Reincarnation Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Reincarnation - Term Paper Example It guarantees to proceed with one's presence in further lives and therefore having a replenished opportunity to accomplish liberation. Another real explanation for accepting resurrection by such a variety of individuals today is that it appears to clarify the distinctions that exist among individuals. Some persons are solid, others are tormented their entire life by physical imperfections and weaknesses. Some people are rich, others are at the edge of starvation. Some individuals have life success and self-realization without being religious; others are followed by losses, disregarding their religious devotion. As reincarnation is bonded with karma, which stresses cause-and-effect relationships and their outcomes; it becomes an ultimate tool for punishment or rewards. The classical paradigm of the rebirth was figured in India, however absolutely not sooner than the ninth century BC, when the Brahmana texts were created. After the Upanishads plainly characterized the idea between the seventh and the fifth century BC, it was received by the other critical Eastern religions which started in India, Buddhism, and Jainism. Because of the spread of Buddhism in Asia, the resurrection was later received by Chinese Taoism, yet no sooner than the third century BC (Valea). The concept of reincarnation is central in Hinduism. Its understanding could not be reached avoiding recognition of the nature of samsara – which is a circle of lives. The liberation from samsara is an ultimate goal of human life, it is called moksha.

Reading Responses Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Reading Responses - Assignment Example Further, her contentions that Clinton failed to gauge and evaluate the audience by not fitting the social norms were not appropriately substantiated. The audience would most predominantly be composed of both the male and female gender and the effectiveness of the speaker depends not solely on fitting the social norm, but in addressing the purpose of the speech that caters to the needs of the audience. The arguments that finally shift the blame to the American public for Clinton’s supposed failure as a rhetor was equally ludicrous. An effective rhetorical analysis should have used pathetic, logical and ethical appeals that are fair, objective and credible. Does it mean that because Clinton was manifesting her experience as a lawyer, expert, and advocate, she is already exhibiting a masculine speaking style? Do these roles and responsibilities only fit the male gender and render them befitting for

