Essay on How to warm up your voice

Essay on How to warm up your voice Essay on How to warm up your voice How to Warm Up Your Voice Singing is often one of our favorite things to do. We often sing in the shower or in the car on the way to work and sometimes while cooking dinner, or maybe even when we have head phones in our ears listening to our IPod’s and Mp3 players. What most people don’t know is if you are not careful you could damage your vocal folds and chords while singing if you are not properly warmed up before hand. In order to properly warm up your voice you should find a piano, find middle c, and try and match the sound the piano is making, and then find a vowel that is easiest for you and try and produce a sound on a line. When warming up your voice, you first want to find out what pitch to start on. So to find this information out you would go to a piano and play a note preferably in the middle of the piano on what is called â€Å"middle c†. Middle C is located usually on the left side of the brand name of the piano. It is the white key right beside the three black keys. Usually if you are a female you should start on middle c, but if you are a male, you would probably want to start on the c below that. This key would be eight white keys down from middle c. Being a female or a male starting on a c should be natural for your voice. What you want to do is play the key and try and hum a sound and see if it sounds like the same sound as the piano made. If this note is to low or is too high just move down a white key or up a white key. When you find the key that your voice matches is when you know you have correctly found your pitch. Okay now that you have found your pitch, you have successfully achieved the biggest step of all. Now you get to experience the fun part, warming up.

