Venezuelan Immigration Essays - Ethnic Groups In Latin America

Venezuelan Immigration How did independence politically affect the Creole class in Venezuela? I. Venezuelan independence split the Creole class into two political factions, liberals, and conservatives. In addition, independence motivated many Creoles to remove themselves from politics and pass their power to local caudillos, or soldiers. (Williamson 233-234) (Greene 105-106) A. During Venezuelans independence movement, opposing viewpoints of two of the colonies most influential revolutionary leaders sparked disagreements within the Creole class. 1. Simon Bolivar sought to completely liberate Venezuela and the rest of South America from monarchy. He also wanted more social classes in Venezuela to participate in politics. 2. San Martin believed Venezuela should break away from Spain, however, he advocated a different governmental structure after independence, then that of Simon Bolivar. a) Thought that a European monarch was needed in Venezuela in order to maintain stability and power over the lower classes. 3. During the Venezuelan independence movement, both parties maintained their general opinions of a post-independent government. They modified their ideas only slightly. a) Both parties also gathered a group of supporters who held to their views steadfast. B. After independence, the political disagreements between Bolivar and Miranda became stronger and more apparent. 1. After independence, Venezuelas revolutionary leaders slowly removed themselves from politics. However, their supporters continued to defend their political views. 2. The opposing groups soon formed informal political parties that divided the Creole class into conservatives and liberals. The political ideas of these groups contrasted greatly. a) Conservatives sought to rebuild as much of the old order as possible so as to secure their authority over the lower classes (Williamson 234) b) Liberals desired to create a modern liberal state without prejudice to any of its citizens (Williamson 235) C. Independence caused many Creole citizens and revolutionary leaders to remove themselves from politics. 1. The violent independence movements in Venezuela had repelled many Creoles from politics in general. a) Discussed or now uninterested in politics, many Creoles returned to their haciendas to continue their lives as landowners. b) Lives as landowners, and not politicians, offered Creoles the ability to focus on themselves without worrying about the needs and wants of a nation. c) Simon Bolivar, the most famous revolutionary in Venezuela, removed himself from politics a few years before his death of tuberculosis. He felt the quarreling between Creoles signified that he had failed as a political leader. 2. Creoles transferred their political power to the caudillos, or the soldiers in Venezuela. a) Independence ultimately resulted in a loss of political power in the Creole class. Why did the Indians in Venezuela become more poverty-stricken after independence? I. The Indians of Venezuela became more poverty-stricken after independence because of increased economic demand in the late 1850s. Therefore, the caste system of the Venezuela was abolished in order to exploit the Indians more intensely. (Williamson 244-245) A. Before colonial independence, the caste system of Venezuelan colony allowed the Creoles to continually exploit the Indians to benefit themselves. 1. Within the class system, the Creoles created a separate social group to control the labor of the Indians a) The Republic of the Indians served as a special economic recourse for the Creoles b) Wealth generated by this republic was used to fund the economic needs of the Creoles. (1) The economic exploitation of the Indians remained constant before and during the independence movement. B. After independence Creole demands on Indian labor receded. 1. Venezuelas economy started to stabilize itself. a) Venezuela benefited from increased trade with other nations, especially those of Europe. b) The Creoles could gain wealth to support their economic needs from the expanded trade with European nations. (1) European nations offered competitive prices in Venezuela. C. In the late 1850s, economic demand on Indians increased. This caused them to lose their land and be forced into greater exploitation. 1. The 1850s in Venezuela brought about new discussions of social reforms within the country. a) From these discussions, liberals in the country decided that Venezuelan society should be reformed so all citizens contribute equally to the country. b) The Creoles in Venezuela took advantage of this decision. They sought to use the social reforms to greatly exploit the Indians of the country. (1) With the destruction of the Republic of the Indians, natives could be made to support society to the greatest extent by increased labor. (a) The private lands of the Republic of the Indians would also be divided

The 5 UC Application Tips You Need to Get Into University of California

The 5 UC Application Tips You Need to Get Into University of California SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you’re applying to one or more of the UC schools, you want to make sure you get the application right.This step-by-step guide will walk you through everything you need to know about the UC application, from the time you decide to apply to a UC school to when you submit the final piece of the application. Keep reading to learn when the most important UC application deadline is, which documents you need to submit to complete your application, if you need a separate application for each UC school, and how you can make sure every part of your application sets you apart from the crowd. Important Info About the University of California Application It’s key to know important information about the UC application early on so that you have enough time to gather and submit all the