Icts Hotels In The Hospitality Information Technology Essay

Icts Hotels In The Hospitality Information Technology Essay The revolution in ICTs has profound implications for financial and social maturity. It has pervaded every aspect of human life whether it is health, education, economics, governance, entertainment etc. Dissemination, propagation and accessibility of these technologies are viewed to be integral to a countrys development strategy. The most important benefit associated with the access to the new technologies is the increase in the supply of information. The secondly thing would be it also decreases the cost of production. Knowledge is transmitted, produced, accessed and shared at the least cost. With the decrease in the transactional costs, there is also a decrease in the degree of inefficiencies. Thirdly it has overcome the constraints of distance and geography. ICTs have cut across the geographic boundaries of the nation states. Buyers and sellers are able to contribute information, specifications, production process etc across the national borders. It enables all to know the comparat ive improvement in the market economy. It leads to the larger markets and increased access to global supply chains. Fourthly it has led to more transparency. Networking and information sharing definitely leads to demands for greater openness and transparency. Whether you want to know the status of the central banks foreign exchange agency or the cost prize of potatoes in the local market, ICTs empowers the individual with the information access, which is transparent. Efforts are under way to integrate ICTs to all sectors and developmental activity. Tourism is one such potential area. Information Communication and Technology is one the most important and growing field that every company and almost all the sectors are adopting to simplify work and also to reduce man power. ICT plays a major role in Tourism sector so as considering the example of a hospitality firm. Tourism includes many sectors like transport food, accommodation, restaurant, cultural activity and leisure, so fit all these sector into one particular form there is always the need of advance focus and development of itself to fulfil the customer needs. Now a days tourism sector fully focus on customer satisfaction as people who wants to travel has become independent by fulfilling their requirements on their own than to depend on a third person to help them do the sufficient requirements. In this processes ICT acts as a fully fledged support and a user friendly thing that even a normal person has started using internet to run his routine. In the developing world internet is become peoples second brain and it makes most of the things for man. So this assessment focuses on the main contribution of ICT in Hospitality that is in Hotel Industry. Purpose The main Purpose of this assignment is to find out the role of Information communication technology (ICT) in hospitality tourism sector.ICT acts as the main source of any industries development and also adds up to the reduction of man power and time, it is also used as a source to reduce problems. Even though, little is known about the extent or level of use of ICT. The ICT has become the major consideration, as it has become the revolutionizing equipment of the hospitality Industry. This study will look into the prosperity for the adoption of ICT based facilities in the hospitality industry. This also covers the problems that impacting the adoption of ICT in hospitality firm. This assignment contributes and finds out these issues.   Findings: This finding says that almost 80 per cent of the businesses use ICT efficiently, mainly to provide information and improve service quality. In addition, some firms had already adopted very effective methods of using the internet for sales and marketing but ignored supply functions. We will be surprised to notice that ICT is seen as a way of enhancing personal service and that rather than a barrier, it is seen to promote quality of service. Moreover, the respondents did seem to have used ICT effectively to overcome the disadvantages of place. Objective: The main objective to be focused on the assessment comprises of all the following issues and factors that helps us understand the importance, development and the barriers of ICT in the tourism field, especially focus in a branch of it that is the Hospitality sector: The impacts of ICT towards Hotel industry The ongoing use and implementation in the particular field The major support and the main value of ICT The successful implementation of IT in hotel industry and its advantages The functioning of it towards marketing purpose and the way it support for the success of execution. The Impacts of ICT towards Hotel Industry: Hospitality industry is a highly information intensive industry, so information technology and communication has a wide impact in the particular industry. Information communication technology has created a new revolution in the world of tourism industry. The tourism industry is a big market in terms of the number of tourist visiting a particular place. It is stated that ICT has caused restructuring phenomenon (intermediation, dis-intermediation and re-intermediation in parallel) in the hotel industry. It proves that ICT has improved operating efficiency of hospitality industry as well as planning and booking experience of customers. ICT has a great impact in hospitality industry- it enables direct contact with customers/guests and improves effectiveness and efficiency of clients services. ICT provides new tools and also enables new channels, creating new business environment in the industry, requiring all new skills. ICT also makes the competition harder and so it demands a continuous investments on developing things and keeping it updated. In all these impacts there are two major areas which are highly influenced by ICT that is electronic commerce and revenue commerce Electronic commerce: This can be defined as a secure exchange of information: Business to business Business to clients clients to clients business to government business to client communication research to business  [1]   Notes: GDS Global distribution system CRS Central reservation system DMC Destination Management Company DMO Destination Marketing Organisation 2Traditional valve chain The value chain changes into a new concept as now a day it is focused just into internet that is almost most action depends on internet the value chain changes to: 3Internet based value chain Revenue Commerce: Revenue managements sounds like the top most management, but most hotels are small and medium sized so every employee acts as a revenue manager. So it is an important factor that every employee is provided with knowledge of revenue management at all levels of the hospitality industry The main goal of the revenue management is: (a) Maximise yield (price units sold) or minimise lost revenue per available product unit in view of average cost per available product unit; (b) Control availability of price products by customer revenue potential and forecast segment mix; (c) Control daily availability of price products lower than full price, based on unsold inventory, time left to sell and segment total demand.  [4]   To fulfil these objectives, tourism professionals need strong knowledge in areas as marketing, finance management, statistics, customer service principles and distribution trends. Implementation in the particular field: The use of computer its technology has vastly developed from 1980s to the year of 1990s. A survey given in 1980 said that a fewer amount of 10% were using computer technology. There were different surveys stating the usage of technology in hospitality industry in operating things efficient and making guest satisfaction. There are two factors that affect the use of IT in an accommodation establishment. First is the type of clientele and secondly the complexity of operations. Considering the type of clientele and their experience will be affected by technology, helps us to determine the level of automation in a hotel. There are different types of clients expectation different types of services. Business travellers consider more efficient type of services as they never want to spend time in any other thing than their work, so they appreciate speed of service and faster technology. Almost the other type of clients/guests prefers hotels where technology does not intrude into their vacation and leisure experience. The complexity of a hospitality field is also impacted by many factors and computer technology plays a major role. Larger the property, larger the technology resorts with many activities like golf, tennis, multi-restaurants and other benefits has gained a lot through IT technology. Hotel Size % using IT % high IT needs % agreeing IT enhances guest satisfaction Less than 100 rooms 89.4 28.9 70.2 101 to 300 room 96.7 43.6 83.2 Over 300 rooms 97.2 57.4 86.1 Different hotels use different technology to enhance their facilities and some of their applications are stated above  [5]  . Property Management System (PMS) Property management system is the main central computer which acts as the core functions of the hotel information processing. It maintains all details that describe the hotel, such as the size, type and the number of rooms, the rate applicable for rooms and other facilities, and also the details concerning the guest called the guest record or the guest history. This also includes various operations such as support and control and management of different outlets of a hotel that is front office, reservation, back office, food and beverage inventories, bar / shop takings, hotel staff salaries and wages accounting and also some of the managerial functions; in addition it acts as a hub in interconnecting the other systems of hotel. Property management systems (PMS) can run on different platforms and different software environments, depending on the size and type of a particular hotel, and the number of required instalments. As they spread more and more, it is the intension of Utell to con nect directly to them. They are grown up with a rapidly high ratio and still expected for a high level of growth. This is the ultimate solution to the no reservation on arrival problem and also increases the overall efficiency of a hotel. Hotels usually implement their PMS on an in-house computer. That does not mean that they should have an in house IT department to support it. Most of the PMSs are turn-key systems that can be used simply by anyone as it is mostly being handled by the hotel staffs. Property Management System acts upon the requirements of a hotel, for example a small hotel or a guest house (less than 100 rooms) can be handled with a single computer to store and process guest information and room data and also generate management reports. A medium size hotel (100 to 300 rooms), will need a local area networks with a small workstation installed in different departments. A file server is used to keep all the softwares and files to allow various tasks to be performed on the same time such as check in and check- out concurrently. For properties more than 500 rooms, an even main frame computer technology may be needed for frame computer technology may be needed for a heavy volume of transaction 6 Uses of ICT in hospitality sector: There are numerous places where the ICT is used in a hotel industry, this implementation of technology helps save time and also reduces man power. The PMS software, which is used in the hotel industry acts as the key point from which most of the hotel operations are done. The main functions are stated as: Check-in, check-out and guest accounting Guest History Room Management Hotel reservation CRS distribution Point-of-sales Food and beverage systems Back- office systems Check-in, check-out and guest accounting This process of checking in a guest can be made more efficient by the technology for information technology. The check-in actually means that a guest file becomes active or a new file is opened for a guest who check- inns without any reservation made before the arrival and following this process, a guest folio is being created. The PMS has a walk-in option for the guest without reservations. The main interfaces between the PMS and credit card verification systems in the banks are used to ensure that a credit card has sufficient funds for the length of the stay of a guest. After this process a guest is being registered officially and handover the key of the room that is assigned to him. There is a machine in the hotel lobbies that allows the guest to easily access to self check-in and quickly finish their process. These machines are connected to the PMS and are active after the guest swipes the credit card or also by the notion detector which detects the approach of the guest. All the process is being carried on in this machine without a front office staff interaction that is it greets the guest, guide them through the necessary procedures to check-in themselves, then assign a room and also issue a key for the room. They also have options to activate the energy management system that is the phone, and voicemails for the rooms. A self check-in machine is most of the time a touch screen and very rarely keyboard operated and this machine can be used by both the guest with or without reservation. Once a guest folio is created at check-in, then after all the charges made throughout the stay are posted to that folio either manually or electronically. Manual posting are done by back office staffs and electronic postings are done by software and hardware interfaces and done rapidly without any mistakes. The check- out procedure in a automated hotel do not require guest to pay in the front office neither it automatically transfers funds via credit cards that allows express self check- out, in which the guest folio is being presented under the door and the credit card is automatically billed if there is no discrepancies. PMS software also translates the bills into numerous languages used by hotels with a large international clientele. Guest History: Guest history is well known as database which all the hotels maintain as a part of PMSs work and it is a powerful marketing tool. After every guest checks out the room the guest information is placed into a guest history database by the PMS. This database contains all the information of the guest that is the preference during their stay and the consumption of things/ food or any other thing from the hotel during the stay, these informations are maintained for three main purposes, To enhance future marketing activities To facilitate future reservations To customize guests future visits  [7]   Room Management: The room management is a important component of PMS which tracks the status of the rooms, which helps the housekeeping to distribute rooms for cleaning duties. The typical room status followed by the PMS is occupied, vacant, dirty, clean, inspected and uninspected this allows the front office to allow the clean rooms and get the other rooms ready for occupancy. On every check- in and check- out, the room status changes accordingly. The status of the room can be changed by both housekeeping and front office, by the notification of housekeeping and also the housekeeping can do it by the PMS terminal provided in the housekeeping desk  [8]  . Food and Beverage Systems: This part of system controls the food and beverage stock that is necessary for the hotels daily operation. It also has the price of the item and its suppliers to act upon customer demands. Point-of-sale systems: This is a sub-system which comprises of payment handling that produces bills; this machine accepts various financial instruments from the guest, that is credit card, cash, guest cards etc. Back Office Systems: This is a set of systems that records all transactions and maintains the hotels account book on all the transactions made by date, month and year. Almost three years details are being maintained by this systems and the other records before three years are kept as a backup. This system wires the sales ledger, purchase ledger, purchase bills, accounts payable and general ledger. 9 Marketing and Guest History Housekeeping and room management Executive decision making Accounting night audit Reporting printer Self check-in Printers Guest folio Front Desk/Cashier Reservation PMS UPS Remote check-in The major support and the main value of ICT There are many other industries that support information technology, as they are also into a vast influence by this particular field. Tourism on a whole has a constant growth with the help of information technology. The advert of information technology launches new things to make everything new travel, tourism, hospitality, airlines, food industry and many more. The service industry is one of the major components of the global economy, particularly in the developed countries. This sector has accounted for a two third of the employment, so in the recent upcoming years hospitality industry get to pay the main attention, which is the main driving force of being the successful industry. The outstanding growth of hospitality industry can be related to the fact that their basic characters are highly compatible with the major technical source of innovation opportunities. Because of its advantage on the capability of the communication field and increased information channels, information tec hnology saves cost while increasing the output and the quality of most service productions. However, the main value added by the IT industry to the hospitality firms is not only limited to the supply side. As an example we could take an instant thing that ICT has reduced the need of the front office staffs, as interaction and time is saved where there are many ways that is made technologically than to use man power. In addition information technology supports and improves the hospitality industry, with its interaction with suppliers and users, which is major source of information for the industry. On the other hand ICT plays a vast role in recognising the completion advantages and its vital improvement accordingly to these innovation activities according of the industry. The successful implementation of IT in hotel industry and its advantages: The implementation of information technology in the hospitality industry is to a large extent changed and is properly planned and well managed. Now a days personal computers have been introduced and which even being replaced by mini- computer based systems. To be well effective the organization has to plan and implement with an overall long time plan. Once a strategic plan is being made, then the information technology plan has to be planned. This should include the clear role that technology will play in achieving the target of the Hotel. It is planned in a way that it comprises of the present and future plans of the company, so as to work in a well planned successful way. These planning help to implement a successful technology which adds advantages to the hotel by its advance technology. There are vast advantages of IT that can be stated in which the few are saves lots time, reduces man power, makes a guest happy for making things efficient and faster. The technological development is a gift to the upcoming hotels which plans a high income and a success. A computer technology in a hotel focuses on four main aspects, Speed: A computer technology is an electronic device which can handle and process hundreds of transactions in a fraction of time, which results in the quick completion of difficult tasks. Discipline: the implementing advantage is being taken for it to perform a same task again and again without any mistake and without any distractions Accuracy: it does what we really need and according to the command, as a result they do not commit any mistake and all the calculations are accurate. Capacity: the analysis of any in-depth process and large amount of data performance can also be made in less time instead of doing things manually  [10]  . The functioning of it towards marketing purpose and the way it support for the success of execution: Every department facilities a different advantage with the technology and the sale and marketing also has its own advantage from the implementation of IT sources. These systems store a large amount of information that helps understand the measures of accommodation and hospitality business. In particular it saves the guest information that helps maintain a data base of the guest profile providing information for marketing purposes, which is a strong marketing tool called pull marketing. Another important factor for marketing is the yield management, which has the record of past performance of a room and the hotel that is the occupancy level in a particular time or day of the year and set the optimum rates that will maximize the propertys yield management programme. SWOT Analysis:  [11]   Strength: Strength can also be advantage of the technology which is deeply discussed and explained before. Successful hotels are constantly trying to adapt new technological improvement to keep them updated and to meet the necessary needs of the customer or a guest. These days people are looking forward for more and more technological based things to save time on whatever they do. Business guest needs to access internet in where ever they are for their official purposes like emails during their business trip. They would even need video conferencing, when a company holds a business meet in a hotel, so when a hotel provides all the basic facility to keep a customer service and satisfaction in a high level then the strength of the hotel keeps increasing allowing more and more development of technology. The basic strength that can be added is the quality of work can be high. This also tent to reduce manpower and low the wages, which can produce a highly skilled human resources. It also allows us to follow the service standard. This helps to bring highly skilled professional as this needs knowledge to work in. Weakness: As the technology increases it also leads to some of the weaknesses which should also be considered when taking steps to improve, as the technology gives you all the things you need there is always a lack of practical knowledge and also a dearth of suitable candidates. Until the system tells you the name of a particular guest who is a regular customer to our property we dont try to remember as it is said to be technological. This field is a still developing field but not a developed field as it has a small number of adaptation in some countries. Lack of jobs is also to be considered in countries with more population. Lack of effective marketing and aggressiveness in the field work can also be a weakness. Opportunities: There are facilities to provide high quality information technology market. It also adds up by increasing the number of educated people working. It allows and helps the development of any developing countries by making them adapt the culture of IT. Upcoming international players in the market would also an added opportunities. Hotel industry is developing in recent days in a rapid speed with the advantage and opportunities provided by the information technology and communication. Threats: There is a minimum thread as many threats are being reduced by time and development. When a threat is being seen there is a development to rectify that threat but still in some hotels these are still lacking to be developed for example lack of data security systems. And the development of IT also concentrates in a few cities only. Large market can also be an abstract as it may need a huge concentration or field work. Conclusion: The use of information technology and communication has a vast influence in all the sectors and mainly in hospitality industry. These things are well discussed and given an appropriate values that would add advantages to the statements given. Hospitality sector is mainly into a high touch service- based industry requiring technology to put it forward. The readings clarify that the exact use of technology in this particular field can increase the efficiency and reduce cost on human and financial services can be funnelled into personal services. In these discussions we also come to know that the use of technology in a correct way can be used as a successful tool. The implementation of technology by the managers is a challenge for them in many areas of the properties, the appointments of talented staff to be professional is a very important factor to be considered. Hospitality technology is now increasing with the pace of keeping a new generation to the computer technology and its development. So this allows most of the users to be familiar with the development of new products. the hospitality once which depended only on human resources and which was a big challenge to face, is now investigating whether robotics technology fits into their industry. There are also many successful stories behind this argument. Information technology is becoming more and more advanced and occupying the industries with its fast growth, as it becomes common and most used in hotel and restaurants, it is no longer going to be represented by the competitive advantage, instead it would prefer managers who could be creative and can use technology and information it provides rather to work on their own. These issues are being as evidence now a day by guest history systems. This database must be analysed and turned into real knowledge to improve decision making capacity and the satisfaction of the customer. So as to conclude Hospitality industry is going to be the vision that is going to be successful in the future with the technological development of Information Technology and Communication.

