Bullying Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Bullying - Term Paper Example This paper provides an insightful analysis of bullying. More emphasis is conferred about the important of bullying as a judicial legislative and public policy issues. In addition, the paper analyzes the direct impact of bullying on education. Finally, the paper addresses the trends in litigation as well as the relevant bullying laws. The United States Department of Health and Human Services defines bullying as the unwanted aggressive behavior involving power imbalance (Fried & Fried, 2011). One salient feature about bullying is that it is repeated, or has the ability to be repeated. The power imbalance can be real or perceived. It may include physical strength, peer support, popularity, status, or access to hurtful information. There are many forms of bullying. Verbal bullying includes taunting, teasing or threatening harm. Relational bullying of the other hand may include spreading rumors, humiliating and malicious excluding. Thirdly, physical bullying includes hitting, pushing or spitting. Other forms of bullying include sexual harassment, hazing, and bullying based on perceived sexual orientation. According to Swearer, Espelage & Jimerson (2010), bullying is characterized by two major components, imbalance of power and repeated harmful acts. It involves verbal, non-verbal, or physical attacks or intimidation that is often directed towards a victim who is not able to properly defend himself or herself. There are widespread concerns about school violence and bullying in the recent years. There is overwhelming evidence that ascertains that bullying adversely affects student’s sense of security. Scholars recommend that the most effective way of averting bullying in schools require utmost commitment by school administrators. Existing statistics reveal that the most bullying incidences occur in schools. There are also numerous cases of bullying that occur on the way to or from the school, on

Garnier Report Essay Example for Free

Garnier Report Essay †¢The first Garnier product was made by Alfred Garnier in 1904, a hair tonic. The full company name, Laboratories Garnier, originated in the 1920s as a producer of haircare products made with organic ingredients. Garnier continues that mission today, as all of its products are made with natural ingredients. The LOreal Group has owned Garnier since 1965. LOreal †¢LOreal, based in France and the United States, has been in operation since 1909. It now owns five divisions including Garnier. LOreal has a focus on research, especially studies in sustainable development, with research centers on three continents. Products †¢Garnier currently has three product lines: Fructis, Nutrisse and Nutritionist. Fructis, started in 1996, is the Garner line of haircare and styling products. Nutrisse, Garniers hair color line released in 2002, was originally called Natea when it debuted in 1998. Natea wasnt as successful in the United States as in Europe, hence the name change. Garnier started selling Nutritionist, its skincare product line, in 2005. Innovation †¢Besides introducing Alfred Garniers hair tonic in 1904, when people still used soap on their hair, Garnier has been the first to produce sun-care items (in 1936) and the first to make a permanent home hair color (in 1960). Today Garnier is the number-one brand in Europe using natural ingredients. Research †¢Garnier exemplifies LOreals emphasis on scientific study. Research for Garnier goes through four stages at one of LOreals sixteen research centers. Then Garnier conducts clinical studies and consumer studies before releasing the product, as well as surveys afterward Garnier uses scientifically proven, natural ingredients to promote optimum hair health and let inner beauty shine through. The Garnier Fructis hair care line and Garnier Fructis Style products, allow women of all hair types to get the gorgeous locks they want. Garnier products have garnered prestigious beauty awards from top magazines like Allure, Health Magazine, More Magazine, CosmoGirl!, and Cosmopolitan. The brand is also a sponsor of Project Runway and models of this popular reality show strut the catwalk with styles powered by Garnier products.