materials you need before the deadlines. Where to Find the UC Application: You can find the UC application here. This is the application for all University of California schools, so regardless if you’re looking for a UC Berkeley application, UC Davis application, etc., they all use this same application. How to Submit the Application: When you’ve completed the application, you can submit it by hitting the â€Å"Submit† button at the end of the application. SAT and/or ACT scores must be sent directly to the UC school(s) you’re applying to. When to Submit Your Application: It’s extremely important to know when the UC application deadlines are because missing one could mean your application won’t be looked at. Below are the key University of California application dates. Date Action August 1 UC application opens November 1-30 Period application can be submitted online December Self-report December test scores January-February Submit official December test score results February-March Admissions decisions are sent out March 2 Financial aid applications due May 1 Reply date for all accepted first year students July 1 Admitted students must have submitted their final high school transcript Looking at the above chart, it’s clear that the most important date is November 30th. This is the last day you can submit your UC application. UC states right on the website that they almost never accept late applications, so don’t miss this deadline! However, as long as you have your application submitted by November 30th, you can still take the ACT/SAT in December. If you choose to do this, you’ll self-report your scores in December and then send your official scores once you get them in January or February. We don’t recommend waiting until December to take the ACT or SAT because if you’re unhappy with your score you won’t have any other chances to retake it, but if you’ve taken the exam several times and want one more shot, a December test date is an option. You’ll learn if you’ve been accepted in March (occasionally as early as February), and you’ll have until May 1st to decide which school to attend out of all those you applied to. Want to build the best possible college application? We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world's best admissions consulting service. We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies. We've overseen thousands of students get into their top choice schools, from state colleges to the Ivy League. We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted to your dream schools. Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in. How to Apply to the UC Schools There are five main steps to applying to UC schools. The earlier you begin your application (as early as August 1st) the more time you’ll have to complete all the steps and the less pressure you’ll be under to meet the deadline. The steps are the same regardless of which UC school(s) you’re applying to since all UC schools use the same application (and you only need to submit one application, even if you apply to multiple UC schools). Step 1: Create an Account Your step to applying to UC schools is to create an applicant account. This step will only take about a few minutes since you just need to fill out basic information like your email, name, birthday, and if you’re applying as a freshman or as a transfer student. Step 2: Complete the UC Application After creating your account, you’ll be immediately sent to the beginning of the application.The University of California application contains eight sections: Start You’ll answer some brief questions, such as if you qualify as a resident of California and if you have a parent who works for UC. Campuses Majors You choose which school(s) you want to apply to. There are nine UC schools, listed below, and you can choose to apply to as many as you want, including all nine. Be aware though that each UC school you apply to requires its own $70 application fee. Here are the UC schools: UC Berkeley UC Davis UC Irvine UC Los Angeles UC Merced UC Riverside UC Santa Barbara UC Santa Cruz UC San Diego You’ll next select your major. If you’re applying to multiple UC schools, you’ll need to do this separately for each school since they all have slightly different majors.Some schools will also require additional steps in this section. For example, if you’re applying to UC San Diego, you’ll need to rank the six colleges they have so the admissions committee can place you in the one that’s the best fit for you. Scholarships In this section you’ll select your eligibility for different scholarship categories, such as ethnicity, career plans, and work experience. There are ten categories, each with multiple characteristics you can select. You can select up to 16 characteristics.You’ll only select these characteristics once, regardless of how many UC schools you’re applying to. About You Here you’ll enter additional demographic information such as information about your parents’ careers and education, what your family’s income is, and how many people there are in your family. Academic History This is a somewhat lengthy section where you’ll need to enter in information about the high school(s) you attended, all the classes you took in high school, if they were honors or AP, and the grade you got. It’s basically like entering all the information on your transcript. (You don’t need to submit your official transcript until the summer, after you’ve been accepted and have decided to attend a UC school.) Activities Awards In this section you’ll discuss all the activities you participated in outside of the classroom. There are six categories: Coursework other than A-G Educational preparation programs Volunteer and community service Work experience Awards and honors Extracurricular activities The application explains which activities fall into which category, and there’s no need to feel like you need to have activities