Lou Gerstners IBM :: Lou Gerstner IBM

Lou Gerstner's IBM 1. What struggles does Lou Gerstner face in his plan to make IBM network-centric? Consider internal and external impediments. In order to make Lou Gerstner’s plan effective he had to make many changes with in the IBM company. Gerstner set up a team with Jerry York and Richard Thoman along board. Some changes that were made with in IBM were, a cut back on employment, reduced expenses, and a stronger customer service. Gerstner and his new team based their plans on computer networks and the products needed to help IBM reach their future goals for the company. Some struggles Gerstner faced would be, the cut back in employment, I think this would have hurt his plan because I would have slowed down the production of the IBM products also high costs with no revenue would hurt his plan until he could work and fix the problems. Another problem Gerstner was faced with would be the process of getting lost customers back to buy IBM products. 2. Must IBM’s basic corporate culture change in order to meet Gerstner’s goal? Explain. I think that IBM’s corporate culture would have changed because IBM is following a new structure in order to achieve Gerstner’s goals.. Since employment would be cut back that means that the workers that did stay would have longer hours . Another thing that would change would be the quality and advancement of the products, since the expense cost would be cut down , the quality of the products would decrease. Being the expense cost declined the would be no room for advancing the products and keeping up with the competitors. 3. What strengths does IBM possess that make Gerstner’s plan achievable? How do Gerstner’s strategies incorporate those strengths? IBM is a well known name and it’s been around for a long time. I would buy a product from a company who has a good reputation rather then from a brand new company I’ve

Overcoming Prejudices and Self Acceptance-the Color Purple

Overcoming Prejudices for Self Acceptance Throughout Alice Walker’s novel, The Color Purple, the main character, Celie, reveals all of the hardships she has endured during her life. Celie confides in her younger sister, Nettie, and God to express the way she feels in certain situations. As the story progresses, Celie eventually finds her voice and breaks away from all the men who oppressed her during her life. For the duration of the novel, prejudice becomes a reoccurring theme. Not only does Celie struggle with the external prejudices of sexism and racism, but she also struggles with the internal prejudices toward herself.By using Celie’s struggles as an example, Walker teaches the reader that one must overcome prejudices in order to accept themselves. Sexism becomes one of the main external struggles throughout the novel. With the use of the name â€Å"Mr. __† for Celie’s husband, Albert, Walker shows the reader Celie’s growing resentment towards him. The use of this name â€Å"suggests fearful effacement of an identity too dangerous to reveal† (Heglar). She begins to show bitterness when she says, â€Å"I scurry bout, doing this, doing that. Mr. __ sit by the door gazing here and there† (Walker 43). Celie takes the traditional roll of caring for the house while Mr. _ sits by and tends to his own needs and not the needs of the family. Celie’s dislike towards him grows throughout the novel as he becomes more selfish. Sexism occurs again with the use of gender roles in Harpo and Sofia’s relationship. Sofia represents a strong woman who does not let men dominate her. She and Harpo struggle with these roles throughout the novel. Sophia takes on a more masculine roll and Celie describes their arguments as â€Å"fighting like two mens† (Walker 38). Harpo believes that he should beat Sofia because she does not act like Celie in the sense that she does not give in to his every command.Finally, the use of gender violence is passed down through the generations. Gerri Bates stated that â€Å"The act of gender violence is almost handed down from father to son† (97). When the conflicts between Sofia and Harpo begin, Mr. __ encourages Harpo to beat Sofia so that she will give in to his ways. He uses Celie as an example because she never fights back and remains very obedient. With the use of sexism throughout the novel, Walker shows the reader all of the struggles Celie faced during this time period and how she overcame them. Racism also becomes a major external struggle during this novel.During this time period, whites embodied the image of higher class citizens. Many of the women in this novel aspire to look like white women in order to become more sophisticated. The white women of this time period wore an array of bright and vibrant colors that stood out from the rest. Celie describes the barrier between the races when she says, â€Å"Us dress Squeak like she a white woma n, only her clothes patch† (Walker 95). This quotation depicts the difference between the races at the time, and how even though they tried to bring Squeak up in society, they couldn’t quite reach that level because of their race.The role of racism occurs again when the mayor’s wife treats Sofia’s children like animals. While walking around town one day, the mayor’s wife approaches Sofia and her children and begins petting them like animals and saying â€Å"and such strong white teef† (Walker 87); she looks down on the family because of their race and treats them like animals. This again builds the wall between the races and shows that the white race believed that they were superior to the black race. The theme of racism contributes to the plot again with the roles of blacks and whites within society.When Sofia begins to work for the mayor and his wife, she is discriminated against solely for her race. This act is seen when she says, â€Å"H ave you even seen a white person and a colored sitting side by side in a car, when one of ’em isn’t showing the other how to drive or clean it? † (Walker 99). This quotation demonstrates the separation between the races during this time period. The mayor’s family â€Å"continually expect her to behave according to their cultural representations of the black mother† (Selzer). Whites and blacks could not create friendships and could not talk unless it was for business purposes.The roles of races play a major role in understanding the attitudes during this time period. With the understanding of the roles that the blacks and whites played in society, one can infer that Celie had to overcome more struggles than what she had originally dealt with in order to blossom and become herself. In ultimately finding herself at the end of the novel, Celie had to overcome the internal prejudices against herself. With the use of Shug Avery in the novel, Walker displa ys the hardships Celie must face with her new found sexuality.Because this relationship uses different and new feelings it â€Å"evokes so profound an erotic awakening that Celie believes she was â€Å"still a virgin† prior to it† (Hankinson). When Celie begins to have feelings for Shug, they start out innocent and then become more serious. She describes a night that they spent together when she says, â€Å"Me and Shug sound asleep. Her back to me, my arms round her waist† (Walker 116). Celie begins to allow her feelings with Shug to become reality and shows that she does not have the shy personality that everyone thinks she does.Celie breaks out of her inner prejudices again when she confides in her sister, Nettie. Celie begins to yell at the dinner table one night when she could no longer take the verbal abuse from Mr. __ and stated â€Å"You took my sister Nettie away from me, I say. And she was the only person love me in the world† (Walker 202). Celie believed that she could only confide in Nettie and God during difficult times, but she began to realize that all of her friendships would help her out in the end to become a strong, independent woman.Lastly, the growth of Celie throughout the novel is shown through all of the women that help her along the journey in becoming herself. Although Celie tries to discover herself, â€Å"Shug Avery and Sophia Butler provide the major alternative influences that allow Celie to grow and develop† (Heglar). All of the female relationships throughout the novel help Celie to realize that women do not need men to control their lives. She also realizes that women can become self-sufficient and brave without the help from other people.With help from all the women in the novel, Celie discovers herself and comes to realize that the support of a man is not necessary in the journey to happiness. By using Celie’s difficulties as a model, Alice Walker teaches the reader that self acceptanc e comes over time and that one must overcome prejudices in order to find themselves. During the course of the novel, Celie struggles with both internal and external prejudices. In the end she conquers them all and becomes the person that she truly wants to be. She realizes this when she says â€Å"I am so happy. I got love, I got work, I got money, friends and time† (Walker 218).Walker teaches the reader that no matter what other people think, what truly matters is the beauty within and being able to handle one’s self in the worst of situations. Works Cited Bates, Gerri. Alice Walker A Critical Companion. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press: 2005. Print. Hankinson, Stacie Lynn. â€Å"From Monotheism to Pantheism: Liberation from Patriarchy in Alice Walker’s The Color Purple. † Midwest Quarterly. 38. 3. Gale, 2003. Literary Resource Center. Web. 1 Feb. 2011. Heglar, Charles J. â€Å"Named and Nameless: Alice Walker's Pattern of Surnames in The Color Pu rple. ANQ 13. 1 (Winter 2000): 38-41. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Janet Witalec. Vol. 167. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Literature Resource Center. Web. 1 Feb. 2011. inchell, Donna Haisty. Alice Walker. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1992. Print. Selzer, Linda. â€Å"Race and Domesticity in The Color Purple. † African American Review 29. 1 (Spring 1995): 67-82. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Janet Witalec. Vol. 167. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Literature Resource Center. Web. 1 Feb. 2011. Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. Harcourt, Inc. 2003. Print.

