemning management practices which is a complete departure from the initial support that they exhibited on the management practice as we know it today. This article explores managers’ obsession with the so-called intellectual slavery with roots in explicit ideas that senior personnel in organization acquired in their respective business schools. According to the authors, the MBA has become a means of acquiring appropriate ways of management to gain self confidence for legitimate social privileges in senior management (Sturdy, Brocklehurst, Winstanley, et al, 2006). They are taught that managers cannot be trusted hence should maximize shareholder’ wealth in order to reconcile their interest and that of their employers (shareholder) as a way of overcoming the agency problems. This is particularly evident in cases where opportunities for application of management practices in organization are viewed as inappropriate within organizations. Therefore, tight monitoring should be an appropriate strategy of preventing people from pursuing opportunistic behavior at the expense of practices that are of the common good to the organization. It is in the context of this disparity that a regulatory framework should be devised as a mean of safeguarding the interests of the suppliers, customers, employees and most importantly, shareholder. The article however, points out the need to explore academic knowledge beyond that of transforming ideas of the discursive content to identify towards ideas associated with effective work .I suggest business school should provide moral theories inspired to free them from immoral responsibility by ensuring centrally based education in the organization. The evidence In both articles, authors defend their work by use of books, journals, web pages and research and study institution. According to Sturdy, Brocklehurst, Winstanley, et al (2006), there is more concern on the de-legitimization of a company as institutions and management as a profession. This will be brought about partly by the acceptance of these thoughts when ignored as vital elements of management. Several scholars have recently voiced their concern about the current state of management research and pedagogy. While training people on organization design focusing on transaction cost economics, it is imperative for trainers to ensure that there is firm monitoring as well as control of people so as to curb opportunistic behavior (Brocklehurst, Grey & Sturdy, 2010). Comparison The term management generally refers to

The reasons behind choosing creativity as the most core values of Essay

The reasons behind choosing creativity as the most core values of George Mason University - Essay Example Of this core values, creativity stands out as the most essential value, basing on the fact that I am a person who has a passion for creative things, ideas, and dislike routine tasks. I also like thinking widely and knowledge expansion is my goal. Very often, this value is taken for granted when people speak of creative works such as cooking, designing, art, and other tasks that evidently have to do with creating a tangible substance. Creativity to me is the core value that drives our daily activities. In being creative, one can take all that he or she knows, all that he did experience or thought of, all his beliefs, dreams, passions, and emotions; all is taken and reflected upon. Ultimately, such a person can come up with personal angle or a collection of ideas to develop a new skill. Reflecting upon all those likelihoods and taking the next step is what constitutes creativity. It means that we need creativity all the time, and thus, using the word creative specifically for individua ls who come up with something that had not been in existence puts down or ignores one’s own creative power. Whether the other students desire most the other core values at George Mason University, creativity is inevitable in their learning and work experience. They will have to create some things in most endeavors. The reflections come up as a result of what an individual is familiar with in one approach or another. Any imagination and a reflection upon it depend on how far one dares to create something new or fresh. It is more desirable for students to go beyond their comfort zone and avoid sticking to their normal routines. With this in mind, it really does not matter what one does, but is great to see what he or she can do with what is already available. Immediately a person gets more conscience about this core value, he can see that it is a value that we interact with all the time. Creativity as an essential value can inspire us to initiate new ideas, since it is most pro bably the most vital human resource. Without it, there would be little or no progress and the same patterns would be repeated for ever. It is a unique value and if it is blocked or ignored, it will never exist in any other means thus losing it completely. To avoid this risk, it calls upon every individual to leave whatever he treasures most or finds comfort in, and go far away from such instincts to discover the wonders of his being. In fact it is better to have some new, wrong ideas than having no ideas at all. Creativity is part of human nature. The most creative individuals find ways around impediments since they do not see them as roadblocks but as opportunities. Being creative makes us expand our insights, which comes along with new techniques of resolving problems. Moreover, creativity embraces originality and brings about exclusive connections between ideas that seem disparate. It is about living life as an expedition into sporting and speaking out the extra-ordinariness of s imple acts. It is actually true that the only way to make a person unique from the rest is how well he can think for himself, do what he likes most, what stimulates and challenges his mind everyday. Conclusion In each individual’s life, certain ideas and beliefs may matter most than others. Rating creativity, global community, integrity, team work, rigor, and diversity core values is a suitable way of matching a person’s work values with occupational characteristics. Even though I chose creativity as the value that resonates

Extended School Year in New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvannia Research Paper

Extended School Year in New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvannia - Research Paper Example Perhaps the greatest finding of the commission’s report was the fact that students present in other democratic countries (especially industrialized nations) were expected to take up to two times as much instructions in core academic areas during the course of a high school year than students being taught in high schools across the United States. (NECTL, 1994) 2. Relating Time and Learning Investigations into time and learning reveal that the amount of time spent on learning and the total learning acquired are directly related. Learning is affected consistently in a powerful manner based on the time allocated to learning. Moreover it has been found that schools that devote greater student time to learning tend to produce students with greater test scores in comparison to schools where student’s time is used up in other activities. (Walberg, Extended Learning Time, 1991) (Walberg, 1988) On the other hand there is no clear relationship between the amount of time allocated for instructing students in a school and the amount of time that students are engaged in various kinds of learning activities. Research carried out on the issue of time spent by students in school reveals that time is just one constituent that is required to ensure learning for students. This also indicates that merely increasing the time spent in schools is unlikely to produce any major changes in the amount of learning of students. The relationship between the amount of time spent and achievement does not present a strong case. Hence it is apparent that by only increasing the amount of time spent in schools will not produce large gains in learning by students. Therefore policy makers cannot expect to increase the amount of time spent in instructing students either in school days or school years in order to justify tremendous increases in learning. Another aspect often brought to light by most researchers is that the utilization of time is far more important than simple increases i n the time spent in school by students. As mentioned before mere mechanical increases in time are not likely to produce any major changes in the amount of learning or in academic achievement. However even then certain states are adding more and more time to their class times with some states adopting the school day approach while others adopt the school year approach. Based on these arguments it is pertinent to realize that time spent in the classroom should be optimized further in order to maximize learning in the classroom. This in turn leads to the question: How do aspects of learning and academic achievement get affected as time in the classroom is increased due to extended school year periods? Moreover should such a system be enforced in New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania? 3. Findings 3.1. Academic Achievement The effects of prescribing an extended day or year program for classrooms was only the subject of a very few studies that were reviewed. However the few pertinent stud ies reviewed indicated that some issues were worth noting. A study conducted on 181 kindergarten students was structured that one half received conventional schooling while the other half received extended year programs at school. The study examined the effect of additional school days on the children’