to put in all the categories, or even most of them.For each category, you can add up to five separate classes/activities/jobs/awards/etc. Test Scores Here is where you’ll enter in information about the standardized test(s) you’ve taken. NOTE: Even though you’re self-reporting your scores in your application, you still need to submit official exam scores to each UC school you’re applying to or your application won’t be considered complete. UC schools accept both ACT and SAT scores, but for both exams you also need to take the optional essay section. Taking either of these exams without the essay won’t meet this requirement.You’ll enter in your scores for each section of the exam.If you haven’t taken a standardized test yet or plan to retake it in December, you’ll also indicate that in this section. Here you’ll also report your SAT Subject Test, AP, and IB scores, if you took any of those tests and want UC schools to see your scores.If you’re an international student, you can also report your TOEFL or IELTS scores as well as the scores of any international exams you took. Personal Insight This is the section where you’ll answer the personal statement questions. There are eight personal statement questions, and you’ll need to answer four of them. Each response needs to be 350 words or less.We recommend that you write your essays in a word document first to make it easier to review them, then paste each essay into the application once you’re done editing it. Below are the eight essay prompts. They’re also listed on the UC admissions website. 1. Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes or contributed to group efforts over time. 2. Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem solving, original and innovative thinking, and artistically, to name a few. Describe how you express your creative side. 3. What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time? 4. Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced. 5. Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement? 6. Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Describe how you have furthered this interest inside and/or outside of the classroom. 7. What have you done to make your school or your community a better place? 8. Beyond what has already been shared in your application, what do you believe makes you stand out as a strong candidate for admissions to the University of California? If you want tips on writing your personal statements, we have a guide on how to write a perfect UC essay for every prompt. Step 3: Pay Admission Fees and Submit Your Application Once you’ve finished each section your application, you can submit it, as long as it’s between November 1-30.When you submit your application, first you’ll enter in some final demographic information as well as your state of legal residence. Then you’ll review all the information you entered to make sure it’s correct. Once everything is set, you’ll pay the necessary fees. The application fee is $70 ($80 if you’re an international student) for each UC school you apply to.Then you’ll click submit, and your application will officially be sent to the UC schools you’re applying to! Step 4: Submit Your Standardized Test Scores You’ll self submit your test scores when you fill out your University of California application, but you also need to send official score reports to each of the UC schools you’re applying to.You’ll need to take either the ACT with Writing or the SAT with Essay. You aren’t required to take AP exams or SAT Subject Tests, but you can submit those scores as well if you did take those tests. As we mentioned above, it’s possible to take the ACT or SAT as late as December of the year you’re applying, but we recommend taking the tests earlier since you’ll be busy applying to colleges at that time and, if you’re unhappy with your December exam score, there will be no opportunities to make it up. We have guides specifically on sending ACT scores and SAT scores to colleges if you need more information. Step 5: (Optional) Complete Additional Materials Most students applying to UC schools won’t need to submit additional materials, but some will. This will depend on both which schools you’re applying to and what you plan on majoring in. For example, some students planning to major in a fine arts discipline are requested to submit a portfolio. UC San Diego also recommends that biological science, engineering, and physical science majors take two math/science SAT Subject Tests.These additional materials are typically only recommended, not required, but doing these extra steps can help give your application a boost. If you do need to complete additional materials, you will either get a notification in the application or receive an email outlining what you need to do, but it’s also a good idea to research your intended major at each UC school you’re applying to in order to make sure you’re not missing any important recommendations. University of California Application Checklist To recap, below is everything you need to submit when you apply to a UC school. Your application won’t be considered until the schools receive all the pieces below. UC Application Application Fee of $70 for each school you apply to SAT/ACT scores (must include Writing/Essay section) (Optional) Supplemental Materials 5 Things UC Schools Look at in Applications and How to Impress Them The UC schools are pretty open about what they look for in applicants and what an applicant needs to have to be accepted. They list the 14 qualities they judge applications on so there’s no mystery about what they’re looking for. In this section, we’ve organized those 14 qualities into five categories UC admissions looks at and explain what you need to do to excel in each one and create a standout UC application. #1: Classes You Took When UC admissions officers look at the classes you took, they’re looking at two things: the actual