Academic Motivation Essay

After the excitement and anticipation of entering college have passed and the semester is well underway, have you found yourself less and less motivated to study, or even to attend class? Although you have more or less settled down and adjusted to living away from home, making new friends, and being on your own, are you finding that the academic area just doesn’t seem to hold your interest? If this is true, perhaps you need to explore your motivation in attending college. This is often a complicated matter and requires your honest assessment of yourself and of your feelings. The following suggestions are initial steps in examining your own academic motivations. 1. First and most importantly, ask yourself why are you in college. There are probably several reasons, the most important of which should be to get an education and to expand your mind by learning. In doing so, you look forward to increasing your value in the job market, but your immediate goal as a student is to learn as much as possible during your college years. Some reasons which people often place at the top of the list, but which are usually poor reasons are: a.Your parents wanted you to come. b.All your friends came to college. c.You want to postpone getting a job. d.You want to have fun. e.You want to get a start as an athlete. f.You want to look for a spouse. g.You didn’t know what else to do. See more: Sleep Deprivation Problem Solution Speech Essay 2. Begin the process of making a career decision as soon as possible. It isn’t necessary that you make a specific decision right away, but having a career direction will increase your motivation. Others (including parents) may be able to offer helpful advice, but the final choice for a career should be yours. 3. When exploring career options, be REALISTIC. You should consider your abilities, values, and interests in evaluating career options. The fact that your great uncle (or your roommate’s brother) chose medicine or law as a career doesn’t necessarily mean that should be your choice. 4. When you have decided on a career direction, you are then able more appropriately to choose a major. The course you attempt will begin to become more relevant, and you’ll be more motivated to study. 5. Examine your attitudes about college and yourself. If you positively approach your studies, your professors, your books, your fellow students, and yourself, you increase your academic motivation. A negative attitude produces negative results in performance. Beware of unexplored anger which can interfere with learning. Unresolved anger and unrealistic expectations of others only lead to frustration and disappointment. Remember, you are in charge of only one person and not of everyone you have contact with or of every situation you face. Don’t waste your energy on negative attitudes toward persons or situations you can’t control. 6. Become actively involved in the learning process. Participate in your class; be over-prepared (rather than under-prepared) for class discussions and exams. Don’t expect the professor to teach you everything. Instead make it a point to learn by additional self-directed study. As you become more involved, you tend to learn more. 7. Remember that college is not high school. If you follow the same old patterns, you may be a loser! In college you are responsible for yourself, your courses, your study hours, your social behavior, managing your time, setting limits, managing your money, and sustaining mental and physical health. Are you mature enough to handle all of this? Everyone isn’t; so, don’t feel you are a failure if you experience problems. The important thing is to recognize the problem and seek help! There are many people on campus who can help if you will look for them. 8. Make time for recreation. It is important to spend time away from studies in activities which are relaxing. Recreation and relaxation allow you to be more productive all around. 9. Set some goals. If you clearly state what you want to accomplish and how you can accomplish it, you are much more motivated and more likely to succeed. Write these goals down on paper along with concrete steps for reaching them. Then occasionally review these goals to see what success you are having. 10. Dwell on your successes and not your failures. Where is it written that you are not allowed to fail or miss the mark on occasion? Be kind to yourself and be proud of your strong points. Try to understand why you do not do other things well. Perfection is an uncomfortable companion or goal. 11. Never lose sight of the fact that you are responsible for your life and what you do with it. Problems arise when you feel like a slave. Remember, it should be your choice to be doing what you are doing. Ultimately, you are in control even when others ask or seemingly demand something of you. 12. Be flexible and adaptable. Be open to new experiences and receptive to new ways of looking at things. This allows growth and new learning. 13. Maintain a calendar or schedule. By so doing you will be aware of and better prepared for assignments and activities and can allot and schedule additional study time when needed. Keep a calendar so you’ll know when you should be more motivated. 14. Don’t expect to be motivated 100% of the time. We all have our ups and downs. Try to be aware of too many â€Å"downs,† find out why, and do something about them. The suggestions offered here are only a beginning for self-examination. Motivation is a complicated matter. These suggestions may be enough to help you become aware of what is affecting your motivation—or lack of it—but if you’d like further exploration, give us a call at 348-5175 or visit the Center for Academic Success, 124 Osband Hall.