Why Abortion Is Immoral

In â€Å"Why abortion is immoral,† by Don Marquis, Marquis sets out an argument that abortion is â€Å"seriously immoral that it is in the same moral category as killing an innocent adult human being. † Marquis first wants us to understand why killing a person is wrong. He presents us with an argument that the loss of one’s life is one of the greatest losses one can suffer. Because this prevents a person from having a valuable human future, a future like ours. What makes killing any adult human being wrong? If a person is killed all the experience, activities, projects, and enjoyment would be deprive from a person future. Therefore, Marquis believe that killing is one of the worst of crimes because their future is taken away along with their life. Many people who agree with abortion would disagree with Marquis that abortion is the same as killing a person, as much as killing the fetus that would later become a person. For Marquis, it all comes down to our future. Why is killing the fetus wrong? If the fetus survive to full growth, â€Å"the future of the fetus would includes a set of experiences, projects, activities, and such which one identical with the future of adult human being. Many people use the word fetus to mean, an unborn person after three months of conception. Marquis use the word to mean that in the first fourteen days of pregnancy, a fetus is â€Å" not enough like us† to count. Around the fourteen day it is still a possibility that the fetus can divide into twins. Another argument that Marquis states is that abortion is prima facie immoral. What he meant is that the abortion issues does not concern just the interest of the fetus. It concerns a person moral right to his or her body. That a woman moral right to choose whether or not to continue a pregnancy. Only the mother should go under the procedure of abortion. Since it is the mother that have to make a choice and with the decision she makes. Another argument about morality and abortion would be by Judith Jarvis Thomson. In her argument, Judith Jarvis Thomson assumes that the fetus(and embryo and zygote) is â€Å"an innocent human being, a person, from the moment of conception. † She believes that every person has a right to life. A fetus is a person. Therefore a fetus has a right to life, and that the fetus may not be killed. She believes that a mother has the right to her body. But if the mother becomes pregnant and decides that the she doesn’t want the baby then the fetus can outweighs the mother decision to what happens in her body. Thomson state that, â€Å"the fetus should not be killed and that an abortion should not be performed. † But Thomson tries to show that it is not right, that the right to life just means you have the right to not be unjustly killed. This is where she introduce her famous violinist story. Thomson ask us to imagine â€Å"that you were kidnapped by the society of music lovers and that you woke up to find that the violinist’s circulatory system was plugged into yours and you were sharing your kidneys. The director of the hospital then tell you that if you unplugged the cord the violinist will die, and you will be plugged for only nine month and by then you will recover. You also come to find out that by saving the violinist, its killing you because its making your kidney weak. The doctor then tells you that it’s not nine months but nine years. What would you do? Because Thomson believes that all persons have the right to live and violinist are person. We assume that they have a right to life. Thomson then state â€Å" that you have the right to decide what will happen to and in your body, but a person right to live outweighs your right to decide what happens to and in your body. † If a women is pregnant due to rape a women is not permitted to have an abortion. Because the unborn child that a women is carrying does not cause any harm relating to the rape. The unborn child has the right to live, the unborn child is innocent. Thomson states that â€Å" a women’s right to use her body does not entail her right to end someone else’s life in order do what she wants with her body. † In conclusion, both Thomson and Marquis believes that a person has a right to live. But both comes out with arguments that are different supporting their arguments. Marquis believes that a person should not be killed because when one is dead they’re deprived of the future goods, and experience that they will encountered. If their killed they would not have a future like ours. Marquis believe that killing a fetus only is wrong because it won’t have a future like ours. Marquis also states that a women have the right to decide if she wants the abortion or not. Thomson believes that it’s wrong to have an abortion, when the unborn child is innocent. The unborn child outweighs the mother decision to what happens to her body. Thomson argues that every person has the right to live and a fetus may not be killed.

Intro to Afro-American Studies I Afro-005 Essays - Americas

Intro to Afro-American Studies I Afro-005 Essays - Americas Intro to Afro-American Studies I Afro-005 Dr. Gregory Carr March 7, 2017 What are some of the similarities and differences in practices of self- determination of Africans in the U.S. and their counterparts throughout the hemisphere? Abstract: Africans in the United States and Africans in the Western Hemisphere both practiced self-det ermination. Practices of self-d etermination came in different forms such as marronage and quilombismo , as a means to bring African people together, forming allegiances. Self-determination also came in the form of various techniques of resistance. Having learned techniques of resistance, Africans emerged as a power ful unity and started to resist enslavement. Realizing tha t if they were going to overpower the system of enslavem ent they first had to terminate "dominating social structure", the Africans began their journey in terminating the identity that were given to them and began creating an identity for their selves. Critical Review of Scholarship: Several books as well as class discussions were used as aids to answer this question. One book was Black Movements in American by Cedric Robinson. This book discusses how African people practiced self-determination in many ways and depending on social structure and were able to find themselves. Also discussed in this book is how Black people have been trying to resist slavery. A second book used was the Atlas of African-American History and Politics: From the Slave Trade to Modern Times. This book not only served as a visual, but also talked about the Africans' reasoning behind joining the American Revolution and gave intensive information of Africans' struggle for freedom in United States and throughout the hemisphere. Other evidence that serves as an aid in answering this question are the class discussions led by Dr. Carr. Discussion: To begin, we first define what self-determination is. Self-determination is "a characteristic of a person that leads them to make choices and decisions based on their own preferences and interests, to monitor and regulate their own actions and to be goal-oriented and self-directing". As the self-determination of the Africans strengthened, the vision of their ultimate goal, freedom, grew. No matter what their plans were or how they differed, the end game was always freedom and a chance to create an identity for their selves. As stated in Black Movements in America, "Resistance among the slaves and bonded laborers assumed various appearances: appeals to the court, physical violence, flight, and rebelliousness,". One method used by the Africans to gain freedom was to fight in the American Revolution. However, there were Africans fighting on both sides. As stated in the Atlas of African-American History and Politics, while over 5,000 free blacks served in the Continental Army, there were an equal number of free and runaway black slaves fighting in the British Army. Though they chose to fight on different sides, the goal was still freedom. Another technique used by the Africans to gain freedom through self-determination was to rebel. A great example is the Haitian Revolution, one of the most violent and successful slave revolts of America. It was said that the revolts were very organized. In fact they were so organized that in 1793 the French government, who ruled the island at that time, abolished slavery on the island. Haiti eventually gained its independence in 1804 through consistent rebellions. This shows the level of dedication and self-determination that the Africans in Haiti had. In a class discussion we spoke about a lady named Ona (Oney) Judge. Judge's technique of self-determination and resistance was one more on the nonviolent side. Ona was a slave for George Washington and his wife. She used the law, oddly enough, to gain her freedom. She escaped to New Hampshire, where by law she was technically free. George Washington was unsuccessfully at having her returned to his plantation. In another class discussion we spoke about marronage. Marronage (maroons) is refers to people who escaped slavery, and created independent groups and communities on the outskirts of slave societies. This was another form of a nonviolent technique used by the Africans to gain their freedom. Further Questions: In my attempt to answer the question of what are some of the similarities and differences in practices of self- determination of Africans in the U.S. and

Free Essays on If Beale Street Could Talk

Book Review: If Beale Street Could Talk James Baldwin was born on August 2, 1924. His first novel, Go Tell it on the Mountain, received good reviews, but more importantly, it opened a new voice in literature. Baldwin stated, â€Å"Mountain is the book I had to write if I was ever going to write anything else.† The appearance of his next novel in 1963, The Fire Next Time, appeared when the civil rights movement was expanding in the South. This story consisted of American’s refusal to face their own history. If Beale Street Could Talk is controversial in many ways, but when judging its value in a classroom setting, it proves to be essential. James Baldwin addresses issues that are only age-appropriate for mature students in high school, but probably more beneficial for the college student. Most of the criticism that this book received is from its graphic description of racism, and its graphic language and sexual display. Although there are many reasons and qualities that this book should receive praise. For instance Beale Street shows strong qualities of honesty, family, survival, and love. This book has an important message that could be taught to students who are also facing racism or to educate the students who are not so familiar with the issue of racism. These qualities include showing insight, understanding, and awareness of racism in today’s society, although the subject of racism has come a long way since the 1960’s and 1970’s, it still has a long way to go. Beale Street is based on a young black couple who lives in the 60’s and 70’s in the ghetto of New York. Since Fonny and Tish were little, they grew up together and their relationship began to develop into more than just friendship. As they are developing their relationship, they see how cruel and unjust society is against blacks. The police arrest Fonny for rape on a night that he never left his apartment. The victim identifies Fonny in a line-up, but he ... Free Essays on If Beale Street Could Talk Free Essays on If Beale Street Could Talk Book Review: If Beale Street Could Talk James Baldwin was born on August 2, 1924. His first novel, Go Tell it on the Mountain, received good reviews, but more importantly, it opened a new voice in literature. Baldwin stated, â€Å"Mountain is the book I had to write if I was ever going to write anything else.† The appearance of his next novel in 1963, The Fire Next Time, appeared when the civil rights movement was expanding in the South. This story consisted of American’s refusal to face their own history. If Beale Street Could Talk is controversial in many ways, but when judging its value in a classroom setting, it proves to be essential. James Baldwin addresses issues that are only age-appropriate for mature students in high school, but probably more beneficial for the college student. Most of the criticism that this book received is from its graphic description of racism, and its graphic language and sexual display. Although there are many reasons and qualities that this book should receive praise. For instance Beale Street shows strong qualities of honesty, family, survival, and love. This book has an important message that could be taught to students who are also facing racism or to educate the students who are not so familiar with the issue of racism. These qualities include showing insight, understanding, and awareness of racism in today’s society, although the subject of racism has come a long way since the 1960’s and 1970’s, it still has a long way to go. Beale Street is based on a young black couple who lives in the 60’s and 70’s in the ghetto of New York. Since Fonny and Tish were little, they grew up together and their relationship began to develop into more than just friendship. As they are developing their relationship, they see how cruel and unjust society is against blacks. The police arrest Fonny for rape on a night that he never left his apartment. The victim identifies Fonny in a line-up, but he ...