Badrs A Balcony over the Fakihani, Pillars of Salt, by Fadia Faqir, and Al-Atrashs A Woman of Five Seasons :: Badr Fakihani Faqir Pillars Five Seasons Essays

Badr's A Balcony over the Fakihani, Pillars of Salt, by Fadia Faqir, and Al-Atrash's A Woman of Five Seasons Struggles for independence from foreign conquerors, civil tyrants, and the hands of the oppressive have long been the backdrop for life in the Arab World. This struggle is compounded for Arab women, who have the added worries of societal and cultural constraints. The 20th century was a notably gory one, particularly in the Middle East. There have been numerous, almost continuous aggressive confrontations in the region since the dawn of the 20th century, beginning with Ibn Saud?s campaign against the Ottoman Empire (Diller 384) and concluding with the suicide bombings of contemporary daily news. Typically, the actors of this violence have been predominantly men, yet such far reaching, and pervading circumstances of violence have inevitably had an impact on the daily lives and consciousness of countless generations of Arab women. This impact has also saturated the minds of many Arab women writers, and the depth of this effect comes across very well in the works of Liyana Badr, Leila Al -Atrash, and Fadia Faqir. The political and historical contexts of each novel are extremely telling. This ever-present aggressive backdrop influences settings and personal storylines of characters in Badr?s A Balcony over the Fakihani, Faqir?s Pillars of Salt, and Al-Atrash?s A Woman of Five Seasons overwhelmingly. Pillars of Salt, which is set in the early 20s in Jordan, has the earliest setting of all three novels and happens to be one of the more violent. In 1920, Transjordan was p! laced under British mandate. The British left in May of 1923, and then Emir Abdullah attempted to appease and unite various Bedouin groups and form a unit of men able to protect the land from invaders (Diller 261). It is with this historical context that we happen upon the story of Maha and her struggle for survival and independence. The novel begins with the storyteller?s muddy mixture of fact and fable. The storyteller recounts his first encounter with the English, and describes the way ?their cars exhaled black smoke into the clear blue sky? (Faqir 3). The storyteller is somewhat removed from the political context because he is ?half-Arab? (Faqir 3), yet it is still evident that there is some ill feeling towards the English. Later on, we are presented with another political opinion of the storyteller. He describes the story of the Balfour Declaration, and portrays it in a very negative manner, calling i! t the result of Lord Balfour?

Race and Ethnicity Essay

The ongoing struggle to fight the skin color prejudice in the contemporary American society is portrayed in Michael Jackson’s song â€Å"Black or White. † Whereas the racism is defined as a superior behavior against other race-thus making it inferior, the singer refers to this term as â€Å"See, it’s not about races, just places, faces, where your blood comes from is where your space is. † Michael Jackson, one of the most influential artists in the music industry, calls for equality in how people view and behave towards each other. The question, which this master thesis investigates, does it matter if you’re black or white, is clearly answered by the singer: â€Å"It don’t matter if you’re black or white. † Jackson was trying to influence his society to act in a similar way and he calls for them to live their lives by Dr. Luther’s dream â€Å"†¦. judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. † However, almost thirty years later, it still seemed only as a dream because he sang: â€Å"I’m tired of this Devil†, where the bad is being represented by the prejudice. At the same time, he clearly states: â€Å"I’m not gonna spend my life being a color† – this is where he makes his conclusion. This can imply that even though he doesn’t discriminate and would like to see color prejudice gone, he is still being discriminated against. While being the most prominent artist in the music industry, he still calls himself â€Å"a color† and he rebuts against it and wants to be seen for the person he is and not the pigmentation of his skin. It is widely known that Michael Jackson had many facial plastic surgeries and it is controversial whether or not he altered his skin color by chemical peels or was it the disease called vitiligio that changed his face color to white. Therefore, it can be speculated that he modified skin to appear white, which ultimately is his vision. It can be further questioned – since Michael Jackon can’t win his struggle for racial equality, did he give up and go white – just to end his inner battle? Will all his suffering come to closure since now he looks white? Is this the true answer? It may be deemed as so since the skin color is the guide of one’s position in the society where being white claims supremacy-control and power. It should be noted that Michael Jackson is one of the greatest musicians of all times, having sold over 750 million records worldwide. He has accomplished so much in his life, yet still feels inferior and calls for racial equality in the world. His vision for a better world to live in, free of racism, ends on a sad note: â€Å"It’s black, it’s white†. To summarize, through decades, the blacks have fought to be equal, as the American nation shall guarantee those rights, yet, the society is still divided into the superior, the whites, and