Communication Strategies for Leaders Essay

A leader must be able to communicate effectively. When asked to define leadership, theorists and practitioners alike frequently use the words â€Å"influence,† â€Å"inspire† and â€Å"transform,† all of which depend on communication, verbal and nonverbal. Leaders lead through their words and actions. This text focuses on both, thus the emphasis throughout on emotional intelligence, the ability to understand the self and others (Barrett, 2011). Effective leadership communication requires the ability to anticipate to the potential interruptions in the transmission of the message, appreciate the context, understand the audience, select the right medium and craft a clear message that allows the meaning to reach the specific receiver as intended (Barrett, 2011). In my quest to achieve superior communication leadership skills I have had the opportunity to assess and evaluate my effectiveness in communication leadership. This personal assessment has indicated I must become more strategic as strategy is the foundation on which any effective communication depends on. Leaders must be able to analyze their audience in every situation and design a communication strategy that facilitates accomplishing their communication. Communication is critical to every organization and for any aspiring leader. I plan to be strategic in developing a plan to be a more effective communicator by reaching out to external constituents as that is an area for communication improvement. Overall, effective communication strategy depends on ones thinking and planning strategically understanding your audience, and structuring your communication for different situations, delivery methods, and audiences to ensure that you connect with your audience and deliver your intended message (Barrett, 2011). III. As a leader and manager in my organization I take pride in being an effective leader and communication. I have been at my non-profit organization for the past 6 years and have made significant improvement and learned to grow my communication skills. Owens (1998) mentions two key features of leadership which are: (1) the engagement of persons in a process that identifies them with goals, and (2) the potential to change the institutional environment (e.g. values, beliefs, etc.) by implementing diversity goals into the organizational culture. At the same time, I am a leader that promotes integrity to motivate ethical behavior across the entire organization. Also, it is important for me to create an open environment in which followers and employees feel free to speak up and come forward to me when any action needs to take place. Overall, I am always striving to be a better communicator in all situations as it teaches as I want to be recognized by others as a transformational leader. I consider my oral public speaking skills to be my major strength when communicating to internal colleagues at my organization. I am always poised to conduct presentations and participate in public speaking engagements. I always maintain a sense of confidence and take pride in my public speaking skills. At the same time, I feel much more comfortable in situations where I can communicate effectively with my team members and demonstrate my dynamic skills to engage them effectively. I tend to be a coach and a motivator among my employees. I use different means to get my employees to want to be better at their duties and take full ownership of their tasks and goals. I also have a lot of confidence in being able to utilize my skills in dealing with others feelings and communicating with them solutions to help them with their particular situation. I would consider my interpersonal communication skills with external relations as an area for improvement. I tend to be an extrovert when it comes to public speaking and very confidant with communicating with large audiences but I tend to be introverted when it comes to communication in smaller groups or individual communication with members of external organizations. Barrett (2011) suggests that selecting the right spokesperson to deliver external messages can be almost as critical as the message themselves. I need to work on this part of my communication leadership by participating in more social and networking events to work on my confidence in communicating with external constituents. I also plan to travel more with my executive leadership team and attend meetings and events to get a better understanding of how to communicate more effectively in my external communication. Improvement Goal Effective leadership communication requires the ability to anticipate to the potential interruptions in the transmission of the message, appreciate the context, understand the audience, select the right medium and craft a clear message that allows the meaning to reach the specific receiver as intended (Barrett, 2011). I always maintain a sense of confidence and take pride in my public speaking skills. At the same time, I feel much more comfortable in situations where I can communicate effectively with my team members and demonstrate my dynamic skills to