How to Write the UPenn Application Essays 2018-2019

Located just across the river from downtown Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania is one of the world’s premier institutions of higher learning. UPenn is known not only for its academic prowess but also for its thriving student life scene. This encompasses not only the myriad of on campus extracurricular pursuits but also the bustling metropolis just minutes away from campus. As an Ivy League institution, UPenn is one of the most elite institutions in the world. Its acceptance rate for the class of 2022 was a mere 8.39%. The middle 50 percent of ACT scores ranged from 32-35, and the middle 50 percent of SAT Math and Reading scores ranged from 690-770 and 680-750 respectively. In terms of structure, UPenn has four undergraduate divisions: the School of Arts & Sciences, Wharton School of Business, the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and the School of Nursing. They also offer a myriad of interdisciplinary specialized programs that range from cognitive science to network analysis. Many of these programs combine the business of practices of UPenn’s legendary Wharton School with other disciplines, such as the Huntsman Program in International Studies & Business. This guide will provide invaluable advice for each of the essay prompts. Whether you’re majoring in chemistry or applying for the 7-year pre-dental program, we’ll provide you with plenty of tips for how to present your best self to the UPenn admissions office. Penn has one 400-650 word essay that all of its applicants must write, but those who want to apply to specialized programs, such as the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business or the Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology , will have to write one or two additional essays. The first question you may have about your application is: what is the relation between your general application essay and your specialized program application essay? The first thing to know is that these specialized programs are very selective. They are not just looking for the â€Å"smartest† students, but rather the students whose particular experiences and goals best fit with what that specialized program has to offer . If you are not selected for a specialized program, it does not mean that you are intellectually inferior — it just means that other students were a better â€Å"fit.† For example, the Huntsman program is incredibly selective , admitting only 45 students per year out of an incoming class of almost 2,500. What this means is that applying for, and not being admitted to, a specialized program will not hurt your application to Penn. In your first essay (which everyone who applies to Penn must write), you will talk about how you will pursue your intellectual interests at Penn through one of its four large undergraduate schools: the Wharton School of Business, the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and the School of Nursing. Then, if you are applying to a specialized program, you will make a specialized case for why you should go to that school. When you write, you’ll want to make sure that you are not repeating information between these two essays and that each essay can stand on its own . This can be a little bit of a challenge, but if you have what it takes to get into Penn it probably means that you have a wealth of different ways to talk about your interests. * Students applying to Digital Media Design and Computer & Cognitive Science should address both the specialized program and single-degree choice in their response. For students applying to the other coordinated dual-degree and specialized programs, please answer this question in regards to your single-degree school choice; your interest in the coordinated dual-degree or specialized program may be addressed through the program-specific essay. This essay is asking a very straightforward question: what do you want to study and why do you want to study that at Penn in particular. With this question, the admissions officers are trying to do three things. First, they are trying to weed out those candidates that are just applying to Penn because it is a â€Å"fancy school.† Second, they want to learn something about your intellectual passions and interests. Third, they want to see if you have done your research and started to figure out how you will use Penn to pursue those intellectual passions and interests. When they ask you to talk about your major within one of the four schools — Arts and Sciences, Engineering, Nursing, and Wharton — you should realize that you are not necessarily talking about these schools in general. Each of these schools contains a multitude of different majors, areas of focus, research opportunities, and Penn wants to know that you have taken the time to research their offerings. For example, if you are applying to the College of Arts and Sciences, you should not be talking about â€Å"Arts and Sciences† as a whole (everything from biology to French literature!). Focus on the major and classes within the school of Arts and Sciences that you want to pursue. Maybe you want to study at Penn because of its remarkably high number of professors (10!) working on differential geometry — a subject of particular interest to you. You might begin your essay by talking about how you have been interested in differential geometry ever since you asked your high school math teacher, â€Å"Okay, we’ve gone over how to find the surface area of a cube, but how would you even begin to find the surface area of something like a plastic bag floating in the air?† You can then go on to talk about the work you’ve done studying new topics in geometry over the summer, the thrill of thinking about how billiard balls bounce around differently shaped boards , and the overlap between your interests and the unique research profile of Penn’s mathematics faculty. An important thing to remember here is that you need to talk about both your passion for a particular subject area and what Penn has to offer you — both aspects are equally important! If you are interested in one of Penn’s specialized programs, you still need to write an essay about how you intend to pursue your intellectual interests at Penn, regardless of whether you are admitted to a specialized program or not. The trick here is to write an essay that communicates the full force of enthusiasm and excitement for a plan of study at Penn that does not hinge exclusively on admission to a specialized program, such as Huntsman (discussed in more detail below). Maybe you have been fascinated with international relations and diplomacy ever since you started learning French and playing Massive Online Multi-player strategy games that required weaving complex treaties with people from many different parties. You can write a great essay about how you hope to use Penn’s resources to pursue a major in international relations, and how you especially look forward to studying abroad — maybe to meet some of the people who you have been collaborating with from all over the world. Then, if you are interested in the intersection of business and international relations, you might use your Huntsman essay to talk about your abiding interest in logistics (perhaps related to your work in gaming) has drawn you to the problem of how conflicts in international law might affect the efficiency of global shipping supply chains. The College of Engineering’s special programs in Digital Media Design and Computer & Cognitive Science are something of a special case. For these two programs, your statement of why you fit into them belongs in this general admissions essay, not in a separate prompt. As such, you need to treat this essay like an application for a specialized program that also addresses the major you will pursuing outside these specialized programs. This means you will need to cram a lot into this essay. The trick in these cases is to use your essay to show how the distinctive intellectual interest that you are pursuing in the College of Arts and Sciences or the College of Engineering will be augmented by the addition of these specialized programs. For example, if you are applying to Computer & Cognitive Science, you might also be applying to the College of Arts & Sciences to study Linguistics. You can start the essay by talking about how language has always fascinated you: you always wanted to dig deeper than the rules listed in your grammar books. Why — you ask — do we say â€Å"the big red house† and not â€Å"the red big house?† Maybe part of what drove you to start learning Spanish and Russian was to see if rules of syntax in English also applied to other languages. Then, you’ll pivot in a new paragraph to talk about how your interest in syntax also makes you interested in Penn’s program in Computer & Cognitive science. Your interest in word-order might go beyond human-made languages and extend to the languages machine intelligences are starting to create . In order to show the admissions committee that your passion for computing is no less than your passion for learning new languages, you might talk about the work you did programming a chatbot or creating a little video game to help you study your Latin declensions. If you are applying to any of these interdisciplinary programs, you want to show the admissions committee that you have already started to think across disciplinary boundaries. What if you are not particularly interested in any of Penn’s specialized programs? That’s perfectly fine! Not applying to those programs will not hurt your application or make you seem like an â€Å"unambitious† student. After all, most of the specialized programs are focused on the intersection between the business school and other areas of study. Returning to our math example above, maybe you are just fascinated with geometry and not particularly concerned with its applications on Wall Street? That’s perfectly fine! But for those with a sincere interest, Penn’s specialized programs offer unique interdisciplinary possibilities. The rest of this article will tackle those prompts. Finally, though this essay asks you to discuss the â€Å"specific undergraduate school† you are applying to, that does not mean you cannot mention (in a short paragraph, maybe at the end of the essay) some of the social and cultural reasons that attracted you to the city of Philadelphia and its surrounding social and cultural possibilities. Maybe you are a history buff fascinated with Benjamin Franklin or maybe there is an exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of art that you have been dying to see. You won’t spend all your time in class at Penn, and it can’t hurt to offer a glimpse of your extracurricular interests in this essay. As Penn says, â€Å"Your essays tell us what sort of person you are — and provide a glimpse into the intangibles you might bring to our community.† The first thing to do if you are considering applying to any of Penn’s specialized programs is research . Go to their websites and read those â€Å"mission statements† and â€Å"about us† sections! More than that: go deeper and see what kinds of classes are offered and what the faculty who teach these classes research. If you can, talk to an alumnus of one of these programs. Or stroll through YouTube and see if there is a video posted from events and conferences sponsored by these different programs. The more details you have about these programs, the better you will be able to talk about how your specific interests line up with what these programs have to offer. If you want to apply to the program in Life Sciences and Management, it will not be enough to say that you are interested in â€Å"life sciences† because you really enjoyed your AP Biology class, and that you are interested in â€Å"management† because you’ve always wanted to be an entrepreneur who finds â€Å"practical solutions to real world problems.† You’ll need to get specific and show that you’ve really done your homework and that your interest in these interdisciplinary fusions is more than just a passing phase. The Huntsman Program in International Studies & Business is a unique, four-year interdisciplinary undergraduate course of study that integrates business education, advanced language training and a liberal arts education. Huntsman students earn two degrees — a B.A. in International Studies from the School of Arts and Sciences and a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School. Huntsman students specialize in the area of the world in which their target language is spoken and graduate with a nuanced understanding of the political, economic and cultural complexities in a changing world. One key aspect of the Huntsman curriculum is choosing a country/culture, and then engaging in focused study for the next four years. Though this question may seem to be asking about all international issues, and though it may be tempting to try to synthesize global commerce in 500 words, what this essay really wants you to do is talk about a specific international issue from the perspective of a particular cultural or regional focus. The key is to analyze that issue from both the perspective of politics and from the perspective of business. Even if you are focusing on a very specific issue, this is a lot of ground to cover in just 500 words. Another way to give your essay focus is to talk about an issue that you have some kind of connection to or interest in because of your own history or experience. Maybe you come from or have relatives in the region that you are discussing? Maybe you have traveled to or worked in that region? Maybe you live in a neighborhood that has a lot of immigrants from a particular region? It is, of course, possible to write a thoughtful essay about a topic and region that you only know through a collection of diverse and carefully studied sources. But it can help your readers better understand your own personal interests if you can offer some kind of narrative as to why you are writing your essay on one particular issue when there is a whole world of problems to consider. For example, maybe you have family ties in Venezuela and are worried about the political and economic turmoil that country is currently experiencing. A compelling essay might discuss the challenges that come from threatening sanctions in order to get the Venezuelan government to open up its borders to foreign aid. Might sanctioning oil only cause further economic hardship for the citizens of Venezuela? Are sanctions an effective means of responding to repressive regimes? When and how can governments intervene in trade policy for humanitarian ends? The meaning of your analysis lies not only in the larger trends you are observing but also in the hospitals without medicine and the collapse of currency . An especially compelling version of this essay does not just engage in a cold analysis of international governmental and business relations, but also discusses how those problems impact the lives of real people. For another less politically charged but no less complex example, you could have a deep interest in how Chinese business has traditionally been conducted without enforced contracts . Maybe you do not have any family ties in China, but you read about this strange aspect of Chinese trade in the Wall Street Journal and wondered whether that editorial writer was just dealing in cultural stereotyping (â€Å"they are irrational!