Receiving a Scholarship Essay Example for Free

Receiving a Scholarship Essay The Great Being saith and I quote: â€Å"Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom†.   Madam Chairperson, Members and Officers of The Grand Bahama American Womens Club, ladies and gentlemen, students, good evening. It is an honor and with great humility I stand before you today, to encourage those candidates selected that will go forward and to thank those that assisted me in the past from this fine club. SCHOLARSHIP is defined as a â€Å"commitment to learning.† Scholarship is NOT an inherited quality, but one that is acquired and developed as a result of responsibility, diligence, and dedication. A scholar is willing to spend hours in reading and study, knowing the lasting benefits of a cultured and educated mind. From the detailed works of Aristotle, to Shakespeare and Darwin, the information and the wisdom available to students today is absolutely priceless. Candidates, I once sat where you are. Let me take you back on my journey, in hopes that it will encourage and motivate you to remain focused on the endeavour that you are about to embark upon. I received the Scholarship for the school year commencing September, 1993. I was advised at the time that the scholarship was for one school year, but with good grades, that year could turn into another year. So, I made the commitment first to God and then to myself to succeed, and with hard work, dedication and determination I was able to achieve the grades, earning the scholarship for five years up to my graduation in 1997. The scholarship allowed me to attend Freeport Anglican High School the now Bishop Michael Eldon School, where I received a quality education in an environment conducive to learning, and a foundation that prepared me for studies beyond High School. This scholarship was not only an opportunity for my fees to be funded by persons other than my parents but an opportunity to realize that if a group of individuals actually believed in my success, then I too must also realize my potential and believe in me. But let me also confess that at times I got frustrated and overwhelmed and just didn’t feel like studying or reading, and so that mischevious child within would surface. I remember one year a few weeks before exams I went home and told my mother that the grading system at school had changed and if you got a F on your report card it meant  FANTASTIC, E meant EXCELLENT, D meant DISTINCTION C meant CREDIT B meant BAD and A meant AWFUL. Well, based on that piercing stare I got from my mother, I immediately studied as I should and made the grade. So I encourage you the recipients, to unlock your potential and make the most of your talents for the future. So many of us dare to dream of where we will see ourselves in a certain amount of years, what we dream to become, and what career path we desire to pursue. Be assured that education alone can unlock, unravel, and ensure that all dreams, desires and aspirations are achieved and materialized. Remember it was Norman Vincent Peal that said â€Å"what ever the mind can conceive and believe it can achieve.† Dreams are the stepping stones to the future, it will open the doors of opportunity allowing you to utilize your full potential. Dreams will ignite in you the spirit of persistency. Nothing in this world can take the place of Persistency. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talents. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistency and determination alone are omnipotent. An honor such as this is a wonderful way to recognize and celebrate the choices, and sometimes the sacrifices, you have made. But I believe that what should make you and your parents the most proud is not the actual honor itself, but what you had to do to get it. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, The reward of a thing well done is to have done it. However, do not rest on your laurels alone, but continue to strive towards even loftier goals. Your achievements embody a positive attitude backed by purpose. The only way to achieve your purpose is to take small actions everyday. In the end, they all add up. Scholarship is much more than just getting straight As. It is a life-long love of learning. In the end it is a sum of small choices. Each time you decide you WANT to learn something, the experience will be so rewarding that the next time becomes easier. Soon, learning becomes a habit. At that point, your desire to learn makes getting As easier while taking the focus off the grades. The knowledge can still be hard to gain, but knowing youve mastered a difficult subject is an awesome reward. Suddenly the world around you becomes richer and full of learning opportunities. You are being given an opportunity. Opportunities are only meaningful if people have the capabilities, the resources, the aspirations to make the most of them. Aspiration matters in every aspect of education:  the aspirations of parents for their children from their very earliest years; the aspirations of young people, whether they are going to seize the opportunities available to them; the aspirations of course of teachers, of schools, of local government setting high expectations for achievement; the aspirations of society placing the highest possible cultural value upon learning itself; and of course aspirations of government that sets long term ambitions and mat ches those ambitions with the necessary investment over the long term to realise them. In a world where violence and hatred seems to be taking over, I quote â€Å"Man is the supreme Talisman. Lack of a proper education hath, however, deprived him of that which he doth inherently possess† end quote. Many children are exposed to violence in their communities, in their families, and in the media. Exposure to violence crosses socioeconomic and cultural boundaries, occurring in all groups within our society, and this exposure to violence can have significant effects on children during their development. The most important protective resource to enable a child to cope with exposure to violence is a strong relationship with a competent, caring, positive adult, most often a parent. But with the support of good parenting by either a parent or other significant adult, a child’s cognitive and social development can proceed positively even with adversity. Violence is in our communities, but ensuring that our children are equipped with and education that enables them to determine right from wrong, then we are one step closer to finding a solution. Families, regardless of their composition, are uniquely structured to provide the attention, nurturing, and safety that children need to grow and develop. So candidates you have an opportunity to become the solution to this crumbling civilization around us. Through your education, you will look upon your environment, your community and your country with new eyes and new vision. To not take advantage of this opportunity that has been afforded to you, as you have been hand picked out a selection of many qualified applicants. Take this opportunity to push yourself even harder than before. To excel further in all subjects, to be an example to all your classmates. Knowing that the strategic choices that you make today are going to be critical for your long term prosperity. Make the American Women’s Club proud  of the selection made here today. Make learning your life, and success your destination. At this time I would like to say a special thanks to The Grand Bahama American Women’s Club, a club that fosters pioneering initiatives to encourage local young people to think about education and higher learning and for extending such an opportunity to me, an opportunity that honestly, â€Å"thank you† doesn’t really convey how appreciative and grateful I am for having been given the opportunity extended to me by this Club. Once again candidates, I close in saying and I quote â€Å"To strive, to persevere, ensures ultimate and complete victory† end quote. And remember as Mother Teresa said, Life is a promise; fulfill it. Thank you all very much.