Do You Need to Go on College Tours 4 Reasons to Visit

Do You Need to Go on College Tours 4 Reasons to Visit SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips You’ve probably felt the pressure to go on college tours, but just how important are they? Are they an essential part of the college planning process, or is it not a big deal if you opt out? This guide will go over the most important reasons to visit a college, along with some circumstances when you might choose not to tour.We’ll also discuss how you can prepare to make the most out of your college visits. First off, what are some reasons you should tour your prospective colleges? Why Should You Tour Your Colleges? There are several strong reasons to visityour colleges of interest. For one, seeing and learning about the school in person can be a huge help in determining where you want to apply. You can find out more about the college from firsthand sources, like your tour guide and other current students. All of these impressions can serve as useful material if you need to have a college interview or write a supplemental essay about why you want to attend. Finally, having your name on the tour rosters can markwhat many admissions officers call â€Å"demonstrated interest.† Let’s take a look at each of these reasons in more detail, starting with how useful it can be to see a college and its surrounding environment in person. Seethe collegecampus and its surrounding environment with your own eyes, like this intrepid explorer. Reason #1: To See the School and City in Person One of the most compelling and important reasons to tour your college is to see it firsthand! These are the classrooms, dorms, and library you’ll be living in for the next four years; you want to check them out in person before committing. Walk around, soak up the atmosphere, and listen to what your intuition tells you about how it would suit your personal and academic goals. A college tour will let you see the buildings inside and out, including classrooms, dorms, dining halls, gyms, music rooms, and science labs. You can get a sense of what’s happening oncampus on flyer-covered bulletin boards, and see the places where students congregate - especially if you visit when classes are in session. The official tour will show you around campus, and you can check out the surrounding environment too. Some students are drawn to the busy, active vibe of New York City; others would prefer to study in a peaceful countryside setting. Some would love to see fall colors paint the trees on campus; others want to get as far away from the possibility of snow as they can. As you explore the surrounding scenes, find out if there are cafes and movie theaters around, or if most students stay on campus to socialize. You may want to find out if the area's affordable or generally asafe place. If you're looking for mountains to climb, a suburban feel, a large music scene, or a big city full of business internship opportunities, you can see if the area has what you want. Virtual tours and photos can only take you so far, and descriptions of colleges may be biased to promote it. The best way to get a genuine sense of the place is toexplore it in person. You’re the one who will be attending, so you should first see it with your own eyes. Learn about the college by going straight to the source. Reason #2: To Learn About the School from Firsthand Sources If your searches for school info have led down dead ends, then you know that admissions websites don’t always have the answers to all your questions. Tour guides will be there to answer any outstanding questions, plus they’ll teach you fun facts and history that give you a deeper insight into the college. Most tour guides are current students who are big fans of the college. Since they’re students, they can give you firsthand knowledge ofthe student experience.In addition to getting your own questions answered, you can learn from the questions askedby others in the tour group. Some tours involve an hour or so walk around campus. Others, though, involve a much more involved itinerary. You might be able to sit in on a lecture, meet with admissions officers or a professor, or even arrange to stay overnight in a dorm. That way, you’ll get tons of personalized guidance and stories from all different perspectives: faculty, administration, and perhaps most importantly, current students. All of this can serve to fuel your excitement and enthusiasm about a school, which may empower you to produce an even stronger application. On the flip side, it may save you a lot of effort and an application fee if you discover, in the end, that the school’s not for you. Either way, clarifying your desires and reasons to attend is key before you apply. Spark some ideas for any supplemental essays. Reason #3: To Write a Killerâ€Å"Why Us?† Essay Besides amping up your motivation to create the best application you can, a college visit will help if you need to write an essay to the prompt, â€Å"Why us?† Not all colleges ask for this, but there are many that require a supplemental essay in which you delineateyour reasons for wanting to attend. Colleges want to ensure that you have specific knowledge of their culture, courses, professors, and other opportunities. If you can include something unique that you learned on a tour, rather than repeat info from their website, then your essay could stand out even more. You don’t know what stories you’ll gain from your tour and exploring the surrounding area, so go with an open mind and see how your impressions translate to any supplemental essays that you may need to write.Just as some colleges ask you to write about your interest, some also keep track of their tour rosters to see if you â€Å"demonstrated interest† via a tour or communication with the admissions office. Having your name on a campustour list might officially document your "demonstrated interest." Reason #4: To Officially Demonstrate Your Interest in the School So far, we’ve talked about how personally illuminating it can be to tour your college and its surrounding environment. You may have also heard that touring can strengthen your chances of admission, because it shows you did your due diligence. So what’s the story with this idea of â€Å"demonstrated interest†? Does it really help you get accepted? Admissions committees are, generally speaking, rather secretive about their processes. They emphasize that their process is a holistic one that considers the â€Å"whole student,† rather than pieces of data. While this system has its strengths, it also means that we don’t have clear answers aboutexactly how officers consider eachpiece of your application. In the end, we’re often left with the frustrating answer, â€Å"It depends.† So as for how far demonstrated interest makes an impression on admissions officers, I’d also have to say, â€Å"It depends.† Generally speaking, the conventional wisdom seems to be correct - it can be in your favor for the college to have your name on its visit records. The more you can connect with a school, by going on an official tour, emailing admissions officers, and/or speaking to faculty, the more interested in the school you’ll appear to be. It will seem as though you’ve been thorough in your research, and admissions officers can be fairly confident that, if given an offer of admission, you will accept and enroll. Since colleges are looking to improve their yield - or increase the number of students who accept admission offers - they appreciate your â€Å"demonstrated interest.† A few admissions officers, furthermore, have said that they would perceive it as a lack of interest on the student’s part if she lived close by and didn’t ever take a tour. This definitely isn'ta make or break part of your application, but you certainly don’t want to come off as disinterested. Admissions officers value enthusiasm, excitement, and commitment. On the other hand, some schools, probably for the sake of fairness or because they already have more than enough information to evaluate, don’t track your interest. Yale, for instance, says, â€Å"Yale does not track visits to campus or contact with our admissions staff for the purposes of evaluating applications."They want people to sign up for tours, so they have a sense of numbers, but they say they won’t look at it later. Admissions officers understand that not everyone cantour a school. If you live far away, then they shouldn’t hold it against you. In the end, taking a tour is not essential, nor should it affect your admission chances very much. If you live close toa college, then you should make every effort to demonstrate your interest by signing up and touring. If it’s geographically or financially difficult for you, don’t stress about it. In fact, there are a few reasons why it might not make sense for you to tour a school. Let’s look at what a few of these reasons are. Don't worry if your college is just too far away. Are There Any Reasons Not to Tour a School? As I said above, don’t stress if it’s just way too difficult for you to visit a school. Some students apply to colleges across the country, and they might not have the time or money to visit all, or any, of their far-off prospective colleges. Others may be busy with after-school jobs or babysitting siblings, or they simply might not be able to afford the planes, trains, or automobiles to get there. Distance and finances are two very understandable reasons for not being able to tour a college, despite your interest in seeing it firsthand. Hopefully, you can still reach out to administration and current students online and check out the photos and virtual college tours offered on many school websites. Now, if your only reason for forgoing a tour is that you already know a lot about a school - perhaps a sibling already attended - I wouldn’t advise skipping it. It’s still a good idea to visit, demonstrate your interest, and shape your own impressions. To reiterate, if visiting a school is burdensome or otherwise just not feasible for you, then don’t worry about it. If you have the means and time, then check it out! In that case, your next step should be signing up. Like any good guest, make sure to RSVP to your college tour. How Do You Sign Up for College Tours? You can find tour schedules and sign-ups on each college’s website. You’ll often find this info on the admissions site under the heading of â€Å"Visit.