†) or whether there was something about the structure and practice of Chinese contract law that made it different from (if not necessarily better than) United States contract law. Perhaps your work in the Huntsman program will prepare you to help multinational corporations understand the nuances of informal contract law in China, perhaps even understanding how those informal structures might grant them greater flexibility. Of course, if you do write about a region that you do not have any personal connection to, you will also want to demonstrate more than a passing interest in that region. As you write this essay, you should also find space to mention how you have been studying the Chinese language for the last three years and expect to continue studying it at Penn. One last word on how the Huntsman curriculum might help you â€Å"resolve† the issue: if you are talking about a complex problem, you are not going to propose a â€Å"solution† in the space of a 500-word essay. Instead, you want to talk about how that curriculum will help you acquire the skills necessary to collaborate and further study the problem. In the Venezuelan example, you might point to the limitations of sanctions given that country’s history of seeing the United States as an â€Å" imperialist interloper .† In the Chinese example, you are exploring the nuances of communication and how promises are formed and sustained, not suddenly convincing China to take up a whole new legal framework. A mature essay avoids simple and grandiose solutions and shows that you are intellectually curious and open to the sustained inquiry and collaboration needed to tackle tough problems. LSM is an  undergraduate dual-degree program  administered jointly between Penn’s College of Arts & Sciences and the Wharton School. Each year, the program enrolls approximately 25 exceptional students and offers them the opportunity to pursue an interdisciplinary curriculum combining bioscience and business, leading to the completion of two degrees: a Bachelor of Arts in a life science major, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Economics. To ensure that every student learns how to apply their knowledge, the program provides the means for him or her to find two required, paid internships, one centered in scientific research, the other in business or public policy. Completion of the LSM program is an ideal starting point for students intent on careers in the life sciences sector by preparing them for the  advanced training we anticipate they will then go on to pursue through MD, PhD, MBA, JD, and/or  other graduate programs. LSM is suited to students with interests in h ealthcare; biomedical, agricultural, and environmental research and development; public policy; and the financial and strategic management of  life science organizations. This question is similar to the Huntsman question, as it requires to you to synthesize your interests and explain why LSM is the program for you. This program attempts to bridge the constant gap between scientific innovation and marketable solutions. An effective way to answer this is to point to a problem within a lab setting and explain how management overhauls can address it. For example, you could focus on the problem of managing the profitability of important drugs in low-margin markets. An example would be a cure to dengue fever that targets extremely low-income individuals in developing natures. As such, research efforts are dampened by a perceived lack of profitability amid large R&D expenses. An LSM education could provide the insight into the management side of life sciences to effectively raise the margins of a new drug that would motivate investment and seed funding to ultimately bring about a cure for millions of individuals. But if you go this route, you should also be wary of talking in a vague way about how â€Å"management† magically improves efficiencies. You will want to try to be specific about the organizational changes that you think might be helpful. In the dengue fever example, maybe you are interested in studying how leaders in marginalized countries might be incorporated into the drug’s distribution channels — perhaps both decreasing the need to build expensive new distribution infrastructure and hopefully securing the trust of community users. As you compose this essay, you should be aware that it asks you to be both as specific and as original as possible . You may be really excited about how gene therapies might allow HIV patients to forgo the onerous task of taking antivirals every day. On the business side, this new treatment could potentially reduce costs and lessen the number of trips patients have to take to the doctor — an especially relevant consideration for people in rural areas and people with limited mobility. But instead of just saying what we’ve said in the previous two sentences, there might be a more inventive way of approaching your prompt. What if you started your essay by presenting the script for a fictional advertisement for your new therapy? After you’ve talked up its benefits of gene therapy in your fictional TV spot, you might add a paragraph reflecting the particular challenges of getting patients to accept new treatments. The challenges facing gene therapy are not just technical challenges to be solved in the lab; there are also public relations challenges in a world where people are skittish about genetic engineering that need to be solved by an effective business communications strategy. Maybe the reason you are applying for the LSM is that you are interested in all the challenges that come with bringing a new treatment to the market from advancing through clinical trials to selling the treatment to doctors and patients. The benefit of this particular â€Å"creative† option for the essay is that it is not simply â€Å"off-the-wall,† attention grabbing for the sake of nothing more than surprise value. If you are writing about communication strategies and your essay presents itself as part of that communication strategy, then the form and content of your writing synergize. If you use a creative gimmick in your essay, it needs to amplify, rather than obscure, your central claim. The Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology, affectionately called the M&T Program, is the oldest coordinated dual degree program at the University of Pennsylvania. The Program combines academics from two phenomenal Penn assets, Penn Engineering and the Wharton School, into one unique educational experience. Students enrolled in the M&T Program pursue degrees from both schools concurrently, creating a truly interdisciplinary learning experience. This combination enables our students not only to understand engineering and business concepts, but also to understand the integration of the two and how this intersection distinctively shapes our world. This prompt is unique in the sense that it provides an opportunity for you to demonstrate your analytical reasoning and argumentation beyond discussing personal characteristics or facts about the school. Your best bet here will be taking a solutions-driven approach. Luckily, the structure of this essay is relatively clear-cut. The true difficulty comes in devising a response that is creative but also intelligibly grounded in reality. You should begin your essay by identifying one such disruptive technology and what the popular opinion is regarding its predicted significance. When selecting your form of technology, it’s important to be specific. For instance, don’t just write about machine learning, but instead write about something more detailed like machine learning software that encrypts secret government information. Also, it might be helpful to choose a technology that isn’t too ‘mainstream’ but that also does have seemingly serious implications for society. This will demonstrate your familiarity with the field. Once you’ve constructed a short introduction that establishes both your chosen technology and the common perception about its imminent success, your next step is to knock that argument down. Carefully research all possible implications of your chosen technology, and try to evaluate possible alternative nuances to each one. Brainstorm other extenuating factors that seem relatively unspoken of and could diminish the success of this technology. In essence, UPenn wants to see your ability to make a strong argumentative case against some technology. This will demonstrate both your familiarity with the effects of technology and your ability to think critically about its implications in society. Finally, you should focus on addressing the concerns arisen in the previous section. These solutions could come in many forms: possible tweaks to the initial technology, alternative uses of other, related technologies, etc. UPenn wants to see not only your foresight for potential technological issues, but also your creative problem solving capabilities that address these issues in turn. Here, admissions officers want to see that your problem-solving style demonstrates leadership/creativity. This is important because Jerome Fisher heavily emphasizes leadership and collaboration with others. Make sure your response reflects both leadership and creativity. Furthermore, you should emphasize genuine leadership through actions—not just a title you’ve held. For instance, if you were the treasurer of Key Club, talk about the initiatives you helped direct rather than solely the position itself. For example, maybe you helped start a can drive competition at your high school and then transported the cans to a local food kitchen. Furthermore, leadership in this sense doesn’t necessarily have to relate to a title. People demonstrate leadership all the time in their daily lives. For instance, maybe you were doing group work in your economics class, and you helped guide your team through a challenging problem. Just make sure you’re showing rather than telling . In terms of structure, you should first write a short introduction wherein you present the main problem. This problem can be literally anything. The important part is how you solve it. The bulk of your response should address your problem-solving method. Make sure the resolution of your problem involves both creative problem solving and effective group communication on your part. The purpose of this prompt is for UPenn to find people that have both ingenuity and strong leadership skills. For instance, maybe your robot breaks down at a robotics competition. You then respond by assembling it in a slightly flawed manner and collaborating with your team to reconstruct several lines of code. Only through your calm coordination is the team able to rebound and then place first in the competition. Likewise, only through your creative adaptability is the team able to suitably fix the robot’s code. Whatever scenario you present, make sure to address both your creativity and leadership in equal part. In the NHCM  program, you’ll study simultaneously in both schools and graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Bachelor of Science in Economics. Your work will include science and clinical courses, along with general education courses in the Arts and Sciences. We designed the   curriculum   to boost expertise in patient care and deepen your knowledge of how to manage the way that care is delivered. Nursing is a caring profession . Nurses handle patients when they come in the door, dressing wounds and calming anxieties long before the doctor appears. Nursing programs are justly proud of the way that they train their students in both the art of medicine and the art of empathy. The interesting challenge of this essay lies in speaking to the intersection between this deeply personal field that focuses on one-on-one interactions and the often depersonalized technocratic work of â€Å"management,† which looks to maximize systematic efficiencies. How to write an essay that situates your interests at the intersection of these apparently opposite fields For most nursing programs, the traditional essay dives into two aspects: (1) your training in science that prepares you to understand the technical aspects of working with individual bodies, and (2) your capacity for empathy and the humanistic training that allows you to treat each body as a full person. You will certainly need to address both of these topics in this essay. To do so, you might talk about a particular harrowing experience you had while shadowing a nurse at your local ER. When a patient came in after falling down the stairs, you saw how the nurse’s knowledge of applied physiology helped them maneuver the patient’s body without aggravating his head injury. But in order to learn that the patient’s head was injured, the nurses also needed to communicate with a panicked sister-in-law who was also the nurse’s best source of information. The good nurse must be both scientist and humanist in order to care for the individual. But in order to apply for the NHCM, you will need to add one more aspect to your essay: the management aspect. This includes the problems of budgeting, classification, scheduling, billing, and medical device supply chains that create an environment where healthcare professionals can do their best work. The trick is to show how these managerial concerns are actually intimately tied to the individualized caring that nurses do. For example, you might write about how you know that long shifts for nurses have been shown to result in high