inferior- the blacks (and other people of color). Blacks have always been portrayed as the dirty, the poor, the lesser-of-a human type whereas the whites are seen as the dominant, the good type. Again, Jackson does not agree with this stereotype in saying: â€Å"I ain’t second to none. † Moreover, he claims that he will no longer be scared and mentions historical symbol of a KKK group: â€Å"I ain’t scared of your brother, I ain’t scared of no sheets. † With his passing in 2009, many of his inner struggles come to the end, but will the next generation start working on being color-free as the king of pop envisioned? America has always struggled with racial issues, especially those of black and white. Some them included racial segregation, education, workforce, banking and even seating on the bus. Black people continuously tried to â€Å"break thru† into community, but were always pushed aside as dirty, poor and unwelcome. We, in modern times, see the United States of America as a country that treats everyone equal. Americans should all be all equal, no matter what race, color, religion or any other characteristics they have. After all, we all remember year 2009, which is when Americans elected their first African American President. Question that comes to mind – why â€Å"first African American President,† not just simply their 44th President? So – the race and color of your skin does matter in modern times. My analyses of selected books, academic journals, films and music video will concentrate and argue if Americans indeed discriminate against race or if it is history and no longer exists in American life. First, I would like to take into consideration the iconic Michael Jackson, one of the greatest, perhaps the greatest singer and performer of the 21st century. Not only his songs deserve a closer look, but also his lifestyle – ideas, fears and the public opinion. â€Å"Black or White† by Michael Jackson and Bill Bottrell is a one of the greatest singles in Michael’s career. It was released on November 11, 1991. What inspired Michael to particularly select these two topics? Black or white – as implied in the song, he sings about skin color. Songs starts in Africa, possibly showing Jackson’s â€Å"beginning† – he is black. In one of the scenes, Michael sings â€Å"I ain’t scared of no sheets; I ain’t scared of nobody† – while he is walking through fire images – which is being compared to KKK and its torch ceremonies. Here, he is portraying his painful vision of KKK and its vision. Later, the performers sing â€Å"I’m not gonna spend my life being a color. † What a great statement. Michael, throughout his whole life and his career, shows us his inner and constant fight for a non-racial America. Being black himself, he had struggled and finally came to the top, but still did not achieve the level of happiness – which is â€Å"no color† in his country. Later, Jackson sings on Statue of Liberty’s torch, again possibly reminding us about the KKK, and at the same time – the Statue symbolizes liberty, which for him will be color-free, no discrimination America. We shouldn’t forget about Michael’s actions in this video. In the original version, he is smashing the car, windows and the inn exploded. However, later he had to edit this version to minimize his violent behavior, however. He altered it by adding four racial graffiti messages onto the windows that he was smashing. As I suggested earlier, Michael Jackson is portrayed as an angry black man who simply hates the discrimination against black people and shows his feelings by destroyed his surroundings, as he was being destroyed himself –just for being of black color. In is interesting to observe, the Jackson, when asked to change his destructive aggressive music video, he indeed did change it, but didn’t forget about this hostility towards discrimination. He had just portrayed it differently (graffiti). First message reads: â€Å"Hitler Lives,† then â€Å"Nigger Go Home,† â€Å"No More Wetbacks,† and finally â€Å"KKK Rules. † It can be argued if Michael Jackson is simply smashing windows with those painful ideas – is destroying them – to make a better world? Finally, the song comes from the album â€Å"Dangerous. † What did the author have in mind? Are all of those issues, painful experiences and the fight for non-colored America dangerous? It can be argued that yes. Jackson showed us the dangerous side of being black, where he was always forced to fight and that causes different sorts of trouble. In â€Å"Black or White,† Michael brilliantly portrayed two core problems people were facing daily: black or white. As we look at his lifestyle and constant metamorphoses, Michael Jackson had numerous surgeries that altered the color of his skin and make him â€Å"white. † It is very controversial as many sources quote that Jackson had a condition where one looses a pigment of his skin, called vitiligo. However, Michael Jackson public image is seen as a person who constantly tried to be white, therefore, sought surgeries to help him attain this goal. Michael Jackson shows us that it could have probably been easier to make himself white and not struggle for color-free America, where everyone is equal, no matter of who there are or what they look like. It would also be important to analyze some of the lyrics from Jackson’s music video. He sings: â€Å"I had to tell them I ain’t second to none. † It can be understood that he no longer is accepting the fact that black is â€Å"second,† which is worse, just because of the color. He continues: â€Å"And I told