Going from child to adult isn’t too much of a stretch from the Pacesetter way the steel company is all too familiar with. Like Aviva, many of Pacesetter’s employees and clients are decades-long members of the company. This is attributed to years of genuine care and concern for every individual that interacts with the Pacesetter family. When she joined the team after graduating magna cum laude from law school in 2010, Aviva knew that continuing…
Born Laurie Wasserman on October 18, 1957 to Edith Joy, 27, and Norman Wasserman, 28, an accountant, she was a very, very quiet girl growing up (Papajohn and Kaplan). She had a brother, Mark, five years her senior. Laurie grew up near South Shore, a neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois. When she was seven her family moved to North Shore in Highland Park. Both in elementary and middle school, she was not known to have any close friends but always made good grades. In high school, after sophomore year, Laurie’s family moved to Glencoe where she attended New Trier High School. There Laurie did not seem to have many girlfriends but…
After graduation high school Orman decided that she wanted to go to college to become brain surgeon. Her SAT scores were not high so she applied to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and much to her amazement she was accepted. Upon her arrival she met with her guidance counselor and explained her dream to become a brain surgeon. Her guidance counselor was not convinced after reviewing her SAT scores that she could become a brain surgeon. He didn’t think that she had what it takes to be a successful brain surgeon. He encouraged her to look into a different field. Suze gave it some thought and decided that becoming a social worker was the easiest major she could handle. During her first year in college she lived on campus and worked in the dormitory’s dish room seven days a week. Unfortunately Suze’s parents were not able to help pay for her college tuition so she worked diligently at paying her own way. Suze’s sophomore year of college she lived off campus with two of her girlfriends Carole and Judy. Suze was due to graduate in…
It has been said that the biggest obstacle you’ll ever have to overcome is your mind and if you can overcome that you can overcome anything. This statement rings true in the novel The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore himself. The novel tells the stories of two individuals named Wes Moore who share somewhat similar backgrounds and adversity growing up, but who end up with two very different fates--one a life full of success and the other a life in prison. It is evident that the defining factors within their lives were the author Wes Moore’s mother’s strong presence and guidance, and it is his growth mindset that encourages him to improve; whereas, the other Wes Moore views his brother as his only role model, his father is…
Morgan Hocking was born December 13, 1997. She was originally born in Crawfordsville Indiana, but at the age of 14 she moved to another city that is twenty minutes outside of Crawfordsville, Ladoga. Someone who she admires the most is her mother. She admires her mother because she views her as strong. Morgan’s parents divorced when she was six years old. Hocking’s father is frequently in and out of jail, which left her mother to raise two children by herself. Morgan Hocking is a freshman here at Indiana State University. She works for the residential life; I believe this is interesting because majority of the residential life workers I’ve met so far are sophomores or upperclassmen. Morgan’s job mainly consists of working the desk, sorting mail,…
Mary Claire King The individual I have chosen for my “Scientist of the Year” report, is Mary Claire King. She was born February 27th, 1946 in Evanston, Illinois. Mary Claire King interests me because she spent her time discovering and researching the gene that causes breast and ovarian cancer.…
Marissa Nunez had been working for two years at McDonald’s when she wrote “Climbing the Golden Arches”. This experience had many effects on her. For example; she learned many things like you have to start from the bottom to work your way up to the top. She learned this because from working at McDonald’s, there are many things that need to be done. Sometimes, you have to fill in for someone, even if that isn’t your position so it is best to know all of the jobs at the business…
In an American childhood a young woman named Annie Dillard writes about her life growing up in Pittsburg. In the book Annie has many people who influence her throughout her life. One of her main influencers in her adolescent years was her mother (pam). Her mother was not the usual stereotypical woman; she possessed very unique qualities that distinguished her from the rest of the crowd. Everything that she did was not done in the usual way she had to put a twist on it. You had to always expect the unexpected when you were around her. Sometimes people got frustrated with her child like ways, but Dillard never seemed to.…
One of Destiny’s greatest attributes is her confidence. Everyday, I have phenomenal students walk into my classroom, but Destiny stands out because of her drive and consideration of others. Unfortunately, many people doubt our young people’s character today. However, I wish that those skeptics could spend five minutes with Destiny. They would see a young woman who is respectful, well-spoken, and a young woman that quite simply wants to help people. Throughout Destiny’s high school career she has acted on these attributes through her involvement in SADD, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, while receiving honor roll status. She also has worked part time at a restaurant, while maintaining a 3.17 GPA. Destiny has many strengths, however I think her greatest strength is her maturity. At the beginning of the Leadership class, Destiny was brave enough to share her “stage fright” issues with me. In spite of her fear, she came to class every day and worked at chipping away at that fear of speaking in front of others. By the end of the trimester, it was apparent to the class and myself that Destiny had overcome her fear. When I think of Destiny, the following quote comes to mind. “It’s OK to be scared. Being scared means you’re about to do something really, really brave.” (Mandy Hale)…