levels of burnout and more patient dissatisfaction . In order to make sure that the nurses are always at the top of their game (as they were when you shadowed the nurses who dealt with the head trauma), maybe you have an interest in developing new scheduling software that breaks up shifts into smaller segments and tracks the fatigue that nurses accumulate over the long term. After all, maybe it was something more than personal brilliance that allowed the nurse you were following to do their job particularly well; maybe they were also at the beginning of their shift, still fresh from a day’s rest and physically capable of navigating a complex situation. Submit your essay and we’ll get back to you with helpful edits. The VIPER program engages students in energy research early on, enabling them to perform graduate level work as undergraduates. Upon successful completion of the program, students receive two degrees: a BSE and a BA. The ultimate goal is to raise innovators in high-caliber research careers who develop sustainable ways to harness, convert, and use energy. The VIPER program has faculty and staff dedicated to advising the VIPER students and meet one-on-one with each cohort member. Cohorts bond, study, work, and get involved in research starting their first year at Penn. If you have conducted research in some sort of energy-related field, then this is a very straightforward essay. You should outline the goals of your project, your hypotheses, your approach, your results, and your conclusions. This seems like a very straightforward outline, but this essay is not just asking for a description of a research project. It is also asking you to discuss what makes you passionate about energy research and the larger social and political contexts that make your research important. The middle three terms — â€Å"hypotheses, approach, and results† — are the more straightforward terms where you say what you did in your research. Maybe you participated in a summer program where you studied how spent nuclear fuel rods behave when stored in different geological formations. You can describe the initial theory you tested, how you went about testing it, and what you found. As you do so, don’t feel the need to cram in the maximum amount of jargon in order to communicate your technical mastery. Wherever possible, use layman’s terms or define the specialized language you are offering. One of the things that these science programs are looking for when they read your essays is not just your capacity to do research, but also your capacity to communicate the importance of your research to a wider audience of non-specialists. After all, even though your VIPER application will be read by people with backgrounds in energy science, they might no t know anything about the particular subfield you were working in. The first and last terms — your â€Å"goals† and your â€Å"conclusions† — should be thought about in slightly more expansive terms. Don’t just talk what about you studied; talk about why you studied it. What is the larger social, economic, and political purpose behind the research that you were doing? For the example about researching spent nuclear fuel rods you might begin by saying that this is an especially important issue because we know that these rods need to be stored for 300 years in order to ensure safety. You might conclude your essay by taking offering a more philosophical approach, talking about how the future of sustainable energy research is not just a matter of coming up with new technologies, but also a matter of looking back and continuing to reckon with the challenges posed by the energy technologies developed in the 20th century. Alternatively, since this still a personal essay and not just a research statement, you might wan t to talk about why this research is particularly important to you . Maybe you live in Nevada’s Nye county, near Yucca Mountain , the first United States’ first nuclear waste storage repository? What if the research you have done is not directly related to energy? If so, that is perfectly fine: the skills you learned in one area of scientific inquiry can easily be transferred to another field. You should still follow the advice above about being a good communicator: avoid excessive jargon, don’t get lost in the weeds. More than a truncated research paper, the admissions committee is looking to see what you learned about the process of research from your experience. When talking about your methods you might talk about how you collaborated with your teammates to solve a particularly difficult problem. Maybe the chemical compound you were using as a catalyst was not congealing properly, and you were stuck until you figured out that the temperature reading for your refrigerator was off by one degree. More than any specific technical know-how, the applications committee is looking for teamwork and problem solving skills. You’ll be studying a lot of textbooks when you get into college, cramming your brain with more technical know-how than you can even imagine. An eager and collaborative spirit is something that you need to bring to the table. If the research experience you are talking about is not related to energy, you will also want to spend some time talking about why you want to get into the field of energy research in particular. Maybe you hope to take the teamwork skills you’ve learned doing fieldwork on sea urchin populations in Monterey Bay to the study of how salt-water algae might be farmed and used as biofuels ? You can also talk about other work that you have done which might not be directly related to scientific research, but is concerned with the political aspects of building a sustainable energy future. Maybe you worked on a campaign to convince local business to become carbon neutral? Whatever you end up writing, you need to convince the admissions committee that you are not just interested in â€Å"science† but rather that you are dedicated to building a sustainable energy future. If you have not done any directed research in the sciences, your essay will be focused on your interest in sustainable energy. You can still demonstrate that you have the skills to be a good researcher even if you have not already worked in a lab. Where have you demonstrated your problem solving skills and your capacity to work with a team? Maybe you worked for a political campaign and collaborated with a team to sort and analyze donor data? Which of your extracurricular activities demonstrates your scrupulous attention to detail and your boundless curiosity in learning how things work? Maybe you built a radio or spend your free time woodworking? Networks permeate and influence virtually every aspect of our lives-everything from how millions of Parisians travel on the Metro to how individuals make friends. Networks lift entire economies and elect presidents. They start revolutions. Move commerce. Make scientific discoveries. Cure diseases. Secure peace. Save lives. To understand and predict behavior, and to design new capabilities and services, we must understand people, systems, and incentives, and how the structure and properties of networks affects interactions. To that end, we’ve created an entirely unprecedented, multidisciplinary program that connects the study of networks with the study of human behavior. Networked & Social Systems mixes courses in engineering, mathematics and science with courses in sociology, game theory, economics and policy. More than just gaining the fundamental knowledge that navigates the various strategies and decisions that make up human interaction, you will build the digital solutions that anticipate the way people — and systems — will act. This essay is very open ended, and it is trying to gauge your capacity to think creatively about how different disciplines relate to each other, and how the concept of the â€Å"network† might hold them all together. But what is a network? A network is an abstract formal pattern. A set of nodes and edges (or lines and dots) that synthesizes the ways people, places, and things are connected. The strength of the network as an analytic tool lies precisely in its abstraction, the fact that it can be used to model and study many different phenomena, from the â€Å" transportation network † of New York’s subway system, to the â€Å" business network † of Donald Trump’s real estate empire. The questions that you might bring to any network are manifold. What is the quickest way to get from one point to another? Which actors are located in central or â€Å"influential† positions? What would happen if one node were knocked out? In statistics and mathematics, big data network analysis is a rapidly expanding research field. In ecology , scientists are using networks to analyze the ways that organisms are related to each other, and modern sociology is consumed with the anal ysis of â€Å"social networks† — not just online, but also in businesses and families and cities. The list of applications for network analysis goes on and on and on. To focus your response and avoid getting lost in the tangle, you will want to write about one specific network that fascinates you. Let’s take the example of the New York City subway system. True, this is not the â€Å"high tech† network like the â€Å"Internet,† but because a network is a kind of formal analysis, the questions raised in the study of one network can be applied to many other different networks. Moreover, NETS’ website mentions that they are interested in both â€Å" digital and real world networks .† Even a creaky old subway system is fair game. So, if you were writing about the New York City subway you might start off by saying that you first became interested in the study of networks as a child zooming along the â€Å"6,† out of Manhattan and into the Bronx. You can springboard from an account of your personal experience as a young rider to your more mature analysis as a student of urban design. Maybe Hurricane Sandy made you ask questions about how the networks that hold cities together might be made more resilient in the face of rapidly changing climate? After zooming out to think about network systems as a whole, you might end your essay by zooming back in on the unique aesthetic experiences that a modern networked world offers as a unique arts and performance space that lets new people and new artists move fluidly across the whole city. Another thing to keep in mind as you write this essay is that NETS is not just interested in the technical details that make a network work : they are also interested in the questions of power. You could call the Internet a jungle of machines-computers, cell phones, and millions of servers in data center warehouses-communing through copper, optical, and satellite links. The universal communications layer of these machines offers services and capabilities that are extensible in ways we never imagined just a few years ago, from online education and sharing jokes with millions in a matter of minutes to transforming entire media industries. But the Internet is not the sum of its machines. Who owns them? Who uses them? And who invents, negotiates and delivers the services in between? While the prompt above talks about the â€Å"creation of beneficial content for society† you might also write about the very real challenges that come with a modern networked society. The internet can be used to spread harmless content, like memes with otters snuggling goats , but it can also be used to spread more disturbing ideas . While it may seem like the Internet offers anyone and everyone a chance to speak, what does it mean if the infrastructure and management of those networks is under the control of a small number of incredibly wealthy companies ? This program is not just looking for talented engineers, it is also looking for interdisciplinary thinkers who are curious about how technologies shape societies and how societies shape technologies. Bio-Dental submatriculation is a seven-year joint program of the College and Penn’s School of Dental Medicine for students who will major in Biology and who wish to enroll in the Dental School during their senior year in the College. Application to the program must be made at the time of application to Penn. Applicants will be notified of their conditional acceptance into the program when they are notified of their admission to Penn. Full acceptance into the program is made after the student’s junior year and is based on academic performance during those three years and meeting the admissions standards of the Dental School. For details, see the   Biology Department   website. The Bio-Dental submatriculation program is highly structured and may not allow students to pursue dual undergraduate degrees. As with most of the essays for the highly structured Bio-Dental program, this essay is looking for information first, and narrative second. This does not mean that there is no room for creativity, but the most important thing is to clearly and effectively communicate what you have done and what you have learned. The first prompt lays out two different ways of answering its question depending on your level of experience. 