about equality† – he tells us he wants to be considered equal, despite his skin color. Next verse, he has really had enough of being pushed around because he is black â€Å"I am tired of this devil, I am tired of this stuff, I am tired of this business. † Finally, he talks about racism in: â€Å"See, it’s not about races, Just places, Faces, Where your blood, Comes from, Is where your space is, I’ve seen the bright, Get duller, I’m not going to spend, My life being a color. † Here Michael Jackson compares himself to simply being a â€Å"color. † He is less than a human being only because he is not white. He is â€Å"black. † Again, he accents his refusal of living his life being black. He wants to be equal, equal to white. It should be also noted that throughout video, Michael Jackson is wearing black and white clothing (white shirt, black blazer, white accents on his right arm and nails, black shoes, white socks). He seems to be a person caught in a black-and-white world and struggles to change it, showing his pain. However, at the very end, he turns into a black panther. This transformation may symbolize him as a black man who will fight for his rights, yet, still remain black. In book â€Å"The Color of Credit: Mortgage Discrimination, Research Methodology, and Fair-Lending Enforcement† Stephen L. Ross and John Yinger present racial issues and argue the importance of skin color in banking. It should be noted that this book was published in 2002, year where we all think that American people are equal, especially on racial basis. Therefore, why and how does the skin color come into play in banking? First, the American lenders take many factors into consideration when disbursing the mortgage. Such factors include many details such as the creditor’s ability to repay the loan – where the lender accesses the potential risk of losing the loan. There are many different lenders and they base their information on statistics, demographics and make final decision based on the risk factors. Research showed that mainly blacks would seek loans, which are not favorable to all lenders. Therefore such bank does take race into consideration when reviewing for application for credit. It is also shown that blacks will most likely work with subprime lenders (44%) with comparison to whites (only 4%). Blacks generally cannot use the prime mortgage market due to their poor qualifications, thus creating the black to white ratio of getting the mortgage – with figures of 2. 28 denial for prime market and 1. 27 for subprime. At the same time, limited research shows that blacks-even though have some qualifications as white – would remain in the subprime market and thus be charged higher fees. Equal Credit Opportunity Act says: It shall be unlawful for any creditor to discriminate against any applicant, with respect to any aspect of a credit transaction—on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex or marital status, or age (provided the applicant has the capacity to contract). (U. S. Code Title 15, Chapter 41, Section 1691) This would mean that all people should be treated equally in banks, when doing business in banks, no discrimination in credit transaction. However, authors argue that the bank may take a different look at the person and who they are in â€Å"business necessity† can be proved. Therefore, even while it is regulated by law, certain discriminatory practices can and do exist. Later, it would be rather hard to prove that the lender discriminated based for example on race. All regulations are not very clear and courts find it hard to find such a connection of discrimination. It is implied that blacks, with poorer ability to repay, living in lower income communities, must face subprime, expensive mortgages – to possibly make as much money as possible in the shortest time-so if the black borrower defaults on his payments, the lender wouldn’t lose its investment. This is to compare with the white borrower who lives in the richer-type setting, is more likely to meet his payments, therefore, he is offered a prime mortgage rate, without the necessity to further secure the loan. It can be argued if blacks and whites are treated equally, despite many regulations. On one hand, the lender must adhere to all necessary regulations, but on the other hand, such institution can make necessary decisions to make that mortgage profitable – thus, taking all factors into consideration in the application process. We can further analyze that race and color of skin does matter when one is being evaluated for such an application. It is believed that whites pose a lower risk to a financial institution than blacks. This also means, as authors point out, that black are less likely to be approved for a higher-priced home than a white person, which causes the real estate agents to discriminate and not show the more expensive houses to blacks. Maybe they don’t discriminate, they just know that lender is not likely to approve a black person in comparison to the same application of a white person? It is particularly important to note that authors point out that ‘‘on average, black mortgage applications have higher loan-to value and debt-to-income ratios than do white applications. ’’ In closing, it should be noted that while many regulations exist, there is no proof that racial discrimination has gone away and some research suggests that blacks still have lower approval rate in comparison to the whites. It is said that race does play a key role when the lender looks at your mortgage application.