engage them effectively which include motivating and coaching. I would consider my interpersonal communication skills with external relations as an area for improvement. I tend to be an extrovert when it comes to public speaking and very confidant with communicating with large audiences but I tend to be introverted when it comes to communication in smaller groups or individual communication with members of external organizations. I have action steps in place to help me in my leadership development which include attending more external corporate events and meetings with the executive team. Solicit feedback from executive team members concerning areas for improvement and change any behavior based on feedback. Also, I plan to participate in more networking events with external constituents. References Aamodt, M. (2013). Industrial/Organizational Psychology: An applied approach. Seventh edition. Cox et. al (2007). Evaluating organizational-level work stress interventions: Beyond tradition methods. Work & Stress, 21, 348-362. Ebbers, L., Conover, K., Samuels, A. (2010). Leading from the middle: preparing leaders for new roles. New directions for Community Colleges.Wiley Periodicals. Frese, M (2009). The changing nature of work. In N. Chmiel (Ed.) An introduction to work and organizational psychology (2nd ed., pp. 397-413). Oxford: Blackwell publishing. Lawler, E.E. (2001). Organizing for high performance. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Owens, Robert. (1998). Organizational Behavior in Education (6th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Pride and Prejudice Essay

Successful Marriage l: Biography Looked upon as being one of the most influential and popular writers during the romantic period, Jane Austen published many romance novels, such as her most famous, Pride and Prejudice. Austen focused her writings on the importance of â€Å"romantic love as a true happiness to marriage† (Olsen 426). Having not experienced marriage, Jane often based her stories off of her familys romance. Jane was born into a middle class family with very little income; Jane used her lack of money to inspire new novels. She mainly focused her novels over social standings and how love is haracterized as true happiness. Her focus on love began when her siblings married for money rather than love. Austen strived to fix the many family issues by creating â€Å"fairy tale stories† ending â€Å"happily with the heroines marrying the men they loved† (Ruth 50). Jane Austen wrote her novels around the controversy of whether love should be based upon increasing one’s â€Å"social status† or â€Å"falling in love† (Bernard 34). Jane creates romance novels to replace the love that’s missing in her life. From growing up in a poor family Jane rarely received the opportunity to find love and arry a suitable husband, giving her thoughts and dreams of what her life would be like if she found marriage through love. Austen’s novels portray that marriage shouldn’t be based upon personal wishes such as money or class, but for one to be happy one should find love. In the novel, Pride and Prejudice, the author shows that despite social pressure, for a marriage to be successful it must be based upon love. II: Pride and Prejudice The novel Pride and Prejudice is surrounded with young couples and the issue of marriage through social class and public opinion. Many critics follow Jane Austen’s heme that love builds to create a happy successful marriage. The critic Bilal Hasan follows Austen’s theme and supports the theory that one shouldn’t marry for money if they plan on being happy. Also, he believes that â€Å"through their relationship Jane Austen shows that a hasty marriage based on superficial qualities looks and leads to unhappiness† (Hasan). Both supporting Jane’s theme over happy marriage, the critic Rachel Davies uses the qualities of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth’s love to show a successful marriage. â€Å"Darcy and Elizabeth’s love is genuine, existing despite social arriers† (Davies). Davies relates Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth’s marriage to the marriage of Charlotte and Mr. Collins, comparing that due to the burden Charlotte held on her family, she created a limit to finding love. Charlotte became a â€Å"burden to her family’ when she became the age not very few men adored to marry; she hadn’t found love and caused her to marry for money (Olsen 425). Austen chooses to influence all the characters to show their struggles between them, providing that they all come to the reality that â€Å"without money, it is probable marriage will not happen† (Disney). Many focus on the differences in financial status when finding marriage. A woman who is a burden would more like to marry a man of wealthy class without caring whether she was in love. The character Elizabeth Bennet money. Jane Austen writes that for a man to best show his love for a woman, he would ask for her hand in the next dance at the ball. Money divides real love and incites false love initially in Pride and Prejudice. Love is shown to demolish the seeming impossibility of Darcy