1) The first option is more straightforward of the two: if you have medical or dental experience, you need to â€Å"list† that experience. And by â€Å"list,† they mean offer some type of resume that is specifically targeted to your interest in medicine and dentistry (no need to discuss your volunteer experience as an elementary school chorus director). The more specific you can be with numbers and dates, the better. But whatever you do, do not feel the need to inflate your accomplishments or the number of hours spent. This is very tempting, but in the end the Bio-Dental program is less interested in the exact number of hours you’ve volunteered than in the demonstration of a consistent and long-standing interest in medicine. Admissions officers know that for financial or family reasons not everyone can afford to volunteer for 15 hours a week. 2) The second option is much more difficult. If you have not had any specific medical or dental experience, then you will need to take a slightly different approach to this essay. You will need to write a very compelling 250-word statement about how your background has prepared you to enter a highly specialized and incredibly competitive seven-year dental program right out of high school. But before writing your essay, if you have absolutely no background in medicine or research, you should first question if you actually want to commit to a 7-year program in the first place (especially one as difficult to get into as Penn’s). If you are set on the decision, however, this essay is of crucial importance to legitimize your application amongst an applicant pool of relatively outstanding students with actual medicine backgrounds. Maybe you have not done any structured research, but you have had a lot of experience going to the dentist because you suffered from a rare gum ailment, and you have done a lot of independent research on your own case and hope to build on that work to help others? Maybe you are deeply interested in medicine, but instead of being able to do resume-building volunteer work you have had to spend a lot of time at home caring for your father who was suffering from Parkinson’s? This essay is attempting to gauge your physical capabilities as a doctor. Talking about your experiences in Woodshop, Robotics, etc., can be a good way of demonstrating your ability to work with your hands. If you were relatively hands-off in high school with respect to your activities, pulling an example from outside of school can help you answer this essay. Perhaps you are the one in your family that eagerly assembles Ikea furniture, or are an avid fan of Lego. Keep in mind that you don’t need to appear capable of brain surgery at this point in your life; you simply need to illustrate to Penn that you are comfortable connecting your brain and your digits. This question is a lot more open-ended. You can speak about anything from a leadership position to a community service role to even your experiences at home with siblings. If you still feel the need to highlight your interest in medicine, you can try to answer this from a medical perspective. Perhaps you had a relatively hectic administrative position in a hospital ER — your ability to calmly and collectively perform tasks with others in this stressful environment can highlight your teamwork abilities as well as emphasize, once again, your passion for medicine. This essay is more specific than a simple â€Å"Why Medicine?† essay. You need to explain why dentistry as a field appeals to you among all other medical fields. You can focus on a modern problem in the field and explain how you hope to pursue it at Penn. Alternatively, you can have a more human answer and explain why patient care in the industry is important to you, and how you hope to take your education and make some impact in that area. Be careful, however, that this essay does not too strongly overlap with your essay about pre-dental experience. If you had no experience to begin with, you likely wrote about how you developed an interest in the field. Make sure you don’t use the same topic for this essay.    There is also a little bit of a trick here: the â€Å"what interests you least† part of the prompt may seem a little bit unusual. In an essay where you are supposed to be communicating your passion about dentistry, wouldn’t it come off as strange to spend precious words talking about what you don’t want to do? The thing to recognize is that this part of the question plays an important role weeding out the applicants who have no business committing to a 7-year dental program as an 17 or 18 year old. People with experience in their intended careers will understand what they do and do not like and where their strengths and weaknesses lie. Being able to speak to your lack of interest in a particular problem is part of how this prompt wants you to demonstrate your depth of experience and what you have learned from that experience. As you talk about â€Å"what interests you least† be careful not to be too negative; even if a certain aspect of modern dentistry does not interest you, you should still make it clear that you respect those who focus their energies on that topic. (Indeed, the people reading your admissions essay might very well be specialists in the topic that â€Å"does not interest† you). While working as a clerk in Dr. Lee’s dental office, I really admired her detailed knowledge of the latest advanced surgery routines, and we would often talk about the research she was doing on enamel erosion. But one thing that Dr. Lee and I also discussed was the difficulty of communicating complicated physiological concepts to patients who did not have her specialized medical training. What those conversations led me to think about was that I was ultimately less interested in the detailed lab research that Dr. Lee focused on, and more committed to developing new methods of clearly communicating the work in the lab to patients. What I like about this response is that it shows a deep involvement with the problems of modern dentistry, and that it pays proper respect to the detailed research that other dentists do, while also showing that you have started to learn about your own strengths. Another version of this essay might talk about how your involvement with one research project on the effectiveness of different kinds of mouthwash led you away from research on consumer products and into a deeper interest into gum tissue. You might say that are now looking into a future career that is less focused on testing consumer products and more focused on in-depth anatomy research. This is also straightforward. If you have relatives, mention them. If you do not, don’t stress too much. You won’t be disqualified for a lack of legacy. Want help on your University of Pennsylvania application or essays? Learn about our College Apps Program and Essay Editing Program . For personalized mentorship and one-on-one guidance through the application process, check out ’s mentorship program and application guidance services . How to Write the University of Michigan Essays 2017-2018 The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor is a top-ranked public university with a long history of excellence in sports, the arts, and academics. Founded in 1817 with the motto, â€Å"Arts, Knowledge, Truth,† the university now has one of the largest alumni networks in the world. No matter which of Michigan’s 19 schools or colleges they attended, alumni are always willing to help out fellow alum because of their adoration for their shared and beloved alma mater. Year after year, the university receives a record number of applicants, and last year they accepted around 42.4% of their in-state applicants and 24.5% of their out-of-state applicants. The school is currently home to 28,312 proud undergraduate Michigan Wolverines. Michigan’s location in Ann Arbor provides its students with access to one of the continuously best-regarded college towns. It is not only a fun and attractive place to live, but it is also home to many work opportunities and an entrepreneurial spirit. With a campus spanning 3,211 acres, more than 250-degree programs, and more than 900 student organizations, Michigan is home to endless opportunities. Students looking for a large school with a diverse student body and a lot of school spirit find exactly that and more at the University of Michigan. Read on to learn how to write the University of Michigan supplemental essays. This prompt represents a common category of supplement prompts that ask you why you want to study a specific program at a specific school. The main purpose of these â€Å"Why Us?† essays is to show the school why you are interested and why you are a good fit. This is done in two parts: 1. why you want to study what you have indicated and 2. why you want to study it here at this specific school. Make sure to do some research so you can provide more than generic examples like â€Å"I want to go to a big schoolâ€Å" or â€Å"I like sports† that could apply to many other schools. To learn more about â€Å"Why Us?† type essays, read our essay guide, â€Å" How to Write the â€Å"Why Us?† College Essay .† When you start to write this essay, you first want to develop why you wish to study what you have indicated on your application. An anecdote is often the most effective means of accomplishing this. You could recount how your time in physical therapy, love for your biology class, and long history of playing sports fueled your passion to learn more about the human body and how it moves. This perfectly lines up with the field of Kinesiology. Next, you need to demonstrate why Michigan is the perfect place to study what you have selected. Continuing with the Kinesiology example, you could talk about its excellent reputation and some specific classes you really look forward to taking. With preferred admission applications, it is important to discuss your future goals as well as past experiences that make you sure you will want to be a part of this program. For example, if you apply for the Pharmacy program, you will want to discuss why you are interested in pharmacy and detail the moments in your life that have led you to this decision. Perhaps you have always had a passion for chemistry and helping others, and hearing from your friend’s mom about her career in pharmacy was consistently one of your favorite parts of your weekly hangouts. With dual-degree programs, the key is not only discussing why you want to pursue a degree in each of them, but why you think the combination is especially important for you. For example, if you are applying to the dual-degree Ross School of Business and College of Engineering program, you could discuss your dream of beginning your own tech startup and needing both the technical engineering knowledge and business savvy. You could write about how you first came up with your idea and when/how you realized Michigan’s dual-degree program would be the perfect place to bring it to life. The main purpose of this question is to get at what the applicant believes to be central to their perception of self. Michigan wants to know something special about you and your background and how that will contribute to their diverse campus. No two people have the same exact story, and this is your opportunity to show how yours is different. Often, when students read the list of possible communities in this prompt, they immediately know which of their many communities they will write about. Others have a hard time identifying a community in their life that has shaped them. For those of you who feel that way, the most helpful path to discovering this impactful community is to write out a list of the communities you belong to or have belonged to at some point in your life. It could include your hometown, grade school, in-school club, church group or something that will require more explanation like the car you drive or your favorite food. For those who are truly stumped, the latter approach can be a good way to spin something that most people would not see as a community into one. Let’s take the â€Å"favorite food† community for example. You could write an essay about being part of the community that believes waffles are superior to pancakes. You could talk about how your grandma always made you her famous waffles and taught you a life lesson that changed your perspective while mixing the ingredients. This essay would discuss how you became a part of this community and why it is important to you in a very creative way. Almost anything is possible with this prompt. No matter what approach you choose, make sure to develop your place within the community with an anecdote or deep personal reflection. Don’t forget to showcase your voice as a writer and keep this prompt personal! The communities we are a part of impact us all in very different ways. There is no right answer. Submit your essay and we’ll get back to you with helpful edits. The most important part of writing this essay is deciding which of your activities you will write about. Note that the prompt does not ask which of your activities takes up most of your time or which you have engaged in the longest. It asks which one you would keep doing if you could only choose one. For this reason, you should write about the activity to which you feel the greatest personal connection. Ask yourself: â€Å"If I had to choose one descriptive word to describe me, what would I want it to be?† Then, â€Å"Which of my activities showcases that?† Use this essay to tell Michigan about one of the most important aspects of who you are. An important thing to keep in mind is that the prompt only calls for approximately 100 words. You need to be short and sweet in your response. Do not spend too much time discussing the specifics of what the activity is. If the activity is widely known (e.g., Model UN, Speech and Debate) you may jump right into your personal involvement and connection. If the activity is not well known by outsiders, you may want to spend a short sentence discussing the activity before transitioning to its significance. Because of the personal nature of this prompt, it is nearly impossible to list exemplary activities. If five different people participated in the same five activities, they could very well all have different responses to this prompt. The one thing that should not differ in their responses is the development, or the level of detail of the â€Å"why.† If you were to write an essay about being on the varsity soccer team, you would want to talk about the leadership skills you gained as captain, how you learned to be a team player, and other formative experiences. You could talk about technical aspects of the game if they have a personal meaning for you or if they contain a metaphor for your life. Maybe you discuss how being a goalie helps you think differently because you need to anticipate the next move and developing these skills helps you on and off the field. No matter what, always go one step further in your analysis. You can read more about how to answer this type of question in our guide on How to Write â€Å"Most Important Extracurricular† Essays . The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor is looking to fill out a diverse class of incoming students. They ask the questions they do because they want to understand what makes you stand out from the pack. They want to know what you will bring to campus that will make you a key member of the community. Show them what you’ve got! Would you like more help with any of your schools’ applications or essays? Learn about our College Apps Program and Essay Editing Program . Want us to quickly edit your college essay? Submit it to our Rapid Review Program , and we’ll get it back to you quickly with comments from our expert team.