American Revolution

This lecture examines the American Revolution from a broad perspective. The best part about her lecture is that she breaks it down into five easy steps to understand, and for her being a professor at Yale she probably is one of the top favorite teachers Just because of how easy she breaks her lectures down. Freeman relates herself to one of the Founders, John Adams, because he wasn't up to the status quo of every other Founder as she states it. John was humorous and blunt, but serious and revealing, and that's how she is in her lectures.Professor Joanne Freeman is a very intelligent woman that likes to see her students succeed in such a long and very detailed class. Freeman's video starts off by unraveling her plan for the class, and predicts what she thinks her students thoughts are about the American Revolution. Joanne explains how in high school all that was mainly stressed about the American Revolution was the Declaration of Independence and George Washington, Paul Revere, and Ju st a â€Å"bunch of battles†.Freeman makes it clear to the students to be aware and get passed what you've been taught earlier in your life, and she breaks it down into five simple and comprehensive tips to help understand the Revolution and Just piece it altogether. The first tip that Freeman lectures about is by avoiding thinking about the Revolution in terms of a series of facts and dates, in her terms â€Å"a fact bubble. † (Freeman).In greater detail Freeman means that a lot of dates are involved with the Revolution and some are more important than others, and some are Just a string of facts that are there to explain the outcomes that occurred. Like the outcomes that occurred there was a word that disgusted the Founders of that time period, so tip number two is words like democracy, liberty and freedom, aren't all that they seem to be. Democracy has little to no meaning in the colonial era, but you have to understand the subtle ways this was a moment of defining t erms and transformation. † (Freeman).In greater detail Joanne tells the students to think about the meaning of words, not to Just read the definitions, but also to not assume about the words and how they describe the event because they could've meant something completely different now than what they did back then. An example of one of the many words that were brought up around the American Revolution era is democracy. The professor says that â€Å"democracy is a good thing to us now, but not ace then. † Especially Alexander Hamilton, she reads a quote from him and he states democracy as chaos, a disease in fact, and being a Founder it was part of the status quo.Speaking of The Founders, tip three from Freeman is: think of the â€Å"Founders† as real people rather than a mystical historic figure. In easier ways to understand, what Joanne means is that the Founders were normal people, she expressed that we tend to forget that they were people not deem-gods walking around with their chest and head held high. The professor also stressed about not getting caught up on trying to dead the way they spoke, reading and listening to their language from their era sounds more intelligent and inspiring than it really is.A big point that was brought to the student's attention was the breakdown of looking over the opposing points and putting them together like a puzzle to better understand how it all happened and why. The fourth tip from Freeman was â€Å"remembering the Founders aren't the only people who made the Revolution. An easier way to understand this is to know that the Founders weren't men that were dressed up to have a quiet conversation. The Revolution was a popular uprising by a vast amount of colonists fought on American ground by all kinds of Americans.The Founders aren't the only ones who mattered, the Revolution grounded on the ideas and beliefs of the people throughout many levels of society. Last but not least the fifth tip is rememberi ng the importance of historical contingency and that anything could've happened during the Revolution and the outcome wasn't inevitable. The way Freeman explains this tip is that a lot of people assume too much of what went on about the colonists, and that it's important to know body knew what was going to happen in that era because if they did it would've probably been much more dramatic.Professor Joanne Freeman does a great Job of presenting the logic behind the decisions of the day and the feelings of the people and she doesn't spend a lot of time on dates and facts. Also, to be able to take out the preconceived notions out of the way and to view what happened, and to understand nothing was certain throughout the American Revolution are an eye opener. References Professor Joanne Freeman: Five Tips for Studying the American Revolution. Peer. Joanne Freeman. Web.