courses you took and how difficult they were. For the first category, UC schools want to make sure you’ve taken the classes you need to succeed as a college student at one of their schools. Their minimum requirements are: History: 2 years English: 4 years Mathematics: 3 years Laboratory science: 2 years Language other than English: 2 years Visual and performing arts: 1 year College-preparatory elective: 1 year (These courses are sometimes referred to as the â€Å"A-G subjects†). Note that this is the minimum UC schools require; most applicants will have gone well beyond these requirements. Some majors, especially those in math or science fields, require additional classes, so make sure to research the major you plan to take to make sure you’re on track. In general, it’s best to take more classes in the fields you plan on majoring in. For example, if you want to major in biology, you should take four years of science and four years of math. If you want to be a history major, you should take four years of history. Doing this shows UC schools that you’re committed to the subject and can handle higher-level classes on it. UC also looks at the difficulty of the classes you took. They’re specifically looking for honors, AP, or IB courses since these are more difficult than regular-level classes. If your school offers these classes, you should take as many as you can without overloading yourself and still maintaining a high GPA.Taking difficult classes shows UC schools that you’re focused on your studies and can handle the challenge and workload of college classes. Also, UC specifically mentions the â€Å"quality of your senior-year program† as one of the qualifications it looks at, so don’t be tempted to slack off senior year with a bunch of easy classes! #2: Grades It’s not enough just to take the classes UC schools want; you also need to do well in them. Your grades and overall GPA are another critical component of your UC application.For all UC schools, you need to have at least a 3.0 GPA in your A-G classes if you’re a California resident, or a 3.4 GPA if you’re a non-resident. Additionally, you can’t have gotten below a â€Å"C† in any of those classes. There is no requirement for classes outside the A-G subjects, but you should still aim to do well in all your classes. UC states that â€Å"the strength of your high school record is the most important component in our review† so you want your transcript to be as strong as it can be with a high GPA and record of challenging classes. Below is a table showing the middle 50% of weighted GPAs for each of the UC schools: School Middle 50% Weighted GPA UC Berkeley 4.16 - 4.30 UC Davis 3.97 - 4.25 UC Irvine 4.00 - 4.26 UCLA 4.16 - 4.31 UC Merced 3.46 - 3.96 UC Riverside 3.66 - 4.09 UC Santa Barbara 4.00 - 4.26 UC Santa Cruz 3.76 - 4.16 UC San Diego 4.02 - 4.28 To give yourself the best chance of getting in, you’ll want to aim for the higher end of the GPA range for whichever school(s) you’re applying to. For example, if you’re applying to UC Davis, your goal should be to have a weighted GPA of 4.25. You can definitely still get in with a lower GPA (since that’s the 75% marker,  ¾ of students are getting in with a GPA lower than that), but if you reach that goal you’ll have a great shot at being accepted. #3: Standardized Test Scores There is no minimum SAT or ACT score you need to get into UC schools, but again, you’ll want to aim high to give yourself the best chance of getting accepted.Below is the middle 50% range for both the SAT and ACT. Again, you’ll want to aim for the higher end of the range to maximize your chances of getting in. School Middle 50% SAT Score Middle 50% ACT Score UC Berkeley 1340-1530 30-35 UC Davis 1220-1480 26-33 UC Irvine 1230-1490 26-33 UCLA 1360-1540 31-35 UC Merced 1020-1280 19-27 UC Riverside 1130-1380 22-30 UC Santa Barbara 1270-1500 28-34 UC Santa Cruz 1210-1450 26-32 UC San Diego 1300-1520 28-34 #4: Extracurriculars Your extracurriculars are another important part of your UC application. The key to strong extracurriculars is to emphasize your passion and leadership skills. You can do this by pursuing extracurriculars in a field related to your future major, sticking with them, and achieving leadership roles in them. Some things UC states that are looking for in extracurriculars include: Special talents, awards, or achievements Leadership experience Significant experiences or achievements that demonstrate the student's promise for contributing to the intellectual vitality of a campus. They list the following examples of â€Å"strong† extracurriculars: Special talent in visual and performing arts, communication or sports Intensive study and exploration of other cultures Significant community service Significant participation in student government Don’t feel like you need to have all or even any of these experiences; they’re just given so you can get an idea of what UC schools are looking for. Basically, any extracurricular that you’re passionate about, skilled in, and have shown some leadership potential for is a great extracurricular to include on your UC application. #5: Personal Statements Your UC essays should show three main things: Who you are Why you want to attend a UC school What’s important to you Maybe you’re a lifelong nature lover who wants to attend UC San Diego to take advantage of all the different ecosystems nearby that biology students can study. Perhaps you’ve always been obsessed with space and want to attend UC Berkeley and major in aeronautical engineering. Whatever your story is, this is the place for UC to hear it, and it’s the best place in your application to show them who you really are as a person.For a more in-depth look, read our guide on how to write outstanding UC essays. Automatic Admission for California Residents If you’re a California resident, who meets at least one of the following two requirements, you will have a guaranteed spot