† To get there most directly, you could search for â€Å"Name of College + Visit.† If you want to check out what a few of these pages look like, you can see the tour information for Penn State,University of California at Berkeley, University of Chicago, and Harvard here. For colleges of historical interest, like Harvard, double check that you’re finding the tour for prospective freshmen, rather than a general historical tour! You may notice that many schools offer a morning and afternoon tour. If you’re looking at schools that are close together, should you fit in two tours in one day? How Many Tours Should You Sign Up for On the Same Day? Since many schools offer two or more tours a day, some students try to fit in two or more in one day. While you may be able to check out two colleges if they’re close together, I recommend giving each visit the time it deserves. In addition to the one to two hours that most tours take, you may be able to sit in on a lecture or meet with an admissions officer. Beyond the tour itself, you also should take some time to explore campus and the surrounding area, searching out the cafes, movie theaters, restaurants, concert halls, hiking paths, or whatever else you might be looking for in your life as a college student. So rather than rush around checking colleges off your list as fast as possible, make sure to take your time and make the most of your visit by focusing on one tour per day. Most high school students are granted several excused absences in junior and senior year to visit colleges, and you may be able to find extra time by visiting on weekends. That being said, when’s a good time to visit colleges? You'll see a much different college if you visitduring the semester versus winter or summer break. When’s the Best Time to Tour Schools? Considering your school visits can help you determine what schools make your college list, it’s a good idea to visit in junior year or earlier. Most junior students are granted 3 to 4 excused absences to visit colleges. If you can’t miss a school day due to your high school'spolicy or a largeworkload, many colleges also offer tours on the weekends or over the summer. The only drawback of visiting over the summer or, to some extent, on weekends is that you won’t get to see the college in full swing. There’s a big difference in the atmosphere if students are walking between class and studying on the lawn or the library versus cleared out and empty. Plus, with summer tours you may not have the opportunity for an overnight visit or to sit in on a lecture. Touring in the summer still beats no tour at all, but if you can, try to visit during fall or spring semester. Colleges, by the way, usually have different vacations than do high schools. So if you’re too busy with assignments and after-school activities to tour during a school week, then you might go during February or April break or certain high school holidays that fall on a Monday. You’ll be on vacation, but college students won’t be. This plan probably won’t work for the December holidays, though - colleges tend to have several weeks off, usually from early to mid-December to early to mid-January. Besides this big winter break, what other times are not ideal for touring? Hey, where'd everyone go? When’s the Worst Time to Tour Schools? Colleges have a different schedule than do high schools. You can take advantage of your vacation times to visit colleges when classes are in session, but you also should probably plan to avoid college break times. In addition to winter break, colleges have breaks over Thanksgiving and typically in the second or third week of March (spring break!). Before the December holidays vacation, they usually have a â€Å"reading period,† a week or two during which students study for finals and then take their exams. Classes won’t be in session. Reading periods and exam weeksusually precede the end of the fall semester and end of the spring semester. Finally, if you’re interested in visiting admissions offices, then you should check ahead to make sure this is a possibility. Admissions officers get busy with application review season in March and April, so if you’d like to visit at this time and meet with an admissions officer, just make sure they have time to talk with prospective students. However,you can still gain a lot from walking around campus and checking out the facilities and thesurrounding city even if classes aren’t in session. But if you plan ahead, you can make the most of your visit by visiting during the semester and getting the truest sense of the college in action. Apart from signing up for the tour, you should also prepare some questions to connect with your tour guide and find out more information about the college. Before you visit, prepare some questions to ask your college tour guide! What to Prepare for Campus Tours College tour guides are there to help! Most tour guides are current students who are enthusiastic about sharing info and insight into the school. Make the most of your visit by preparing questions to ask. It’s especially important to prepare a list of questions if you’re meeting with an administrator. So what should these questions look like? They might include, How much time do you typically spend on homework? What’s the average class size? (You may specify this question for a certain department.) What kind of orientation programs are there for freshmen? Are there opportunities for research in nanoengineering (or whatever the subject might be)? Can you talk about the community service clubs? Is it common to study abroad? What are the dorms like? How would you rate the food, on a scale from decent to inedible? Do a lot of students belong to frats or sororities? Really, you can ask anything you want to know that’s specific to your unique interests or goals. Find out answers to your questions that aren’t already available on the school website. Now that you’ve made it this far, let’s summarize what you need to remember about why, when, and how to visit your prospective colleges. To Sum Up... If you're able to find the time, money, and transportation to visit your colleges, I highly recommend doing so. Not only will you learn a ton of important info about the school, but you'll get to see and sense the general atmosphere of the campus and its surrounding area. Since this is the place where you could learn, live, and grow for four years, you want to make sure it fits your goals and personality. Most schools give juniors three to four excused absences to tour, plus you can go during your winter or spring breakssince colleges have different vacation schedules. Try to prioritize visiting when classes are in session. That way, you'll have more chances to sit in on a lecture, meet with administration or faculty, and get an authentic sense of the college when it's in full swing. Sign up for tours online, andspend plenty of time exploring. Show up with some questions in mind. Your tour guide can especially give you genuine insight into the student experience and social scene on campus. Visiting colleges will be a huge help in determining where you do and don't want to apply. In addition to weighing the courses and facilities the colleges have to offer, you should also make sure to listen to your intuition. Take some time alone to sit on a bench or steps outside the library, look around, and see if you can picture yourself there. If you feel it would be a great fit, you may, after your visit, be even better equipped tocommunicate whyin your application. Then, hopefully, admissions officers will feel the same way! What's Next? Just as you should explore the surrounding environment when you visit college campuses, you should also take the time to think about what kind of place would best fit you. Do you want to go toa big schoolor a smallschool? Do you want to stay close to home or look farther away? Check out these guides for more on how to decide and what other factorsto consider when creating your college list. Another concernwhen making your college listmay be financial aid. If this is important toyou, checkout these 27 colleges with the best financial aid! Want to improve your SAT score by 160points 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:

Do You Need to Go on College Tours 4 Reasons to Visit

Do You Need to Go on College Tours 4 Reasons to Visit SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips You’ve probably felt the pressure to go on college tours, but just how important are they? Are they an essential part of the college planning process, or is it not a big deal if you opt out? This guide will go over the most important reasons to visit a college, along with some circumstances when you might choose not to tour.We’ll also discuss how you can prepare to make the most out of your college visits. First off, what are some reasons you should tour your prospective colleges? Why Should You Tour Your Colleges? There are several strong reasons to visityour colleges of interest. For one, seeing and learning about the school in person can be a huge help in determining where you want to apply. You can find out more about the college from firsthand sources, like your tour guide and other current students. All of these impressions can serve as useful material if you need to have a college interview or write a supplemental essay about why you want to attend. Finally, having your name on the tour rosters can markwhat many admissions officers call â€Å"demonstrated interest.† Let’s take a look at each of these reasons in more detail, starting with how useful it can be to see a college and its surrounding environment in person. Seethe collegecampus and its surrounding environment with your own eyes, like this intrepid explorer. Reason #1: To See the School and City in Person One of the most compelling and important reasons to tour your college is to see it firsthand! These are the classrooms, dorms, and library you’ll be living in for the next four years; you want to check them out in person before committing. Walk around, soak up the atmosphere, and listen to what your intuition tells you about how it would suit your personal and academic goals. A college tour will let you see the buildings inside and out, including classrooms, dorms, dining halls, gyms, music rooms, and science labs. You can get a sense of what’s happening oncampus on flyer-covered bulletin boards, and see the places where students congregate - especially if you visit when classes are in session. The official tour will show you around campus, and you can check out the surrounding environment too. Some students are drawn to the busy, active vibe of New York City; others would prefer to study in a peaceful countryside setting. Some would love to see fall colors paint the trees on campus; others want to get as far away from the possibility of snow as they can. As you explore the surrounding scenes, find out if there are cafes and movie theaters around, or if most students stay on campus to socialize. You may want to find out if the area's affordable or generally asafe place. If you're looking for mountains to climb, a suburban feel, a large music scene, or a big city full of business internship opportunities, you can see if the area has what you want. Virtual tours and photos can only take you so far, and descriptions of colleges may be biased to promote it. The best way to get a genuine sense of the place is toexplore it in person. You’re the one who will be attending, so you should first see it with your own eyes. Learn about the college by going straight to the source. Reason #2: To Learn About the School from Firsthand Sources If your searches for school info have led down dead ends, then you know that admissions websites don’t always have the answers to all your questions. Tour guides will be there to answer any outstanding questions, plus they’ll teach you fun facts and history that give you a deeper insight into the college. Most tour guides are current students who are big fans of the college. Since they’re students, they can give you firsthand knowledge ofthe student experience.In addition to getting your own questions answered, you can learn from the questions askedby others in the tour group. Some tours involve an hour or so walk around campus. Others, though, involve a much more involved itinerary. You might be able to sit in on a lecture, meet with admissions officers or a professor, or even arrange to stay overnight in a dorm. That way, you’ll get tons of personalized guidance and stories from all different perspectives: faculty, administration, and perhaps most importantly, current students. All of this can serve to fuel your excitement and enthusiasm about a school, which may empower you to produce an even stronger application. On the flip side, it may save you a lot of effort and an application fee if you discover, in the end, that the school’s not for you. Either way, clarifying your desires and reasons to attend is key before you apply. Spark some ideas for any supplemental essays. Reason #3: To Write a Killerâ€Å"Why Us?† Essay Besides amping up your motivation to create the best application you can, a college visit will help if you need to write an essay to the prompt, â€Å"Why us?† Not all colleges ask for this, but there are many that require a supplemental essay in which you delineateyour reasons for wanting to attend. Colleges want to ensure that you have specific knowledge of their culture, courses, professors, and other opportunities. If you can include something unique that you learned on a tour, rather than repeat info from their website, then your essay could stand out even more. You don’t know what stories you’ll gain from your tour and exploring the surrounding area, so go with an open mind and see how your impressions translate to any supplemental essays that you may need to write.Just as some colleges ask you to write about your interest, some also keep track of their tour rosters to see if you â€Å"demonstrated interest† via a tour or communication with the admissions office. Having your name on a campustour list might officially document your "demonstrated interest." Reason #4: To Officially Demonstrate Your Interest in the School So far, we’ve talked about how personally illuminating it can be to tour your college and its surrounding environment. You may have also heard that touring can strengthen your chances of admission, because it shows you did your due diligence. So what’s the story with this idea of â€Å"demonstrated interest†? Does it really help you get accepted? Admissions committees are, generally speaking, rather secretive about their processes. They emphasize that their process is a holistic one that considers the â€Å"whole student,† rather than pieces of data. While this system has its strengths, it also means that we don’t have clear answers aboutexactly how officers consider eachpiece of your application. In the end, we’re often left with the frustrating answer, â€Å"It depends.† So as for how far demonstrated interest makes an impression on admissions officers, I’d also have to say, â€Å"It depends.† Generally speaking, the conventional wisdom seems to be correct - it can be in your favor for the college to have your name on its visit records. The more you can connect with a school, by going on an official tour, emailing admissions officers, and/or speaking to faculty, the more interested in the school you’ll appear to be. It will seem as though you’ve been thorough in your research, and admissions officers can be fairly confident that, if given an offer of admission, you will accept and enroll. Since colleges are looking to improve their yield - or increase the number of students who accept admission offers - they appreciate your â€Å"demonstrated interest.† A few admissions officers, furthermore, have said that they would perceive it as a lack of interest on the student’s part if she lived close by and didn’t ever take a tour. This definitely isn'ta make or break part of your application, but you certainly don’t want to come off as disinterested. Admissions officers value enthusiasm, excitement, and commitment. On the other hand, some schools, probably for the sake of fairness or because they already have more than enough information to evaluate, don’t track your interest. Yale, for instance, says, â€Å"Yale does not track visits to campus or contact with our admissions staff for the purposes of evaluating applications."They want people to sign up for tours, so they have a sense of numbers, but they say they won’t look at it later. Admissions officers understand that not everyone cantour a school. If you live far away, then they shouldn’t hold it against you. In the end, taking a tour is not essential, nor should it affect your admission chances very much. If you live close toa college, then you should make every effort to demonstrate your interest by signing up and touring. If it’s geographically or financially difficult for you, don’t stress about it. In fact, there are a few reasons why it might not make sense for you to tour a school. Let’s look at what a few of these reasons are. Don't worry if your college is just too far away. Are There Any Reasons Not to Tour a School? As I said above, don’t stress if it’s just way too difficult for you to visit a school. Some students apply to colleges across the country, and they might not have the time or money to visit all, or any, of their far-off prospective colleges. Others may be busy with after-school jobs or babysitting siblings, or they simply might not be able to afford the planes, trains, or automobiles to get there. Distance and finances are two very understandable reasons for not being able to tour a college, despite your interest in seeing it firsthand. Hopefully, you can still reach out to administration and current students online and check out the photos and virtual college tours offered on many school websites. Now, if your only reason for forgoing a tour is that you already know a lot about a school - perhaps a sibling already attended - I wouldn’t advise skipping it. It’s still a good idea to visit, demonstrate your interest, and shape your own impressions. To reiterate, if visiting a school is burdensome or otherwise just not feasible for you, then don’t worry about it. If you have the means and time, then check it out! In that case, your next step should be signing up. Like any good guest, make sure to RSVP to your college tour. How Do You Sign Up for College Tours? You can find tour schedules and sign-ups on each college’s website. You’ll often find this info on the admissions site under the heading of â€Å"Visit.