Sociology of Communities, our group (Bahasa) Essay Example

Sociology of Communities, our group (Bahasa) Essay Example Sociology of Communities, our group (Bahasa) Essay Sociology of Communities, our group (Bahasa) Essay Hotel Transylvania a Review by Stasya Desnafira, 1206242605 This movie starts at the time where Mr. Dracula had Joyfull moments seeing stages of her daughter (Mavis) growth from baby to a teenager. Time went by, and finally the hotel that he made is finally finished. This hotel is not like any hotel that exist, Hotel Transylvania is a hotel for monsters. Dracula, werewolf, mummy, blob, frankenstein, invinsible man, zombie, and any other monster you could name from comic books are the one who residing in the hotel. For Mr. Dracula himself, this hotel are meant to ept Mavis away from humans and also to provide a place that is absolutely safe for monster yet free from humans. On the day of Maviss 118th birthday, Dracula allowed her to go to see humans in the outside world. He did warned her about how he thinks humans would react to his monter kind. Torches, garlic, human, and fire are placed on the so called Village by dracula. In the Village set up itself, dracula sucessfully able to make Mavis believes that human do hate them. Unexpecteadly, a human named Jonathan found out the hotel and able to get ini without him aware that hes in a real place where monsters wander around. He tought that its a unique costume party. Aware of his presence, Dracula hid and disguises him as something that is similar to frankenstein, everyone except Quasimodo and his rats believed that Jonathan is indeed a monster. Quasimodo is someone in the same position as a head chef in normal hotel, his rats in other hand, act like his sous-chef. As time goes by, Dracula did cover up fake stories about Jonathan aka Johnnystein as a party planner for Mavis birthday. Mavis and Johnnystein then encounter many happy moments together but Dracula didnt agreed seeing Mavis with Jonathan. Johnnystein finally eaves the hotel with a sad broken heart to the airport to get back at home. Seeing her daughter also sad and broken hearted, Dracula along with his friend, chase Jonathan to ask him to stay. Two obstacle that they manage to pass is the parade that blocked the way to the airport, and the daylight condition. From the parade, Dracula and his friend did learn something new that, humans have changed. Humans are not afraid or hate monsters anymore. Time has changed. Dracula finally able to chase the plane which Jonathan stayed. Dracula comunicate with him using his power to cotrol and hypnotize people, which in this case; the pilot. They went back to the hotel and met Mavis, finished with a happy ending. The moral of the story really involve the role of Mr. Dracula as a father. Moral story that I learn from this story is that forcing your children to believe what you believed is never right. All things that he did to protect his daughter and friend is mainly because hes afraid that humans will treat the monters badly. He Just want his family and friends not to go through what he experienced. I dont blame him, hes Just being overly protective and expressed it the wrong way. Nobody taught him what to do or what decision to make, thats why he ake decision based on his natural intuition and experience. Which in this case, never trust the human and dont even get close to them, ever. From what I saw since the beginning of this movies, I have to say that the graphic is very nice and natural. It kinda reminds me of Tim Burtons and Neil Gaimans. The plot is unpredictable, overall I think this movie is a good one to watch. For me, I have to say that this movies is indeed a good one, but not as good as movies that really give the audience a big impact like: Shrek, Finding Nemo, or Toy Story, but still its worth to watch. Thank you.