at a UC school. You rank in the top 9% of California high school students, according to the UC admissions index. You rank in the top 9% of your graduating class at a participating high school. This is known as "Eligible in the Local Context" (ELC). Be aware that this doesn’t mean you’ll get into every UC school; it just means you’ll get into at least one, as long as space is available (which there typically is).If you're a California resident who has met the above requirements and aren't admitted to any of the UC schools you applied to, you'll be offered a spot at another campus as long as space is available. Summary: UC Schools Application If you’re applying to a UC school, you want to make sure you know every application step you need to complete.The most important UC application deadline to be aware of is November 30th. This is the last day you can submit your application. In addition to completing the application, you also need to submit your standardized test scores, transcript, and any additional materials your specific school and major require. You only need to submit one application regardless of how many UC schools you’re applying to, but you’ll need to pay a $70 application fee for every school. Regardless of whether you’re working on a UC Davis application, UC San Diego application, UC Berkeley application, etc. all UC schools look for similar qualities in students.You’ll need to complete the A-G courses, take difficult classes, have good grades, participate in extracurriculars, do well on the ACT or SAT, and have strong personal statements. Work to make your application as strong as you can across each of these areas to give yourself the best shot of getting into your dream UC school. What's Next? Want to learn more about the University of California schools?We have an in-depth guide to the UC schools to make it easy for you to compare the schools and see which is best for you. Working on your UC essays?Check out our guide on how to answer every UC essay prompt to get great writing ideas. Want to know how to make your extracurriculars stand out even more? Check out this guide to four amazing extracurricular activities and learn why they're so impressive to colleges. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Dreams Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Dreams - Essay Example Scientific theories have ranged from speculation that we dream as a means of learning more about ourselves through the revelation of repressed desires to the concept that dreams are a means of the subconscious providing the conscious mind with seemingly prophetic warnings developed through thousands of unconscious signals received during the waking hours. Other theories have suggested that we dream as a means of further developing our mental abilities and spiritual concepts, slowly assimilating what we’ve learned into our established worldview while still others have indicated that we dream as a means of dealing with our daily experiences by either getting rid of the memories or storing them away in our mental memory banks. What the various scientists have revealed in their dream studies is that there are a wide variety of ways in which dreams might have meaning to an individual, whether they realize it or not. However, it seems plausible that dreams will have more meaning to an individual who has a particular belief regarding what they might mean than an individual who reports they don’t dream at all or who believes that dreams have no meaning and doesn’t bother to remember them. Sigmund Freud is perhaps the most recognized individual in the field of dream theory. In developing his model of the mind, Freud determined that the dream functions as a sleeper’s defense against the disturbing thoughts and emotions of the subconscious mind (the id) by acting as a censor (Wilson, 2005). Unlike Freud, who felt that dreams were less frightening manifestations of subconscious horrors, Jung felt that they were revelations that uncovered not only our own emotional issues and fears of the perso nal subconscious, but also link us to the collective unconscious, â€Å"the reservoir of our experiences as a species, a kind of knowledge we are all born with. And yet we can

Reflective Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

Reflective - Essay Example 19). Therefore, this research offers an ideal framework of determining how social media positively or negatively affects the students’ behavior. As such, the methodology used in this research, quantitative analysis, makes it possible to answer the research questions. To increase the relevance and efficiency of the data, the current research team decided to use questionnaires as their main mode of data collection. According to Katsirikou and Skiadas, questionnaires are an advantageous data collection method since they not give the researchers an ability to gather huge amounts of data at a relatively short period, but also significantly reduces the research cost (2010, p. 293). Hence, in carrying out this study, the researchers identified an appropriate data collection method that would give them viable results. It is also worth noting that the researchers made use of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) to come up with an efficient analysis of the data collected. Notably important, the researchers acknowledge the fact that the use of social media among students could have various disadvantages. Although most people have a notion that the use of social media could negatively impact or hinder the learning process, social media should not be confined only to platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. The researchers point out that there are other social media platforms which have been found effective in improving the learning process as well as students’ behaviors. For instance, the use of intranet has been mentioned to be of great importance in promoting the overall behavior and supporting the learning process of the students. Equally important, the researcher states that since the core idea of conducting this study was to determine the impact of social media on the behavior of USW students, the main focus was on data collection. As such, the researchers opted to adopt a quantitative data collection method rather than a qualitative

Personnel Selection and Assessment Research Paper

Personnel Selection and Assessment - Research Paper Example According to Field (2009) when testing for validity, one is effectively testing for ‘evidence that a study allows correct inferences about the question it was aimed to answer or that at test measures what it set out to measure conceptually’ (p. 795). There are three main types of validity. Construct validity refers to whether a test correlates to the theorized construct that it purports to measure. For example, an intelligence test is a test which requires strong evidence for construct validity, since researchers need to be sensitive to the extent to which they are measuring intelligence rather than language or culture differences (Mertens, 2009). The second type of validity is content validity, which is relevant to test which aims to evaluate a specific body of knowledge. For example, a depression scale may lack content validity if it does not represent the entire range of possible items, such as the behavioral dimension. Finally, criterion-related validity is a measure of how well a test is effective at predicting of a construct. This type of validity testing is divided into two types, namely concurrent and predictive validity, where concurrent validity is assessed by correlating a test with another test that has been previously validated. These two tests are taken at the same time. Predictive validity differs in that the one test is taken earlier and is meant as a predictor to a later measure (Mertens, 2009). The utility of selection methods refers to the value it has in the process of selection.

The Woman Who Watches Over The World English Literature Essay

The Woman Who Watches Over The World English Literature Essay Linda Hogan is a Chickasaw meaning she belongs to a group of Native Americans who migrated in to east of Mississippi river, Oklahoma. She is a poet and a novelist writer and has contributed much in this field. In her book, The Woman Who Watches over the World: a Native Memoir, she brings about different themes some of which are associated with her difficult past and those of her people painful history. She assumes the position of a Clay Woman named The woman who watches over the world, and uses her to view the worlds problem and that of her tribe in that perspective. The title is derived from a sculpture figure made of clay which she bought and which became broken on the way to being delivered to her. It is from the figure that she realizes the comparison to human beings life which gets hurt; just as it is with her personal life. From the many fragments in this anecdote, we can piece them together to see the whole history and current status of the Native Americans have undergone. History, survival and healing are the major themes in this book. The book is a journey from childhood to adulthood and the various problems one encounters. Healing is supposed to be understood from the power derived from words and also the natural healing. The history of physical and emotional suffering she inherited from her people contributes to the way she reacts in life. The Natives Americans are presented with their many problems and are reflected on Hogans hard and painful life. The Native Americans or the American Indians had a traumatizing history. They were deeply religious and most of their beliefs were connected with nature. Land, water and animals became to them a symbol of gods gift to mankind. This made it possible for them to practice collective ownership especially of land. Their relocation from their land in 1837 was met with caution since they had to pay allegiance to the USA government. Despite their effort to keep their ancestral land they nevertheless got evicted and trading posts established in their land. The tribal leaders were forced to sell the land and move away to Indian territories. In the new Oklahoma area, where they finally got relocated, the adaptation was not easy bearing in mind that they had to struggle to get food. By the turn of 19th century, the United States government foresaw the dissolution of the Natives tribal government and a division of their land. Missionaries were established which were taxed with the job of educating the Indians in the American way. Ironically, such an education proved worthless because the girls returned to their world afterwards. Poverty and lack of important physical amenities was the order of the day. The Chickasaws had endured such a life for many decades and it is this life that Hogan addresses. She wants to stress the important aspect of healing from the past so that the people can move forward. Hogan was born in German and grew up under her father who was a sergeant in the American army and a neurotic mother. Her earlier life saw her move to many places and eventually ended up in Oklahoma. Hogan relationship with her mother was depressing and mostly neglectful in nature. She never experienced love and this fact left her to seek it from other sources. Although, her mother did her duties like any other mother, Hogan asserts that she could not love. The rest of her life is spent in pursuit of love so as to heal her wounds she experienced when young. As a young child, she was susceptible to diseases and infection common to young children. In addition, clinical depression and poor mental health would lead her to alcoholism in later life to an extent of committing suicide. These physical and mental ailments caused her much trauma and she was to live with it in to adulthood. Her