and Elizabeth’s marriage† (Davies). She does believe that there is a relation between love and money in marriage. Money to some she believes, can buy happiness, but love overpowers money and creates a strong everlasting bond in a marriage, while money can be lost. An example would be â€Å"when Darcy pays Wickham to marry Lydia, thus giving Elizabeth feelings towards Darcy for caring for her family’ (Davies). Austen herself faced the issues of money on marriage, creating a similar character named Charlotte. Despite that Austen never was forced to choose to marry for money instead of love; Jane created Charlotte in comparison how they both became a burden to their families. Charlotte later in Pride and Prejudice marries Mr. Collins, only to simply please her parents and â€Å"secure herself financially’, creating an unhappy marriage and making them â€Å"the darkest note in the novel† (Paris 34). By choosing to marry Mr. Collins, Charlotte increased her social status by removing herself from a burden to her family any longer. People cannot always fall in love where they choose, but their choice of a marriage partner should not be governed primarily by concerns for money or status† (Paris 34). Both critics Davies and Hasan support Jane’s theme, that love is the key to a successful happy marriage. Hasty marriages acting on impulse and based on superficial qualitie s will not survive and will lead to unhappiness† (Hasan). Davies continues to discuss the importance of marriage based upon love, yet also follows that money contributes to creating a happy marriage. There are very few critics who can argue that Austen doesn’t show that love creates a bond for successful marriage. Yet at the same time, arguing with her opinion, Jane states that money is also important in finding marriage. â€Å"Neither Elizabeth nor Colonel Fitzwilliam would marry for money, but they must hope to fall n love with someone who has money’ (Paris 34). Many women during the eighteenth century didn’t receive any of their familys money or dowries after the death of their father. Having no money caused many to search for a suitable wealthy husband, with the small hope of finding love in the process. The critic Katie Disney argues that Austen does not suggest the theme that love is the most important, but â€Å"shows her obvious unhappiness with the way marriages work† (Disney). The conversation between Mr. and Mrs. Bennet shows their desire to quickly marry their five daughters to rich well-known men. With higher class came the responsibility to find a wife similar to their class and share the wealth among their families. â€Å"It is truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife† (Austen 1). Jane makes clear that wealthy men of a higher class sought to find a bride similar to them. Yet, Jane contradicts her belief by making Mr. Darcy fall in love with Elizabeth Bennet, a lower middle class woman: â€Å"He is so much in love, however, that he decides to make a social sacrifice for the sake of personal satisfaction† (Paris 35). To most, money is seen as a necessary possession, but also is used to secure ones financial future: â€Å"Money in Pride and Prejudice is used to buy one’s way, or marry one’s way, to a higher social rank† (Copeland 74). There is no ruling that marriage should be solely founded either on love or money. Women are seen as the main audience of Pride and Prejudice, and as we grow up, we become planted with the notion of â€Å"ending happily ever after. † Love is always a major theme in every fairy tale; either a prince rescues the princess and they fall madly in love or the girl finds her true love and is destined to live a happy life. The novel Pride and Prejudice is seen by many as one of the most famous fairy tales. Jane Austen creates the novel based upon her dreams of what her life could be. A fairy tale doesn’t always consist of witches and dragons, yet Austen creates characters who share similar characteristics. The character Lady Catherine shares the qualities of an evil witch who wishes happiness for none but herself. Austen creates Lady Catherine as a wealthy woman of high society who looks down to everyone, believing that marriage should remain within the family and love is unimportant. Pride and Prejudice can be related to a fairy tale not only for its characters but for its happy ending. The novel can be compared to one of the most known fairy tales, Cinderella. Mr. Darcy is the wealthy sophisticated prince who falls in love with the maiden, Elizabeth Bennet. Elizabeth fantasizes of one day finding the man of her dreams. Another comparison to Cinderella would be that Elizabeth as well as Cinderella is first introduced to her future husband at a ball. Also, both female characters at first play hard to get. In the beginning Elizabeth is disgusted by Mr. Darcy and his arrogance towards those of lower class. Social status was important in the eighteenth century; many women were born into lower class but were not accepted into society unless they married a wealthy man. Yet, in the end Elizabeth falls madly in love with Darcy and of course they live â€Å"happily ever