Free Essays on Acceptence Letter

High school is a strange time. After three years of trying to develop identity and friends in middle school, students are expected to mature immediately on the first day of ninth grade, but I never did this. I never fully realized in the earlier grades how important high school success, as measured by GPA, would be to my future life, and as a result I am applying to college with seemingly contradictory measures of my ability to perform college-level work. If I had worked and studied hard rather than hanging out with friends and viewing high school as an opportunity to socialize, I would not have to apply to school with a 1300 SAT and a 2.7 GPA. Had I taken my grades in my earlier years seriously, I could have been a college's dream candidate. This year I have made an earnest effort to improve my work ethic. My grade point average is rising and my study habits are improving. However, after performing poorly for three years, my GPA cannot reflect the transformation I underwent at the start of this year. Dedicated to making something of myself, I finally matured and am now trying to lessen the consequences of my past actions. Armed with my new attitude and my understanding of the extreme importance of earning good grades to signal my capacity to work responsibly, I assure you that I will never revert to the student I once was. In retrospect, I believe that it was my inability to choose my classes that resulted in my lack of enthusiasm on the ride to school each morning. I enjoy the freedom to pursue my own interests and anxiously anticipate the ability to choose my own class schedule in college. While I understand that college will be significantly more challenging than high school, I have always found it easier to study for a class that interests me. I am also willing to accept the fact that as long as I am in school, I will be forced to take required courses that I might be less than enthusiastic about. However, with my new goal... Free Essays on Acceptence Letter Free Essays on Acceptence Letter High school is a strange time. After three years of trying to develop identity and friends in middle school, students are expected to mature immediately on the first day of ninth grade, but I never did this. I never fully realized in the earlier grades how important high school success, as measured by GPA, would be to my future life, and as a result I am applying to college with seemingly contradictory measures of my ability to perform college-level work. If I had worked and studied hard rather than hanging out with friends and viewing high school as an opportunity to socialize, I would not have to apply to school with a 1300 SAT and a 2.7 GPA. Had I taken my grades in my earlier years seriously, I could have been a college's dream candidate. This year I have made an earnest effort to improve my work ethic. My grade point average is rising and my study habits are improving. However, after performing poorly for three years, my GPA cannot reflect the transformation I underwent at the start of this year. Dedicated to making something of myself, I finally matured and am now trying to lessen the consequences of my past actions. Armed with my new attitude and my understanding of the extreme importance of earning good grades to signal my capacity to work responsibly, I assure you that I will never revert to the student I once was. In retrospect, I believe that it was my inability to choose my classes that resulted in my lack of enthusiasm on the ride to school each morning. I enjoy the freedom to pursue my own interests and anxiously anticipate the ability to choose my own class schedule in college. While I understand that college will be significantly more challenging than high school, I have always found it easier to study for a class that interests me. I am also willing to accept the fact that as long as I am in school, I will be forced to take required courses that I might be less than enthusiastic about. However, with my new goal-orie... Free Essays on Acceptence Letter High school is a strange time. After three years of trying to develop identity and friends in middle school, students are expected to mature immediately on the first day of ninth grade, but I never did this. I never fully realized in the earlier grades how important high school success, as measured by GPA, would be to my future life, and as a result I am applying to college with seemingly contradictory measures of my ability to perform college-level work. If I had worked and studied hard rather than hanging out with friends and viewing high school as an opportunity to socialize, I would not have to apply to school with a 1300 SAT and a 2.7 GPA. Had I taken my grades in my earlier years seriously, I could have been a college's dream candidate. This year I have made an earnest effort to improve my work ethic. My grade point average is rising and my study habits are improving. However, after performing poorly for three years, my GPA cannot reflect the transformation I underwent at the start of this year. Dedicated to making something of myself, I finally matured and am now trying to lessen the consequences of my past actions. Armed with my new attitude and my understanding of the extreme importance of earning good grades to signal my capacity to work responsibly, I assure you that I will never revert to the student I once was. In retrospect, I believe that it was my inability to choose my classes that resulted in my lack of enthusiasm on the ride to school each morning. I enjoy the freedom to pursue my own interests and anxiously anticipate the ability to choose my own class schedule in college. While I understand that college will be significantly more challenging than high school, I have always found it easier to study for a class that interests me. I am also willing to accept the fact that as long as I am in school, I will be forced to take required courses that I might be less than enthusiastic about. However, with my new goal...