mother rarely provided details about her childhood life but remained silent perhaps in line with her ancestors to bury the painful past. To heal from this trauma she was to adopt two daughters and who had similarly undergone a difficult life as her own, in order to connect with that experience. At only the age of 12 years, she became involved romantically to a man twice her age and they stayed as married. They would later part with Robert and she in turn move from Germany to the USA. This episode hurts her so much that she reminisces it as having been a child but responsible for an adult. Hogan yearned to heal from the trauma she faced of being in school yet married at a young age. The gap she felt would later lead to her adopting two daughters in order to fill the love void she dearly missed. Both daughters, Jeannette and Marie, also had their own share of hard life, but Hogan felt that love could heal almost anything in this world. Despite her trying to live with the adopted daughters, it proved very difficult for them to heal completely to an extent where Marie denied her own children. We observe that Hogan tried to heal from her loveless childhood by playing motherhood to these two adopted daughters. The silence she experienced about her past could now be replaced by a history of her daughters which she knows. Luckily enough, they have a terrible past just like her own and it helps to connect with her lost past. Both daughters are then a reflection of a past and a future for the Natives especially Jeannette who heals to become a purposeful mother. Hogan on the other hand contracted a horrible disease called fibromyalgia. The disease caused her much trouble leaving her weak and unable to sleep. The desire to sleep and dream about emotional healing was too affected. She sought a physical healing which initially became elusive and later even though medicine helped, she never became what she was originally. This was the time she lost faith in medicine world when she reckoned that money was being used in search of a cure yet none came her way. Waiting and hoping was all that was left for her. Through medicine which is extracted from nature in terms of plants and naturally occurring substances dug from the earth, she later in life received her treatment from physical ailments. A horse named Mystery became to her a close companion. Hogan was able to draw parallel in the horses life and hers. Mystery dies in the process of giving birth that was characterized by pain. She likens this pain to her experiences in life and the yearning to heal from it. Another relationship with a horse, the Big Red Horse, also leads to fate as she falls while trying to ride. She suffered numerous injuries leading her to experience short term memory loss. Hogan attempts self healing by indulging in a number of hobbies. She embarks on horse breeding, because in it she finds joy and contentment but it becomes tragic to her. Both of these two occurrences fueled the pain in her life in as much as the desire to heal was multiplied. Hogan was addicted to alcohol when she was young. The addiction came about as she experimented to find a solution to her troubles. In the search for her self, she ends up drinking in order to forget her woes and sleep. The pain and confusion she felt would so many times lead to drinking so as to drown them. History and the ability to remember the past is a disease. Our ancestors underwent much trouble which after we learn it becomes a burden too hard to bear. It is under such an illusion that Hogan just like many Native Americans sought drink to escape the memories from the past and present. As she says falling was the answer to a broken heart, as a reference to the attitude she had towards alcohol. She eventually conquers drinking once she became an adult albeit this leaves a scar in her life. It is by extending love to other humans and animals where she finds a healing. Under all the above traumas, she stood hard to see the healing take place. Hogan just like her ancestors found solace in nature and the environment. Of her doctors she says, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦they became earth, water, light, and air. They were animals, plants, and kindred spirits. It was not healing I found or a life free from pain, but a kind of love and kinship with a similarly broken world. The sickness and suffering she felt can also be identified with the Native Americans fight for their survival. Such thoughts also reflect nature which if left alone tends to heal by itself. To be what she is, Hogan had to get changed by pain and events and diseases and she did it with courage and honesty which are vital values in the world today. Personal survival depends on history and by examining hardships undergone so as to find power to refresh ones spirit. Nature also plays a role in this healing by providing elements that can be used to cure a disease for example. Hogan is able to overcome and find strength over the many obstacles that stood her way in the course of self-actualization. An interesting parallel is drawn in relation to different natural elements like woman to land and bird to water. Love is the connecting element since each needs the existence of the other in order to survive. In conclusion, Hogan lays down the many problems faced by people not only in America but in every part of the world. Each people and nation has a history that was faced by problems such as land and identity. Some have even become extinct if their war to survive got worse. In all these stories, it is important to learn from their duel and get insight which in turn should be applied in our day to day lives. Problems are inevitable and it is the way we appreciate and deal with them that counts. Healing as a process should be core in life, whether personally or as a society. If people look for solutions they will always find a way to overcome their pain.