after† Just like in a fairy tale. Even in animated movies today such as Shrek, the fairy tale romance of living happily ever after exists. The main character Shrek, in this movie is in much relation to Elizabeth due to their social standings. Both have little to offer for those of higher class such as Darcy or Fiona. Despite the fact that she is also an ogre, Fiona is the daughter of the King and Queen. Even though their social standards are very different they are able to overcome this because of their strong love they have for each other. In the end of the movie, Shrek leaves the audience with the allusion of this couple living happily ever after. Not everyone searches for love and many don’t believe they will every fall in love. Often we wonder if love can truly be the answer to one’s happiness. In many ways love is unknown, but we must open our heart to possible opportunities. Yes fairy tales can be thought of as make believe, but they also provide a base for a life e can all hope and dream about. Like Pride and Prejudice all of Jane Austen’s novels follow the theme of love conquering all. Austen created her novels based upon the dreams and life she never had. Much like her characters, Austen dreamed of falling madly in love and living happily ever after. All of Austen’s books leave female readers with the hope of finding their true soul mate. Reading a Jane Austen novel is a way to escape everyday pressures and explore a world of love and passion. Many couples today must overcome the obstacles of social pressure and money; however successful marriages are based upon love.

A Psychological Analysis of Alice Walkers Everyday Use Essay -- Every

The human mind is divided into three parts that make up the mind as a whole. These parts are necessary to have a complete mind, just as the members of a family are needed to make up the entire family. The use of components to equal a whole is often exercised in literature. Alice Walker's short story, "Everyday Use," contains the idea of family and of the mind, therefore her work can be evaluated through psychological methods. Through their actions, the characters symbolize the three different parts of the mind: the id, the ego, and the superego. The first type of mind division, the id, "constantly strives to satisfy basic drives...[and] seeks immediate gratification" (Myers 379). In "Everyday Use," Dee's personality is equivalent to the id because she seeks her own personal gain and does not necessarily consider the consequences of her actions. Mama, the narrator in "Everyday Use," says that "Dee wanted nice things. She was determined to stare down any disaster in her efforts" (Walker 92). Dee strives for satisfaction in all she does; she will do everything in her power to get what she desires. The story recounts a situation in which Dee wants some quilts that were stiched by her grandmother, but Mama has already promised these treasures to Dee's sister, Maggie. Mama said that as she "[moved] up to touch the quilts. Dee moved back just enough so that [Mama] couldn't reach the quilts. They already belonged to [Dee]" (Walker 96). Mama explains that Dee is determined to gain possession of the quilts. Although the quilts belong to her mother, Dee has already mentally determined that the quilts belong to her. Dee's personality is comparable to the id branch of the The use of psychological strategies in the Walker's work shows that the characters are joined and create one unit, a family. Works Cited Alice Malsenior Walker: An Annotated Bibliography, 1968-1986. Eds. Louis H. Pratt and Donnell D. Pratt. Connecticut: Meckler Corporation, 1988. Everyday Use: Alice Walker. Ed. Barbara T. Christian. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1994. Myers, David G. Exploring Psychology. Third edition. New York: Worth Publishing, 1996. Walker, Alice. "Everyday Use." Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Sixth edition. Eds. X.J. Dennedy and Dana Gioia. New York: Harper Collins, 1995. http://www.dc.peachnet.edu/~shale/humanities/composition/handouts/sample/walker.html http://www.luminarium.org/contemporary/alicew/ http://www.seattletimes.com/extra/browse/html97/altalic_051697.html

Should Animals Have Their Own Rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Should Animals Have Their Own Rights - Essay Example The author of the reprot talks about Alan Holland’s review of animal rights which depicts depth and richness, making it a helpful tool in solving disputes and practical problems. This report can be viewed as one side of a discourse with Holland, focusing on the main themes in this area of study. The report will start by characterizing speciesism, including a claim that many individuals are in support of rejecting it, irrespective of the fact that they never fail to sanction what is apparently the obvious effects of rejecting the issue. This paper will relate this failure to the historical views over the interrelations between humans, nature and other animals, which is still depicting wide disparities. This report holds that, while a thorough anti-speciesism values the maxim that ‘humans are