† To get there most directly, you could search for â€Å"Name of College + Visit.† If you want to check out what a few of these pages look like, you can see the tour information for Penn State,University of California at Berkeley, University of Chicago, and Harvard here. For colleges of historical interest, like Harvard, double check that you’re finding the tour for prospective freshmen, rather than a general historical tour! You may notice that many schools offer a morning and afternoon tour. If you’re looking at schools that are close together, should you fit in two tours in one day? How Many Tours Should You Sign Up for On the Same Day? Since many schools offer two or more tours a day, some students try to fit in two or more in one day. While you may be able to check out two colleges if they’re close together, I recommend giving each visit the time it deserves. In addition to the one to two hours that most tours take, you may be able to sit in on a lecture or meet with an admissions officer. Beyond the tour itself, you also should take some time to explore campus and the surrounding area, searching out the cafes, movie theaters, restaurants, concert halls, hiking paths, or whatever else you might be looking for in your life as a college student. So rather than rush around checking colleges off your list as fast as possible, make sure to take your time and make the most of your visit by focusing on one tour per day. Most high school students are granted several excused absences in junior and senior year to visit colleges, and you may be able to find extra time by visiting on weekends. That being said, when’s a good time to visit colleges? You'll see a much different college if you visitduring the semester versus winter or summer break. When’s the Best Time to Tour Schools? Considering your school visits can help you determine what schools make your college list, it’s a good idea to visit in junior year or earlier. Most junior students are granted 3 to 4 excused absences to visit colleges. If you can’t miss a school day due to your high school'spolicy or a largeworkload, many colleges also offer tours on the weekends or over the summer. The only drawback of visiting over the summer or, to some extent, on weekends is that you won’t get to see the college in full swing. There’s a big difference in the atmosphere if students are walking between class and studying on the lawn or the library versus cleared out and empty. Plus, with summer tours you may not have the opportunity for an overnight visit or to sit in on a lecture. Touring in the summer still beats no tour at all, but if you can, try to visit during fall or spring semester. Colleges, by the way, usually have different vacations than do high schools. So if you’re too busy with assignments and after-school activities to tour during a school week, then you might go during February or April break or certain high school holidays that fall on a Monday. You’ll be on vacation, but college students won’t be. This plan probably won’t work for the December holidays, though - colleges tend to have several weeks off, usually from early to mid-December to early to mid-January. Besides this big winter break, what other times are not ideal for touring? Hey, where'd everyone go? When’s the Worst Time to Tour Schools? Colleges have a different schedule than do high schools. You can take advantage of your vacation times to visit colleges when classes are in session, but you also should probably plan to avoid college break times. In addition to winter break, colleges have breaks over Thanksgiving and typically in the second or third week of March (spring break!). Before the December holidays vacation, they usually have a â€Å"reading period,† a week or two during which students study for finals and then take their exams. Classes won’t be in session. Reading periods and exam weeksusually precede the end of the fall semester and end of the spring semester. Finally, if you’re interested in visiting admissions offices, then you should check ahead to make sure this is a possibility. Admissions officers get busy with application review season in March and April, so if you’d like to visit at this time and meet with an admissions officer, just make sure they have time to talk with prospective students. However,you can still gain a lot from walking around campus and checking out the facilities and thesurrounding city even if classes aren’t in session. But if you plan ahead, you can make the most of your visit by visiting during the semester and getting the truest sense of the college in action. Apart from signing up for the tour, you should also prepare some questions to connect with your tour guide and find out more information about the college. Before you visit, prepare some questions to ask your college tour guide! What to Prepare for Campus Tours College tour guides are there to help! Most tour guides are current students who are enthusiastic about sharing info and insight into the school. Make the most of your visit by preparing questions to ask. It’s especially important to prepare a list of questions if you’re meeting with an administrator. So what should these questions look like? They might include, How much time do you typically spend on homework? What’s the average class size? (You may specify this question for a certain department.) What kind of orientation programs are there for freshmen? Are there opportunities for research in nanoengineering (or whatever the subject might be)? Can you talk about the community service clubs? Is it common to study abroad? What are the dorms like? How would you rate the food, on a scale from decent to inedible? Do a lot of students belong to frats or sororities? Really, you can ask anything you want to know that’s specific to your unique interests or goals. Find out answers to your questions that aren’t already available on the school website. Now that you’ve made it this far, let’s summarize what you need to remember about why, when, and how to visit your prospective colleges. To Sum Up... If you're able to find the time, money, and transportation to visit your colleges, I highly recommend doing so. Not only will you learn a ton of important info about the school, but you'll get to see and sense the general atmosphere of the campus and its surrounding area. Since this is the place where you could learn, live, and grow for four years, you want to make sure it fits your goals and personality. Most schools give juniors three to four excused absences to tour, plus you can go during your winter or spring breakssince colleges have different vacation schedules. Try to prioritize visiting when classes are in session. That way, you'll have more chances to sit in on a lecture, meet with administration or faculty, and get an authentic sense of the college when it's in full swing. Sign up for tours online, andspend plenty of time exploring. Show up with some questions in mind. Your tour guide can especially give you genuine insight into the student experience and social scene on campus. Visiting colleges will be a huge help in determining where you do and don't want to apply. In addition to weighing the courses and facilities the colleges have to offer, you should also make sure to listen to your intuition. Take some time alone to sit on a bench or steps outside the library, look around, and see if you can picture yourself there. If you feel it would be a great fit, you may, after your visit, be even better equipped tocommunicate whyin your application. Then, hopefully, admissions officers will feel the same way! What's Next? Just as you should explore the surrounding environment when you visit college campuses, you should also take the time to think about what kind of place would best fit you. Do you want to go toa big schoolor a smallschool? Do you want to stay close to home or look farther away? Check out these guides for more on how to decide and what other factorsto consider when creating your college list. Another concernwhen making your college listmay be financial aid. If this is important toyou, checkout these 27 colleges with the best financial aid! Want to improve your SAT score by 160points 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:

Professional solutions to the impact that the increasing concern of Research Paper

Professional solutions to the impact that the increasing concern of how alcohol consumption affects the rate of interpersonal vi - Research Paper Example Excessive consumption of alcohol in most cases pose a health risk for many individuals and each year several deaths related to alcohol consumption are reported (Smith 145). Understanding genes causing alcoholism is vital in finding lasting solutions to the problem of alcoholism, and scientists in Finland have been concentrating in gene therapies to identify these genes related to alcoholism. Individuals addicted to alcohol consumption have numerous gene constitutions that interact with environmental factors to influence them into drinking and result into the drinking problem. Gene therapy has helped in understanding gene vulnerability which is significant in finding curative measures in helping those individuals who are heavy consumers of alcohol. In addition, scientists have discovered and are still discovering various drugs that have the ability to suppress the alcohol genes in individuals. An example is that aldehyde dehydrogesnase has been discovered to help in neutralizing the G ABA gene which has been discovered influence addiction of alcohol in individuals. Scientists are also advocating for educational programs to help in solving the high rate of interpersonal violence caused by excessive alcohol consumption amongst individuals. ... Therefore, scientists are emphasizing on the need to sleep to help in solving the problem of loneliness and prevent consumption of alcohol in individuals who drink because they are lonely or need instant gratification from various issues affecting their lives (Hardie & Ben 54). Examples of these programs include off-time pubertal training which is used to predict physiological activity of individuals to interpersonal stress caused by excessive consumption of alcohol. In addition, the government and non-governmental organizations have introduced programs on drug and alcohol abuse to help alcohol addicts to recover and quit their drinking habit by pointing out the risk and involved and also offering counseling services for those who are affected and those who are already addicts. Scientists have also proposed educational programs within the country to help in solving the problem of underage drinking amongst teenagers and grown-ups within the country. This assist in solving the problem of interpersonal conflict amongst individuals. They are school strategies which are emphasizing on the adaptation of behavioral theory and useful information amongst individuals. In addition, they have actively involved the community and family to form strategies to prevent drinking amongst individuals and bring to an end interpersonal conflict associated with alcohol (Criminology and Criminal Justice: Theory Research Methods and Statistics 120). An example of these programs includes strengthening families program which was started to improve relationships in families and also social skills of individuals. Resistance skill programs have also been introduced to help in the prevention of interpersonal conflict associated

Concept of supply and demand; of antitrust laws and of labor unions Essay

Concept of supply and demand; of antitrust laws and of labor unions - Essay Example This research will begin with the presentation of the concept of supply and demand. It has become one of the most important concepts in modern day economics. Indeed this concept can be summed up as the one in which, the producer of a commodity has a certain quantity for sale in the market and that quantity which consumers are ready to buy. As a result of this, the demand for a particular commodity depends on a number of factors like the commodity price, related commodity prices and also consumers buying power and choices. The supply of a particular commodity depends on a number of factors like the cost incurred in the production of that particular commodity, the price of related kinds of products and many other factors. The concept of supply and demand is always existent and the market’s main aim is to bring a form of stability and equilibrium between the demand as well as supply through the pricing of commodities. Antitrust Laws are special type of laws that have been created by the American government in order to prevent the formation of monopolies, which could otherwise result in unhealthy market competition. Thus these are a set of Federal laws which can be applied in case of both businesses as well as individuals. The first Antitrust law in America was created in the year 1890. Thus this law ensures that, all the individuals and the various business establishments are given a fair deal, hen it comes to market competition and that no single company or individual gains an upper hand in business dealings unlawfully.

Proprietary vs Contract Security Essay Example for Free

Proprietary vs Contract Security Essay Security Many types of security are in existents today, site or mobile patrol; loss prevention functions; special events security; in-house security functions and private investigations are some of the tasks. Choosing the right one for the needs of any establishment should be one of the ultimate goals of the business. This paper will focus on proprietary and contract security in particular. A comparison of the two types of security will be addressed. Identifying some of the issues in either type of security is of great importance as well as understanding the various roles of security personnel. After briefly recognizing some of the advantages and disadvantages of proprietary versus contract security, a recommendation will be rendered on which type should be utilized for the international automobile manufacturer that I have been assigned as the security manager. Comparison Proprietary security is controlled entirely by a particular company and is responsible for the hiring, firing and management of personnel. Contract security is operated by a professional security company and contracts its services to different companies. The status of proprietary security is considered higher than contract security, attracting a higher quality of security personnel and a greater expense in wages. The cost for contract security is becoming more prevalent because of the increased price tag or liability for companies. Although this is not true for all companies; many directors of security fear that switching to a contract provider will mean they are of decreased value to their company (Allied Barton, 2009). In contrast, security directors that outsource their security program often find they no longer spend long day to day hours managing security officers. Instead, they are able to offer their skills in more prominent and visible areas of security and consulting and analysis (Allied Barton, 2009). Both types of security may include the same services with benefits; yet, there are some advantages and disadvantages. Advantages and Disadvantages Proprietary security is still viewed as having many advantages than contract security. The consistency, best training for security personnel and specific needs offer the balance to identify different types of behaviors toward employees. Contract security was seen in the past as inadequate, untrained and not loyal; today, there has been an increase in use of contract security vendors. The performance levels of private security vendors, high level of educated and experienced security professionals have caused the cost factor to be a secondary consideration. While there are many other reasons for advantages and disadvantages in these two types of security, addressing the issues in choosing which is best for any particular business should be weighed. Conclusion There are many costs and benefits to be considered when choosing a proprietary or contract security. When deciding on the type of security, be sure to weigh the positives and negatives of the different types and which can be more beneficial to the business. Each business will have its own personnel and facility knowledge. Proprietary security is more costly when replacing individuals. Contract security makes it easier to lower the internal pressures and provide services such as recruiting, training, supervision, security factors, uniforms, and the costs is lower than proprietary security. My recommendation as the security manager for the international automobile manufacturer is to utilize the contract security. Many types of security are in existents today; choosing the right one for the needs of any establishment should be one of the ultimate goals of the business. The objective to focus on proprietary and contract security has been addressed and compared. This paper has identified some of the issues in one or the other type of security and elaborated on the significant importance as well as understanding the various roles of security personnel. After briefly recognizing some of the advantages and disadvantages of proprietary versus contract security, a recommendation has been rendered to utilize contract security for the international automobile manufacturer that I have been assigned as the security manager.

Genetics Research :: essays research papers fc

The Future of Genetics The HGP began in 1990, it is a 13-year effort coordinated and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health. The Human Genome Project’s goals are to identify all the 100,000 genes in human DNA; determine the sequences of the 3 billion chemical base pairs that make up human DNA; store this information in databases; develop tools for data analysis; transfer related technologies to the private sector; and address the ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSI) that may arise from the project. A working draft of the human sequence was completed earlier this year, 2000. The U.S. Human Genome Project (HGP), composed of the DOE and NIH Human Genome Programs, is the national coordinated effort to characterize all human genetic material by determining the complete sequence of the DNA in the human genome. The HGP's ultimate goal is to discover all the more than 80,000 human genes and render them accessible for further biological study. To facilitate the futu re interpretation of human gene function, parallel studies are being carried out on selected model organisms, such as Drosophilia Melanogaster and Caenorhabditis elegans. According to the department of energy program report, a perfect draft of the human sequence is due in 2003. Some of the ways that geneticists use to map the Human Gene are Atomic Force Microscopy of Biochemically Tagged DNA, Intracellular Flow Karyotyping, and Electrotransformation for Introducing DNA into Industrial Bacilli Intracellular flow karyotyping appears to be a feasible and beneficial method for analyzing karyotype aberrations from individual cells using flow cytogenetics. The flow karyotyping method allows quantification of chromosomal DNA by flow cytometry and thus analysis of chromosomal aberrations on chromosome suspensions. Amounts of data providing statistical significance can be collected quickly and the approach allows accurate mapping of chromosomal DNA composition. The limitation of the method is at the cellular level of analysis, which is an impossibility to detect low-frequency or heterogeneous events, with this method. The aim of this intracellular flow karyotyping project is improving the technology to extend the method to the analysis of karyotype aberrations from individual cells. This technology might be especially useful for the detection and quantification of heterogeneous abnormalities. Chromosomal changes of this type occur through ionising radiation exposure and are involved in karyotype instability and tumorigenesis. This approach will be investigated both for biological dosimetry purposes, especially in low-dose contexts (count of abnormal cells, count of abnormalities per cell) and for research purposes (karyotype instability known as tumorigenesis).