Various Essays On Goldings Lord Of The Flies -- essays research pape

1. Given that Piggy represents society and its rules, he must have found his situation on the island disturbing at the least. At first, there is no organized social structure of any kind; no position of leadership existed. There was an absence of rules. This must have been very disturbing to Piggy. Then, as the story progresses, a sort of chain of leadership emerges with Ralph being voted as â€Å"chief.† â€Å"Ralph raised his hand for silence. ‘All right. Who wants Jack for chief?’ With dreary obedience the choir raised their hands. ‘Who wants me?’ Every hand outside the choir except Piggy’s was raised immediately. Then, Piggy too, raised his hand grudgingly into the air. Ralph counted. ‘I’m chief then.’†(LoF p21). Then, a little bit later, Ralph brings up the idea of rules: â€Å"Jack was on his feet. ‘We’ll have rules!’ he cried excitedly. Lots of rules! Then when anyone breaks them-’à ¢â‚¬ (LoF p33). When the â€Å"hunters† kill their first pig is when we start to see signs of a more primal society, or lack thereof. They repeat the chant, â€Å"Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood.† Piggy obviously if fed up with Jack and his hunters, asking, â€Å"What are we? Humans? Or animals? Or savages? What’s grownups going to think?’†(LoF p.91). And then, Ralph’s authority is challenged by Jack. Jack first disregards the rule of letting the person with conch speak without interruption. Then he directly challenges Ralph, saying, â€Å"And you shut up! Who are you, anyway? Sitting there, telling people what to do. You can’t hunt, you can’t sing-’†(LoF p91). From this confrontation is goes downhill on the island. On pg. 114, a â€Å"game† gets a little out of hand, when Robert pretends to be the pig, and the others pretend to hunt him, but then they become more serious and actually hurt hi m. He is not killed, however. Eventually, Jack and some of the other boys split apart from Ralph and his â€Å"group.† Jack and his hunting band kill another pig savagely, reveling in its agony. The â€Å"peak of their decline† was when they killed Simon, calling him a beast, during the storm. Then Piggy is killed, and the conch is shattered, and that is when I consider them to be at the absolute lowest in society: nothing more than savages.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2. In the novel, Sam and Eric are introduced early as two separate people, beings, that resemble one entity. â€Å"Even while he blew, Ralph noticed the last pai... ... stood on the sand, looking down at Ralph in wary astonishment.†(LoF p200). The attire of the boys and the officer also stand in stark contrast. The officer is dressed with a military neatness, with a clean, decorated uniform, most likely clean, shaved, etc. The boys, however are in need of hair cuts, most of them are covered with clay, and they’re probably wearing the tattered remains of shorts or pants. Despite how much more â€Å"civilized† the officer must look than the children, an irony remains. This officer represents adult life, responsible, capable, but really bearing the same prospect for evil as the â€Å"savages†. This officer, who interrupted a manhunt, is going to rescue the children and take them off of the island, but to where? To a cruiser that will soon be hunting its enemy in the sam way as the savages hunted Ralph. To me, the irony is that although the officer and his cruiser seem to be so much more civilized than these little savage s, he isn’t. It’s just like what â€Å"the Beast† told Simon. No matter where you go, you can’t get away from him. Because this â€Å"Beast†, this capability for evil, exists in everyone.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