an aspect of the natural world’, these dodges will not be present. The paper will reach a conclusion, through a discussion of the consistency of anti-speciesist’s resolu tion of the rewilding nature. The points explained through the paper include that under the issue of predation and eating meat, a guardian farmer of a domesticated animal holds the right to slaughter it for meat or trade it for money and the goodness of humans as compared to the cruelty of the wild, bestows extra rights on the human than the animal. Thirdly, when using the case of rewilding nature, man holds more rights to animals due to the services they offer to the natural world and animals (Signal and Taylor 147-157). Under speciesism and the view on the rights of animals, many people in today’s world will regard that animals hold rights. This is evident from popular parlance, informal polls and recent legislation. In jurisdictions like California, Colorado, Boulder and Berkeley, people are not viewed as the owners of pets, but instead, they are viewed as the guardians to their animal companions (AMVA). During the mid 1990s, the NORC (National Opinion Research Center) at the University of Chicago questioned a sample representing the American population, whether they were in agreement with this statement: â€Å"animals should hold the moral rights that humans have†. From the surveys, 35% of the respondent in one survey and 39% in the second were in agreement or strongly in agreement with the statement (Regan 205-211). The results from the survey could understate the universal sentiments held about animals, because not all anti-vivisectionists and vegetarians hold that animals posses rights. Further, it is not that all the people that regard animals have rights, view that they hold as much rights as human beings. For example, it is a fact that humans and all species of animals posses similar moral rights. For instance, humans hold the right to engage in their religious practices, and eagles hold the right to fly in the sky, but humans do not hold the right to flight, and neither do eagles hold rights to religious practices. The comparison shows that in the case that a given entity hold certain rights, the rights are linked to the capacity of the given entity. For example, only the creatures that can engage in religious practices hold the rights to practice religion, and only the creatures that can fly hold the right to flight. However, it is not that all capacities are linked to a given area of rights, for example, considering that humans hold the capacity to murder, but they do not hold the r

Data Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Data Analysis - Essay Example lyse the association between increase in productivity and decrease in cost, decrease in lost images, increase in quality of images, decrease in repeated examination/rejected films, and examination time. As can be seen from figure 4 to 7, it appears that there was strong or very strong association between increase in productivity and variables decrease in cost, decrease in lost images, increase in quality of images, decrease in repeated examination/rejected films, and examination time. The strongest correlation was between increase in productivity and decrease in examination time, therefore, taking variable decrease in examination time as independent variable for predicting increase in productivity (dependent variable). Decrease in examination time significantly predicted increase in productivity,  ÃŽ ² = .90,  t(48) = 14.07,  p   In conclusion, there is strong association between increase in productivity and decrease in cost, decrease in lost images, increase in quality of images, decrease in repeated examination/rejected films, and examination

Reflection Aging Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Reflection Aging - Essay Example A person who does not go through these stages is considered to be experiencing abnormal aging (OConnor, 1994).  . According to Birren & Schaie (2001), normal aging does not involve necessarily becoming senile. Senile can be said to be weaknesses or a disease as one grows old. However, becoming senile is not normal aging. It depends on factors such as food, heredity, social support, mental abilities among others. Normal aging therefore brings about changes in eyesight, taste, smell, brain, heart, body fat, touch and smell among others. Nevertheless, it does not bring any diseases. The physiological change that concerns me the most is the diminished eyesight. The changes in eyesight lead to the loss of the ability to judge depth when objects are near or far. The peripheral vision also decreases leading to blurred vision and even blindness at very advanced ages. Moreover, decreased eyesight leads to decreased clarity of colours. Loss of the eyesight is more worrying than any other changes as it leads to not being able to see clearly or even walk without help. Albert, M. L., Connor, L. T., & Obler, L. K. (2000).  Neurobehavior of language and cognition: Studies of normal aging and brain damage: honoring Martin L. Albert. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic