Reflective Essay Example Topics

Reflective Essay Example TopicsReflective essay examples are the perfect way to spice up your writing skills and your essay for that matter. With a little bit of practice, you will be able to create your own reflective essay topics that will interest the reader and drive them to read it. Your goal should be to increase your chances of winning a college essay contest by creating original reflective essay topics that appeal to readers. Here are some reflective essay examples to get you started.In this reflective essay example, you will learn about identity and how it relates to college students. What is identity? It is the part of a person's self that is considered by others to be who they are. This includes their sense of individuality, ethnicity, religion, nationality, sex, etc.Identity is a very important part of who people are, but not everyone is conscious of this fact. Many times we try to fit in with the crowd and this results in people believing what others say about them witho ut thinking about it. This leads to rejection from those who do not have the same ideas and beliefs as we do. How can we use this knowledge to write a reflective essay on identity?Identity is not something that we are born with. We are all the same in some ways, but not in others. Each person must decide for themselves what they are, and how they want to see themselves. Their personal feelings and opinions to determine what they believe about themselves. They may reject certain parts of themselves that others accept or embrace.Identity is important because it is who you are. People accept many things about themselves, but there is no one correct way to look at your own self. We can all make the choice to change some aspects of our personalities or look at things from a different angle. However, we can never really change our inner-selfand what we believe about ourselves. This is an important concept to understand when writing a reflective essay.Another reflective essay example is ba sed on the challenge of pursuing happiness. Happiness is such a big word to describe how you feel inside. Happiness varies from person to person, and even from day to day. Many people look at a bright sunny day and have the same happiness, whereas others have the exact opposite feeling.Happiness is simply a state of mind. If you are happy when you are sad, then you will be happy when you are happy. However, if you are unhappy and worried about things, then you will be unhappy when you are happy. This is why it is so important to write reflective essays on your own experiences and changes in life.These reflective essay examples can help you grow as a writer and thinker. Think about what you would change about yourself if you were given a second chance, and reflect on what life would be like with that new attitude.

Danielle Dawkins Essays - Crime, United States, Free Essays

Danielle Dawkins Essays - Crime, United States, Free Essays Danielle Dawkins Dr. Bentzen American Government 4/1/17 Racial Disparity and Mass Incarceration T he United States of America is home to the largest prison system in the world, with more than 2.3 million citizens behind bars, which represents a staggering 943 percent increase within the past century. Making up only 5 percent of the entire world population, the U.S. makes up 25 percent of the prison population globally. These app alling statistics are a product of systemic and structural oppression, which is the foundation for Mass incarceration itself. The history of mass incarceration dates back to the Reconstruction era (1865-1877). Directly after the Civil war, the south was in tatters because an integral part of its economy had been demolished: slavery. As stated by the 13 th amendment, "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any plac e subject to their jurisdiction." One should take notice to the loophole within the 13 th amendment, as exploitation of such took place immediately. Essentially, African Americans couldn't be held as slaves , but the y could be held as prisoners for the purpose rebuilding the south. At an alarming rate, many were imprisoned by the masses for petty "crimes " that otherwise would not have mattered. This period of the late 19 th century marked the first major prison boom, and it laid the groundwork for the rapid growth of mass incarceration that's still occurring to this d ay. Four presidents can be credited for this monstrosity of a prison system: Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton. From the "war on poverty" to the 1994 crime bill, I will expound upon the political initiatives of each of these presidents, and how their historic policies disproportionately impacted the African American community. About a century after the reconstruction period, Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and launched many other political initiatives with egalitarian-like values. In March of 1 965, President Johnson had three bills sent to congress in hopes of furthering his p rogressive agenda. Two bills included the Housing and Development Act of 1965 , which instituted the subsidization of private homes for those of a lower socioeconomic status, an d the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which granted black Americans in the south the opportunity to fully exercise their right to vote. Although these bills were crafted with good intentions, they were actually deeply rooted in assimilationist-like assumptions held by conservatives on black culture. Conservatives were locked onto the premise that constructs such as race and class were not factors of poverty, but rather a "subculture" ridden with " s ocial pathologies" , such as illegal drug use and stre et crime . A sociologist by the name of Katherine Beckett stated, "The misbehaviors of the poor were transformed from adaptations to poverty th at had an unfortunate effect of reproducing it into character failings that accounted for poverty in the first place." T herefore, t his commonly shared belief of black communities prompted President Johnson to constitute the official "War on Poverty" . So, it should be no surprise that at the peak of his progressive agenda, Johnson introduced the Law Enforcement Assistance Act (LEAA), which essentially sparked the militarization of local police operations in small black communities. In Johnson's own words, "the federal Government will henceforth take a more meaningful role in meeting the whole spectrum of problems posed by crime." This new legislation officially transformed the "War on Poverty" into the "War on Crime" . Johnson's successor, Richard Nixon took the "War on Crime" to a level of extreme punitive a ctions that caused a drastic upsurge in incarcerated bodies, while leaving a permanent scar of thousands of families for years to come. Nixon rose to power on dog whistle politics, which are racially coded appeals that catered to that segregationists and a ssimilationists alike. He utilized fearmongering politics in order to instill yet even more prejudice and fear into Americans across the country. All seventeen of his politica l speeches were dedicated to restoring law and order, and his infamous campaign ad featured images

Critical Historical Film Review Essay 300 words

Critical Historical Film Review 300 words - Essay Example However, the German armored vehicles used in World War II were much harder to depict as very few exist in operating condition.1 The movie counters images of warriors portraying heroism by disclosing the real horror of combat and is in a lot of ways an antiwar story. Although this film depicts war brutality, it preserves the American soldiers’ likeness in World War II as being naturally reluctant to cruelty and bloodshed. The argument presented by this story would have been well reciprocated by a 1940s audience since an American soldier was seen to be patriotic. Further, a family man who went to the battle field was viewed as serving his obligation to both his country and family. In this view, it is in order to conclude that the film’s depiction of the actual happenings of the historical event was quite accurate.2 Â  However, this film is portrayed not as a 1940s production, but as a late 20th century production owing to Spielberg’s emphasis on heroism by an individual at the expense of the democratic community. In the 1940s, the realization of democracy rested on a sagacity of reciprocity of individuals and institutions largely governing their lives. Spielberg’s story of moral men represents to a great extent the concern of the late twentieth century with the singular person in the past, present, and

Alcohol Based Solution and Standard Handwashing Essay

Alcohol Based Solution and Standard Handwashing - Essay Example It concluded that hand-rubbing with liquid aqueous alcoholic solution could be safely used as an alternative to traditional hand-scrubbing in surgical practices. 2. The research done by Girou, et al. at 3 intensive care units in a university hospital in France, 12 healthcare workers were allocated to hand-rubbing with a waterless alcohol based solution and 11 were allocated to hand-washing with antiseptic soap. It concluded that the median percentage reduction in bacterial contamination with hand-rubbing was significantly higher than with hand-washing. 3. Research conducted by Karabay, et al. 35 nurses were randomly selected from a nursing staff of 141 and divided into 2 groups: hand rubbing and hand washing. Hand rubbing with alcohol-based solutions significantly reduced the bacterial contamination of the hands of the nurses more than hand washing with an antimicrobial soap. Compliance was also better in the hand rubbing group than in the hand washing group. While framing our hypothesis we should consider the objective of our research. The purpose of this research is to compare hand-hygiene and skin condition after hand-rubbing with an alcohol based solution or washing our hands with an antiseptic soap. So, the primary object of our comparison would be 'hand-hygiene'. To measure hand-hygiene, we make a natural assumption that "Hands with lesser bacterial contamination are more hygienic". ... So, the primary object of our comparison would be 'hand-hygiene'. To measure hand-hygiene, we make a natural assumption that "Hands with lesser bacterial contamination are more hygienic". Therefore we frame the following hypothesis as our 'Null Hypothesis'. H0: The median percentage reduction in bacterial contamination using Alcohol Based Solution (ABS) is greater than that with hand-washing with liquid soap solution (LSS). i.e. H0: MeABS > MeLSS Our 'Null Hypothesis', in simpler words states that by using Alcohol Based Solutions we kill more bacteria on our hands and achieve disinfection better than liquid soap solutions. Our 'Null Hypothesis' thus assumes the objective of our research to be true. So, in a similar manner we can also state our 'Alternative Hypothesis' as: Ha: The median percentage reduction in bacterial contamination using Alcohol Based Solution is less than or equal to that with hand-washing. i.e. Ha: MeABS MeLSS Step 2: To Formulate an Analysis Plan For our analysis, we would be using the data obtained from three separate research projects carried out on similar topic. 1. Research conducted by Parienti, et al. at six surgical services from teaching and non-teaching hospitals in France, conducted between January 1, 2000 and May 1, 2001. In their research, "surgical services used two hand cleaning methods alternatively every month: a hand-rubbing protocol with 75% aqueous alcoholic solution and a hand-scrubbing protocol with antiseptic preparation." (Parienti et al, 2002) Thirty-day surgical site infection rates were the primary factor being monitored. 2. In the research done by Girou, et al. at 3 intensive care units in a university hospital in France in 2002, 23 nurses and nursing assistants had volunteered to participate. "12

Historical experience leader was not trusted Essay Example for Free

Historical experience leader was not trusted Essay Terry finished from college as an engineer with excellent grades. He got jobs with several companies within the space of two years after graduation. He decided to change job because of harsh environment conditions of the location of the companies. After staying at home for three months, he got another job with a university as an IT assistant, in charge of networking and system repairs. He was enjoying himself in this company: a young university graduate with bright future. He was very dedicated to the discharge of duties. Because of dedication to duty, he was loved by all and sundry. He actually also had good human relationships. During his stay in the company, he had three major plans: settle down for a family with his girl-friend. He wanted to continue his education by bagging a postgraduate degree in Information and communication technology. He also had a business plan to accomplish that would be open the door for his self-employment and own his company. Because of these, he was ready to get as much experience as possible. He was poised to learn as mush as would come his way. And he did. However, he started developing problems with his Unit director who felt he was outshining him in the Unit. They argued on several occasions about they had to do on network problems affecting the University Internet access. At last, he got a sack letter. He left the company. He did not particularly see the sack as a major problem: it was an opportunity for him to actually work on his plans. So, he set forth. He drew up his business plan: got fund from the savings and investments he had made while gainfully employed, from friends and family members. He got a vantage position for his IT Company that provides information and services on Website designs, PC sales and repairs, Internet access and Computer training. He got started with a number of hardworking staff. He made them understand that since the business is new, they had to see themselves as part of a team that must work hard to see that customers are satisfied, their requirements met and services delivered effectively. These workers understood and dedicated their time and energy to the progress of the Company. They trusted his knowledge and managerial skills. They were also ready to make sacrifices for the Company. I got employed into the company as a Customer Service agent in charge of customer relations and keeping a journal of order delivery status. I noticed that Terry had a problem with his girlfriend and he had to break up. This affected his mood and outlook to work in the office. During this time, he lost his vigor and strength. We got talking about many things, including our personal lives. He was articulate and intelligent. But he could not keep to schedule nor meet appointments. A lot of customers and some members of staff complained on this. He promised to change. But he did not. Apart from this, he refused to pay salaries for the first two months. This was not surprise to us as we knew that the Company was getting up and we understood that a lot of money had to go into the running of a new company. After the third month, we met to discuss why salaries had not been paid. The Accounting unit reported that the Company could pay its workers. Against his will, they also told those present that some people have been selectively paid. This got the ‘unpaid’ workers annoyed and seriously vexed. We demanded for an explanation form the Boss. He was ready, as usual to give excuse and sweet-tongued us into this same old story: the Company is just catching up, and soon, all will be well. He supported his point with facts and figures convincing those paid are on special contract. He also used the opportunity to chastise workers who had not been working, especially those he had proposed to and they refused his advances. It later dawned on us that the company leader was making advances to many female workers in the office; those who agreed got paid and those who did not were chastised for their disobedience and were also not paid salaries. I was disappointed to come to this conclusion. I was learning a lot on the job, so I did not want to leave. After five months of endurance, we were paid for three months. I make proposal to opt out of the company because the situation grew worse daily. I called him several times to advise him but he would tell me I was young and had limited experience. Complaints by staff intensified daily. He sacked some, and others opted out willingly . The Situation became embarrassing: virtually everybody in the company knew about the ordeal. After series of threats, all salaries were paid. By then, he had lost a lot of resourceful workers. I also left the Company but not without lessons: little disappointments add up to big distrust. Trust is a major tool that makes communication effective. Anyone that loses this all-important trait is building a castle on sand, it would not last. It’s only a matter of time: it would fall. The company no longer exists. It has now been closed down. Terry had to get a paid job to pay his debts.

Of Mice And Men :: essays research papers

Of Mice and Men, was a disturbing tale of friendship, and animosity and immoral nature of the human race. Along the Salinas River and underneath the Gablian Mountains of California during the Great Depression of the 1930’s this novel takes place. A famous writer by the name of John Steinbeck, who was also born in California, is the author of this book. He has also has written many other good books such as The Grapes of Wrath, Cannery Row, and Winter of Our Discontent for which he won a Nobel Prize. He is truly a great writer, and Of Mice and Men is no exception, but while reading this book I was greatly troubled by its ending. I can see why it is an excellent novel, but at the same time it left me with a kind of unpleasant feeling in the back of my mind. I can’t see how an author could write a book with such a short and sudden ending. The last images he leaves the reader with is George and Slim walking off as Curly says â€Å" Now what in the hell is eating them?† thus the book ends on a harsh, cruel note, topped off by the lack of understanding and compassion of an extraordinarily immoral and cruel man. Whatever Steinbeck’s intent for writing such a jarring ending, he leaves the reader with a powerful sense of the world’s immorality. In this book there were several characters, but only a few had significant roles. I would have to say Lennie is the protagonist of the book even though George is an extremely critical character as well. Lennie Small is described as being a monstrous man with the mind of a child, a shapeless face, big pale eyes, sloping shoulders, and big feet that dragged a bit when he walked, much like a bear. George has taken Lennie under his wing and thus Lennie depends solely on George for everything. Ever since Lennie has been with George, he has told Lennie stories of a great place, with a cabin all to their selves, and rabbits for Lennie to care for. This leads me to his next obsession for feeling and caressing soft things such as fur, velvet, or human hair. This is eventually his downfall as when he kills Curley’s wife when he wants to feel her hair. Lennie is not an evil or devious man.

Foreign market entry strategies Essay

â€Å"Firms which participate in the business system as partners complement the company and its suppliers, thereby increasing the value to customers†. Explain your understanding of this view and provide examples to reinforce your arguments. For a company, entering new foreign markets may be achieved in a variety of ways. Each of these ways places its unique demands on the company in terms of organizational and financial resources. Most of the times, entering international markets is not a matter of choice but of necessity to remain competitive in new or established markets by meeting the consumer’ needs and values. The decision to go international represents an important commitment, to go into a new line of activity, this being the reason why it should be taken step by step: obtaining information, analyzing them, formulating alternative action plans, (Tookey, 1975) and of course find the right partners that match the company brand image and values. The international business system model is focused on the advantages determined by the internationalisation process and less on the development process of the internationalisation of companies. The main scope obtained by applying the Uppsala Model is predicting the company’s evolution on foreign markets. Two elements are at the basis of the model: the notion of essentiality attributed to the process and the notion of physical distance. The internationalisation of a multinational company takes place step by step, according to the Uppsala Model, which minimises the risks regarding the new market (Johanson; Wiedersheim-Paul, 1975). Therefore, the company is being involved gradually (investments, control and profit), getting to the point of creating a production subsidiary which ensures also the selling of the products on the new market. The stages of the internationalisation process are presented in Appendix 1. The concept of physical distance, the second element the Uppsala Model is based upon determines the companies to select, in a first stage, the neighbour countries in order to reduce the cultural, economical, political differences. According to this approach, the bigger the physical distance, the bigger is the incertitude about the new market and bigger the risks associated to this market. In the view of the globalisation phenomena, there are numerous criticisms about the â€Å"physical distance† notion. Many papers have developed the subject of the company’s internationalisation; a special place holds J. Birkinshaw who analysed the problems regarding the role of the subsidiaries and the evolution of the mandated in the internationalisation process at the multinational’s level. Therefore, Birkinshaw and Hoods (1998) have shown that creating a subsidiary can be explained on the basis of the interactions between the decisions of the mother-company, the initiatives o f the subsidiary and the specific conditions existing on the new market. The model developed by Birkinshaw (1997) is based on three variables: The relation headquarters – subsidiary; the subsidiary’s initiatives and the local environment. Regarding the internationalisation process, the company has more options (see Appendix 2) The first choice is represented by the development of the existing markets and it is being used by companies that are acting on highly competitive markets; the second choice – the company can choose to develop its activity on new markets, similar to the ones they are already acting on – in this case, they are usually choosing to export their products; the third strategy is developing a new line of products similar to the ones they already have and which will be sold on similar markets- in this case the company can choose between strategic alliances: creating a joint venture or licensing. . Management’s involvement in export operations is different, as we talk about passive exporters (when selling abroad is induced by the demand existing on the foreign market, meaning that the business is initiated by the importer) or active exporters (when the operation is initiated by the seller, which has an export strategy and a suitable business plan (Popa, 2006) From the operational point of view, exporters can be indirect exporters(with the participation of trading houses), when it isn’t necessary to create an organizational structure specific to the export activity or direct exporters, which is made by the producer, which is creating services or departments for international business. The determinants of export behaviour are experience and uncertainty effects; behavioural and firm-specific influences and strategic influences. 1. Experience and uncertainty effects Knowledge and learning regarding the exporting activity may be possessed or accumulated by the company in time. Experience has a key role, as firm’s involvement in international markets is most of the time a gradual process. During the early stages of exporting, firms have a more concentrated foreign market focus, while increased involvement in foreign market encourages diversification to a wider range of markets. As a firm’s knowledge of an export market increases, the uncertainty factor diminishes. This knowledge allows the identification of concrete opportunities, as distinct from theoretical that may be apparent from objective knowledge. 2. Behavioural and firm-specific influences Recent theories of exporting are strongly influenced by the behavioural theory of the firm, which stresses decision-maker characteristics, organizational dynamics and constraints, ignorance and uncertainty as key variables in decision making. Exporting has been described as a development process based on a learning sequence involving six stages Bilkey and Tesar, 1977): Stage 1: the firm is not interested in exporting Stage 2: the firm supplies unsolicited business, doesn’t examine the feasibility of active exporting Stage 3: the firm examines the feasibility of exporting in an active way Stage 4: experimental exports on neighbour countries Stage 5: the firm becomes an experienced exporter Stage 6: the firm explores the feasibility of exporting to additional countries of greater business distance. According to Welch (1982), the export commitment is influenced by four groups of factors (see figure 4): pre-export activities, direct export stimuli, latent influences on the firm and the role of the decision-maker. 3. Strategic influences The opinion among researchers and managers is divided on the issue of the relation between the firm size and export success. Still, the importance of a positive managerial attitude to exporting and the necessity of committing managerial and financial resources to the internationalization process are crucial to the success of the firm, irrespective of size. As a mode of international market entry, strategic alliances allow the firm (Bradley, 2002): †¢ Access to assets not readily available in the market †¢ Access to technology and markets †¢ The smaller firms can have access to technology and new products †¢ The larger firms can have access to markets †¢ Synergetic effects in the partner firms. Choosing the way to enter a foreign market represents an important part of the foreign direct investment strategy. The companies should select the new market, decide upon the types of operations that are about to be developed on these markets and decide the type of entry –green field investments, acquisitions, joint ventures. Choosing the way to enter a foreign market was also explained through cultural and national factors. Many studies have been concerned about this topic: †¢ Kogut and Singh (1988) after researches have concluded that a big cultural distance between the country of origin and the host country have as a result choosing joint ventures or green field investments. †¢ Gatignon and Anderson (1988) have shown that an important socio-cultural distance, measured with the help of the Index developed by Ronen and Shenkar (1985) – goes to the partial propriety right. †¢ Gatignon and Anderson (1988) have concluded that multinational companies avoid having 100% owned subsidiaries in high risk countries. †¢ Cho and Radmanabhan (1995) have shown that companies from Japan are not willing to make acquisitions in developing countries. Choosing the joint venture as a mechanism to enter new markets (especially the developing countries and the ones with centralised economy) is usual ly a second-best option for the companies from developed countries. Still, the companies show through this the major interest for the local market; the participation in the joint-venture could be qualified as a foreign direct investment. Many times, this mechanism represents the only way to be present on a certain market. Licensing in international markets: License is the purchase or sale by contract of product pr process technology, design and marketing expertise (Bradley, 2002). It involves the market contracting of knowledge and know-how. International licensing takes place when a company provides, for a certain fee-royalty, a technology needed by another company in order to operate a business in a foreign market. Licensing of this firm involves one or more of these elements: †¢ a brand name †¢ operations expertise †¢ manufacturing process technology †¢ access to patents †¢ trade secrets. Licensing may be attractive when host countries restrict imports or foreign direct investment, or when the market is small and when the prospects of technology feedback are high. Franchising to enter international markets: Franchising is a derivative of licensing. In franchising a business format is licensed, not a product or a technology. Trademarks, trade names, copyright, designs, patents, trade secrets and know-how may all be involved in different mixtures in the „package† to be licensed. Franchising is a form of marketing and distribution in which the franchisor grants an individual or company, the franchisee, the right to do business in a prescribed manner over a certain period of time, in a specified place (Ayling, 1986). A franchise is, according to International Franchise Association (IFA), the agreement or license between two legally independent parties which gives: †¢ a person or group of people (franchisee) the right to market a product or service using the trademark or trade name of another business (franchisor) †¢ the franchisee the right to market a product or service using the operating methods of the franchisor †¢ t he franchisee the obligation to pay the franchisor fees for These rights †¢ the franchisor has the obligation to provide rights and support to franchisees. Types of Franchises There are two main types of franchises: product distribution and business format. Product distribution franchises simply sell the franchisor’s products and are supplier-dealer relationships. In product distribution franchising, the franchisor licenses its trademark and logo to the franchisees but typically does not provide them with an entire system for running their business. The industries where you most often find this type of franchising are soft drink distributors, automobile dealers and gas stations. Some familiar product distribution franchises include: Pepsi, Exxon, Ford Motor Company. Although product distribution franchising represents the largest percentage of total retail sales, most franchises available today are business format opportunities. Business format franchises, on the other hand, not only use a franchisor’s product, service and trademark, but also the complete method to conduct the business itself, such as the marketing plan and operations manuals. Business format franchises are the most common type of franchise. The United States, today reported that the 10 most popular franchising opportunities are in these industries: fast food, retail, service, automotive, restaurants, maintenance, building and construction, retail—food, business services, lodging. The many advantages and disadvantages of owning a franchise should be carefully evaluated before deciding to purchase one. Throughout all these different foreign market entry strategies, by understanding every characteristic detailed we can conclude that partnership can be at the core of international marketing decisions and enable possibilities of internationalisation. Partnerships can be structured in various ways depending on their purpose. Wholly foreign-owned enterprises, non-equity/contractual/co-operative strategic alliances, equity strategic alliances/joint ventures, and franchises, are basic types of formal partnerships. There are numerous other types of informal partnerships including; joint marketing & promotion, joint selling or distribution, technology licensing, R & D contracts, design collaboration, production agreements, and other synergies. Consequently, the ideal partner in a business partnership is one that has resources, skills and assets and values which complement the company. The partnership has to work financially and contractually, but it is also essential that a partner’s areas of strength and weakness are known and that an assessment is made of what actions would be needed to achieve an appropriate level of operational fit between the cultures of the two organisations. To meet the market needs effectively and in a sustained way, the business partnership must be based on a systematic and transparent agreement between the client and the partners (common values). That agreement provides the basis for a partnership deal and has to be sufficiently strong to engage the sustained commitment of both parties but also sufficiently flexible to enable the partnership to be responsive to changes in market needs and conditions. Being at the forefront partners are an extension of the company capability, image and valu es perceived by the consumer, therefore, complement the company by increasing the value to customers. For instance, Sony is an international and reputed company for its high standards range of TVs. Today, within the UK market, Sony position itself as a seller of durable and high end products by practicing a selective distribution. Their products are mostly found at Sony Centres (Sony own shop) or PC Currys World, exclusive partner (distributor) chosen by Sony well known in the market and sharing similar values such as expertise in the audiovisual area or guarantee of quality products and services. It reflects well a relevant and consistent image of the values conveyed by both organisations to the customers.