A Meeting of Giants

Imagine that you are a participant in a panel discussion with Sigmund Freud, Carl Rogers, Albert Bandura, and Albert Ellis.The discussion is facilitated by a moderator who asks questions for each of you to answer according to your different theories of personality development and change. How would you and each of the other four panel members answer the following questions? (Note: Construct the answers for the other panel members based on your understanding of their theories. Your own answers will reflect your personal opinions and beliefs, and may include â€Å"bits and pieces† of other theories).The panel was finally assembled on that wet cold day in December.   I was feeling a bit sheepish to be in the company of such great scholars.   Sigmund Freud, Carl Rogers, Albert Bandura, and Albert Ellis were mighty powerful company for me to lock wits with.   However, I believed that my opinion was just as important and plausible as there own.   I was just reaching for my wa ter glass when the moderator called us to order and begin immediately with the first question.Question 1How would you explain the differences in persons regarding their reactions to authority? Why do some persons appear to follow all the rules of others, while other persons appear intent on living by their own sets of rules?Dr. Freud:The human being is essentially a sophisticated energy system.   That energy is channeled, flows, or is blocked by a number or different behaviors.   The goal of all these behaviors is of course pleasure.   Energy will always find the path of least resistance that leads to pleasure.When this energy is constrained or rerouted by societal demands, such as rules and taboos, that energy must be vented in some way.   Some individuals are more apt at releasing this energy in a positive manner, while others are more confounded by it.Some individuals forfeit there pursuit of pleasure and lead guilt ridden and often miserable lives although they appear to be socially compliant.   Others allow their natural propensity to pursue pleasure to guide their lives and are normally much happier, although society may feel they are living by their own rules.Dr. Rogers:I beg to disagree with what my colleague Dr. Freud has stated.   His theories are often rooted in sexual drives and motivations.   However, the greatest human drive is the single goal towards self-actualization.   It is not necessary to postulate on which particular pleasure principle an individual is seeking to understand why they buck authority.Those individuals that resist authority have simply grown from a less complex being into a more complex one.   The less complex we are, the more authority we may feel we need.As an individual matures and develops, they become more complex and may seek to break the bond of authority for a greater life experience.   Those who go along with the status quo perhaps see their lives in the light that they have achieved what they can and there is no need to push further.   We all simply seek to maintain and improve who we believe we are and the live experience in general. (Pervin, Cervon, & Oliver, 2005)Dr. Bandura:Self-efficacy has a great affect in self-development, perseverance in the face of resistance, resilience to trauma, and decision choices at crucial junctures in life.  Ã‚   The rejection of authority is no greater than it is seen among adolescents and young adults.The ability to control and regulate self-efficacy is core to the ability to self-manage ones motivations, desires, and responses.   Beliefs of personal efficacy are what cause an individual to adopt certain self regulatory standards (Bandura, Caprara, Barbaranelli, Gerbino, & Pastorelli, 2003) If a person believes that they are useful in society they are apt to be more law abiding and compliant of authority (Bandura et al., 2003).   When other individuals feel as if their self-worth is low they are less likely to respect authority a nd will live as they see fit because of their standing in society. (Pervin et al., 2005)Dr. Ellis:Self-evaluation leads to depression and repression, and avoidance of change.   The best thing for human health is that we should stop evaluating ourselves altogether.   There is often concern for individuals because of their self image and societal pressures.These two are more likely to be in agreement than in conflict.   The key is to see behaviors for what they are.   Is there anyone who likes authority?   Of course not we all have some disagreement with being told what to do by someone else.   However true this may be it is not the authority that causes problems for most individuals it is the irrational beliefs that adherence or rejection of this authority will lead to some dire consequence.This in itself may cause individuals to have one reaction or the other to the rule makers.   Some may choose total compliance in hopes that life remains stable, or what appears to be total anarchy and disrespect for any authority because it has no affect.

The True Behavior Of Violent Video Game Players - 1305 Words

Austin Schuster Composition Critical Thinking February 24, 2015 The True Behavior of Violent Video Game Players In October 1958, a Physicist named William Higinbotham successfully created the first interactive computer software purely for entertainment; a simple idea of two panels bouncing a dot between one another. This was later rebranded as the famous title Pong, the original that Higinbotham created was generated on an oscilloscope, which is a small computer designed to test electrical equipment. Today, video games are huge in terms of consumer acceptance, marketing, and digital file size. Video games are designed to be a fourth form of entertainment, joining books, movies, and television shows. However, the content has certainly always been changing within any given video game title; a larger, more recent genre known as first-person-shooters (FPS) or specific role-playing-games (RPGs), these types of video games are developed and rated by global software rating companies, worrying some consumers that most mature-themed video games will creat e violent behavior in a player. This speculation of violent video games affecting a person’s everyday behavior negatively is incorrect and ironically childish over a simple form of time consumption. There are many types of video games, such as classic platformers we all know like Super Mario Bros., Japanese side-scrolling shoot-em-ups (Opa-Opa), fantasy RPGs (Final Fantasy), recent addition of FPS like Destiny, and many more.Show MoreRelatedSociety’s Most Recent Scapegoat: Video Gaming1637 Words   |  7 Pages Rebellious, violent behavior in youth is often treated simplistically – whether Elvis Presley’s latest hits, the programs airing on Saturday night television, or the newest film playing in theaters were popular amongst children and young adults, the blame for unfavorable behavior has always had its scapegoat. One of the most recent additions to society’s scapegoats is video gaming. Whether the objective of a given game is to fight crime or cause it, the morality of video games is often questionedRead MoreMultimedia Violence : A Grave Threat Of Teens Of The New Generation. Craig A. 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