Biomechanics of Running Essay -- essays research papers

Introduction: A Qualitative Analysis of Running In the 1970's, thousands of people took to the road with a new trend of exercise----running. It was fairly easy; just put one foot in front of the other as fast as you can and go as far as you can. Feel the burn in your chest? The sweat trickling down your face? The throb in your knees as your foot pounds into the ground with every step? Well then, you're exercising! You’re running! Since then, running has become a dominant factor in sports and fitness; a factor so prevalent that the number of musculoskeletal injuries due to running has also increased over the last quarter century. These chronic injuries are usually due to overuse, improper training techniques, or a combination of the two. By using the results of other biomechanists’ studies, one can extrapolate an idea of what running should look like and what muscles are utilized during the activity. Consequently, changes in technique, strength training, and flexibility training can be made in order to decrease the po tential for injury. Article Summaries   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Before analyzing the mechanics of running, it is important to accumulate some of the vast research available for this activity. The following are brief summaries of research articles that study various factors on running. DeVita (1994) noted the gait cycle is measured in two ways: swing-stance-swing or stance-swing-stance. In this study, EMG activity of six muscles was obtained from four subjects while walking and running. The data was collected while the subjects performed a consecutive swing, stance, swing period of each gait. From this, the swing-to-stance and stance-to-swing period of each gait could be measured. The EMG results showed greater activation levels for 5/6 muscles during the swing-to-stance period. Results concluded that the subjects needed to prepare for the initiation of stance and the application of relatively large external forces and momentums. Therefore, when assessing the human gait, it is best to observe stance-swing-stance. Jacobs, Bobbert, VanIngen, and Schenau (1993) analyzed the function of mono- and biarticular leg muscles during the stretch-shortening cycle of running at 6 m/s. Kinematics, ground reaction forces and EMG activities were recorded for a single stance phase. First of all, estimates of muscle force were correlated with origin... ... Reference Page DeVita, P. (1994). The selection of a standard convention for analyzing gait data based on the analysis of relevant biomechanical factors, Journal of Biomechanics (vol 27, no 4) pg. 501-507. Hall, S.J. (1999). Basic Biomechanics (3rd ed), pg. 398-439. McGraw-Hill. Jacobs, R., Bobbert, M.F., vanIngen Schenau, G.J. (1993). Function of mono- and biarticular muscles in running, Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise (vol 25, no 10) pg. 1163-1173. National Strength and Conditioning Association, Baechle, T.R., editor (1994). Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning pg. 293-385. Human Kinetics: New Zealand. Nig, B., DeBoer, R., and Fisher, V. (1995). A kinematic comparison of overground and treadmill running, Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise (vol 27, no 1) pg. 98-105. Northrip, J.W., Logan, G.A., and Wayne, C.M. (1979). Introduction to Biomechanical Analysis of Sports (2nd ed), pg. 45. W. C. Brown Co. Publishers: Dubuque, IA. Rasch P.J. and Burke, R.E. (1978). Kinesiology and Applied Anatomy (6th ed) pg. 199-398. Lea & Febiger: Philadelphia Thordarson, D.B. (1997). Running Biomechanics, Clinics in Sports Medicine (vol 16, no 2) pg. 239-247.