While the environments that both boys grew up in were similar, there are key differences that influenced each Wes Moore into making different decisions later in their lives. The book begins with a discussion of their fathers; the author Wes Moore, although for a short time in his life, had a loving father who was involved and active. The other Wes Moore, however, had an alcoholic father who was absent his entire life, not bothering to get involved with his son. The second Wes Moore, unlike the author of this novel, never had a father figure and the only male role model he had was his elder brother who eventually dropped out of school to sell drugs. Both boys were also raised by their mothers but were raised in entirely different matters. Joy was a hardworking, strong and independent woman who had an education and grew up in a disciplined and structured environment. Joy was determined to provide the same for her three children, going as far as moving in with her parents and working multiple jobs to allow her children to go to private school instead of the failing public schools of the Bronx. Joy and Wes’ grandparents were strict and provided a stable household with high expectations and respect for rules and severe punishments for breaking those rules. For example, when Wes started to fail in school and did not improve his grades or his behavior his mother sent him to military school. Joy was a strict disciplinarian. Mary, the mother of the other Wes Moore, was not a strict disciplinarian and did not grow up in a stable environment. Mary’s mother died when she…
As a little girl, Maggie strived for goals that would help her achieve her American Dream. But Maggie’s American Dream was far from singular instead it was a compilation of several fragments paralleled in Cullen’s book. The first fragment of Maggie’s dream was what Cullen thought of as Good Life I. In Cullen’s book her defined Good Life I as the freedom within the community. Similar to Cullen, Maggie’s journey to the American Dream contained characteristics of giving generosity within her community. The value of generosity arose from her childhood experiences as girl in Tennessee. In her youth, neighbors like Miss Sarah and her sister would give Maggie’s family money and food when they experienced misfortune (pg. 28) Because of those events when she was older she gave back to her community providing individuals and families with lodging when they needed it. Additionally, Maggie and her husband Hugh’s son James Comer instituted the Comer School Development Program that creating freedom within their community via reformation of the school system (pg.…
“The Lesson” introduces us to an undereducated group of children from a poor urban community and the woman who takes them through this journey of discovery, Miss Moore. The story is told through a first-person narrative by a young African American girl named Sylvia. Sylvia is a tough, proud, stubborn child that keeps her true thoughts and emotions hidden away. She begins the story by introducing us to Miss Moore, with whom she is not particularly fond of. Her opinion of Miss Moore seems to be largely affected by the influences of the adults in her life. This begins to show us how a lack of parental responsibility can affect the minds and perceptions of our children. I agree with this because my children emulate everything I do. As a single mother, all of their attention is on me and for the first few crucial years of development, I am their only teacher. They will learn from these experiences and examples that we set .The parents in “The Lesson” do not seem to be very responsible; the children are often pawned off on their aunt and they speak negatively of Miss Moore when she is not around. Miss Moore is an educated black woman who seeks to educate the children about the ways of the world. “She’d…
“Nikki Story” This is a story about personal insight and professional insight. The personal insight aspect focuses on how Nikki’s dad is seen as a parent. When he realizes that his children only see him as their grouchy father he realizes he needs to change his ways. The professional insight of positive psychology tells us “To describe anyone in terms of their weakness, shortcomings, and they do or do not have is to ignore half half of the human condition- the good half, obviously, that makes life worth living.”…
Every community is faced with natural and man-made hazards that can best be addressed ahead of time by planners working closely with emergency management personnel to mitigate the threat and prepare for post-disaster recovery. Hurricane Pam was a simulated storm in New Orleans used to evaluate potential losses, improve response plans, and provide better coordination between agencies proactively. Hurricane Pam brought sustained winds of 120 mph, up to 20 inches of rain in parts of southeast Louisiana and storm surge that topped levees in the New Orleans area. This area included 13 parishes in southeast Louisiana-Ascension, Assumption, Jefferson, Lafourche, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, St. John, St. Tammany Tangipahoa, and Terrebonne. The storm caused more than one million residents to evacuate and destroyed 500,000-600,000 buildings. A rough average of 100,000 people did not evacuate before the storm hit due to poverty, illness, or lack of transportation. Of the 100,000 that remained in the city, an estimated 25,000 to 100,000 would die.…
When Kim (Meyer) Kiyosaki left her home in Oregon and boldly moved to Hawaii to attend college, she had no idea that her move to an island paradise would transform her life in every way… and set the course for a future that would transform the lives of millions. Like many college freshmen, she planned to go to school, graduate, get a job, work, and begin the steady climb to the top of some corporate-ladder. She figured that college would be the ticket to a more secure life.…