Frostbite Chapter 19

Nineteen I HATE BEING POWERLESS. AND I hate going down without a fight. What had taken place outside in the alley hadn't been a real fight. If it had- if I'd been beaten into submission †¦ well, yeah. Maybe I could accept that. Maybe. But I hadn't been beaten. I'd barely gotten my hands dirty. Instead, I'd gone quietly. Once they had us sitting on the floor of the van, they'd bound each of our hands behind our back with flex-cuffs- strips of plastic that cinched together and held just as well as anything made of metal. After that, we rode in near silence. The men occasionally murmured something to each other, speaking too softly for any of us to hear. Christian or Mia might have been able to understand the words, but they were in no position to communicate anything to the rest of us. Mia looked as terrified as she had out on the street, and while Christian's fear had rapidly given way to his typical haughty anger, even he didn't dare act out with guards nearby. I was glad for Christian's self-control. I didn't doubt any of these men would smack him if he got out of line, and neither I nor the other novices were in a position to stop them. That was what really drove me crazy. The instinct to protect Moroi was so deeply ingrained in me that I couldn't even pause to worry about myself. Christian and Mia were the focus. They were the ones I had to get out of this mess. And how had this mess started? Who were these guys? That was a mystery. They were human, but I didn't believe for an instant that a group of dhampirs and Moroi had been random kidnapping victims. We'd been targeted for a reason. Our captors made no attempts to blindfold us or conceal our route, which I didn't take as a good sign. Did they think we didn't know the city well enough to retrace our steps? Or did they figure it didn't matter since we wouldn't be leaving wherever they were taking us? All I sensed was that we were driving away from downtown, off toward a more suburban area. Spokane was as dull as I'd imagined. Unlike where pristine white snow lay in drifts, slushy gray puddles lined the streets and dirty patches dotted the lawns. There were also a lot fewer evergreen trees than I was used to. The scraggly, leafless deciduous trees here seemed skeletal by comparison. They only added to the mood of impending doom. After what felt like less than an hour, the van turned down a quiet cul-de-sac, and we drove up to a very ordinary- yet large- house. Other houses- identical in the way suburban homes often are- stood nearby, which gave me hope. Maybe we could get some help from the neighbors. We pulled inside the garage, and once the door was back down, the men ushered us into the house. It looked a lot more interesting on the inside. Antique, claw-footed sofas and chairs. A large, saltwater fish tank. Swords crossed over the fireplace. One of those stupid modern art paintings that consisted of a few lines splayed across the canvas. The part of me that enjoyed destroying things would have liked to study the swords in detail, but the main floor wasn't our destination. Instead, we were led down a narrow flight of stairs, down to a basement as large as the floor above. Only, unlike the main floor's open space, the basement was sectioned off into a series of halls and closed doors. It was like a rat's maze. Our captors led us through it without hesitation, into a small room with a concrete floor and unpainted drywall. The furniture inside consisted of several very uncomfortable-looking wooden chairs with slatted backs- backs that proved to be a convenient place for rebinding our hands. The men seated us in such a way that Mia and Christian sat on one side of the room, and the rest of us dhampirs sat on the other. One guy- the leader, apparently- watched carefully as one of his henchmen bound Eddie's hands with new flex-cuffs. â€Å"These are the ones you especially have to watch,† he warned, nodding toward us. â€Å"They'll fight back.† His eyes traveled first to Eddie's face, then Mason's, and then mine. The guy and I held each other's gaze for several moments, and I scowled. He looked back over at his associate. â€Å"Watch her in particular.† When we'd been restrained to his satisfaction, he barked out a few more orders to the others and then left the room, shutting the door loudly behind him. His steps echoed through the house as he walked upstairs. Moments later, silence fell. We sat there, staring at each other. After several minutes, Mia whimpered and started to speak. â€Å"What are you going to- â€Å" â€Å"Shut up,† growled one of the men. He took a warning step toward her. Blanching, she cringed but still looked as though she might say something else. I caught her eye and shook my head. She stayed silent, eyes wide and a slight tremble to her lip. There's nothing worse than waiting and not knowing what'll happen to you. Your own imagination can be crueler than any captor. Since our guards wouldn't talk to us or tell us what was in store, I imagined all sorts of horrible scenarios. The guns were the obvious threat, and I found myself pondering what a bullet would feel like. Painful, presumably. And where would they shoot? Through the heart or the head? Quick death. But somewhere else? Like the stomach? That would be slow and painful. I shuddered at the thought of my life bleeding out of me. Thinking of all that blood put me in mind of the Badica house and maybe having our throats slit. These men could have knives as well as guns. Of course, I had to wonder why we were still alive at all. Clearly they wanted something from us, but what? They weren't asking for information. And they were human. What would humans want with us? Usually the most we feared from humans was either running into crazy slayer types or those who wanted to experiment on us. These seemed like neither. So what did they want? Why were we here? Over and over, I imagined more awful, gruesome fates. The looks on my friends' faces showed I wasn't the only one who could envision creative torments. The smell of sweat and fear filled the room. I lost track of time and was suddenly jolted out of my imaginings when footsteps sounded on the stairs. The lead captor stepped into the hall. The rest of the men straightened up, tension crackling around them. Oh God. This was it, I realized. This was what we'd been waiting for. â€Å"Yes, sir,† I heard the leader say. â€Å"They're in here, just like you wanted.† Finally, I realized. The person behind our kidnapping. Panic shot through me. I had to escape. â€Å"Let us out of here!† I yelled, straining at my bindings. â€Å"Let us out of here, you son of a- â€Å" I stopped. Something inside of me shriveled up. My throat went dry. My heart wanted to stop. The guard had returned with a man and a woman I didn't recognize. I did, however, recognize that they were †¦ †¦ Strigoi. Real, live- well, figuratively speaking- Strigoi. It all suddenly clicked together. It wasn't just the Spokane reports that had been true. What we'd feared- Strigoi working with humans- had come true. This changes everything. Daylight wasn't safe anymore. None of us were safe anymore. Worse, I realized these must be the rogue Strigoi- the ones who had attacked the two Moroi families with human help. Again, those horrible memories came to me: bodies and blood everywhere. Bile rose in my throat, and I tried to shift my thoughts from the past to the present situation. Not that that was any more reassuring. Moroi had pale skin, the kind of skin that blushed and burned easily. But these vampires†¦their skin was white, chalky in a way that made it look like the result of a bad makeup job. The pupils of their eyes had a red ring around them, driving home what monsters they were. The woman, actually, reminded me of Natalie- my poor friend whose father had convinced her to turn Strigoi. It took me a few moments to figure out what the resemblance was because they looked nothing alike. This woman was short- probably human before becoming Strigoi- and had brown hair with a bad highlighting job. Then it hit me. This Strigoi was a new one, much as Natalie had been. It didn't become obvious until I compared her with the Strigoi man. The Strigoi woman's face had a little life in it. But his †¦ his was the face of death. His face was completely devoid of any sort of warmth or gentler emotion. His expression was cold and calculating, laced with malicious amusement. He was tall, as tall as Dimitri, and had a slender frame that indicated he'd been Moroi before changing over. Shoulder-length black hair framed his face and stood out against the bright scarlet of his dress shirt. His eyes were so dark and brown that without the red ring, it would have been almost impossible to tell where pupil ended and iris began. One of the guards shoved me hard, even though I'd been silent. He glanced up at the Strigoi man. â€Å"You want me to gag her?† I suddenly realized I'd been hunching into the back of my chair, unconsciously trying to get as far away from him as possible. He realized this too, and a thin, toothless smile crossed his lips. â€Å"No,† he said. His voice was silky and low. â€Å"I'd like to hear what she has to say.† He raised an eyebrow at me. â€Å"Please. Continue.† I swallowed. â€Å"No? Nothing to add? Well. Do feel free to pipe up if something else comes to mind.† â€Å"Isaiah,† exclaimed the woman. â€Å"Why are you keeping them here? Why haven't you just contacted the others?† â€Å"Elena, Elena,† Isaiah murmured to her. â€Å"Behave yourself. I'm not going to pass up the chance to enjoy myself with two Moroi and †¦Ã¢â‚¬  He walked behind my chair and lifted my hair, making me shudder. A moment later, he peered at Mason and Eddie's necks as well. â€Å"†¦three unblooded dhampirs.† He spoke those words with an almost happy sigh, and I realized he'd been looking for guardian tattoos. Strolling over to Mia and Christian, Isaiah rested a hand on his hip as he studied them. Mia could only meet his eyes for an instant before looking away. Christian's fear was palpable, but he managed to return the Strigoi's scrutiny. It made me proud. â€Å"Look at these eyes, Elena.† Elena walked over and stood beside Isaiah as he spoke. â€Å"That pale blue. Like ice. Like aquamarines. You almost never get that outside of the royal houses. Badicas. Ozeras. The occasional Zeklos.† â€Å"Ozera,† said Christian, trying very hard to sound fearless. Isaiah tilted his head. â€Å"Really? Surely not†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He leaned closer to Christian. â€Å"But the age is right†¦and that hair†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He smiled. â€Å"Lucas and Moira's son?† Christian said nothing, but the confirmation on his face was obvious. â€Å"I knew your parents. Great people. Unparalleled. Their deaths were a shame†¦ but, well†¦ I daresay they brought that on themselves. I told them they shouldn't have gone back for you. Would have been wasteful to awaken you so young. They claimed they were going to just keep you around and waken you when you were older. I warned them that that would be a disaster, but, well†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He gave a delicate shrug. â€Å"Awaken† was the term Strigoi used among themselves when they changed over. It sounded like a religious experience. â€Å"They wouldn't listen, and disaster met them in a different way.† Hatred, deep and dark, boiled behind Christian's eyes. Isaiah smiled again. â€Å"It's quite touching that you should find your way to me after all this time. Perhaps I can realize their dream after all.† â€Å"Isaiah,† said the woman- Elena- again. Every word out of her mouth seemed like a whine. â€Å"Call the others- â€Å" â€Å"Stop giving me orders!† Isaiah grabbed her shoulder and shoved her away- except that the push knocked her across the room and almost through the wall. She just barely threw her hand out in time to stop the impact. Strigoi had better reflexes than dhampirs or even Moroi; her lack of grace meant he'd completely caught her off guard. And really, he'd barely touched her. The push had been light- yet it had packed the force of a small car. This further enforced my belief that he was in another class altogether. His strength beat hers by magnitudes. She was like a fly he could swat away. Strigoi power increased with age- as well as through the consumption of Moroi blood and, to a lesser extent, dhampir blood. This guy wasn't just old, I realized. He was ancient. And he'd drunk a lot of blood over the years. Terror filled Elena's features, and I could understand her fear. Strigoi turned against each other all the time. He could have ripped her head off if he wanted. She cowered, averting her eyes. â€Å"I†¦ I'm sorry, Isaiah.† Isaiah smoothed his shirt- not that it had been wrinkled. His voice took on the cold pleasantness he'd affected earlier. â€Å"You clearly have opinions here, Elena, and I welcome you voicing them in a civilized manner. What do you think we should do with these cubs?† â€Å"You should- that is, I think we should just take them now. Especially the Moroi.† She was clearly working hard not to whine again and annoy him. â€Å"Unless†¦you aren't going to throw another dinner party, are you? It's a complete waste. We'll have to share, and you know the others won't be grateful. They never are.† â€Å"I'm not making a dinner party out of them,† he declared loftily. Dinner party? â€Å"But I'm not killing them yet either. You're young, Elena. You only think about immediate gratification. When you're as old as me, you won't be so †¦ impatient.† She rolled her eyes when he wasn't looking. Turning, he swept his gaze over me, Mason, and Eddie. â€Å"You three, I'm afraid, are going to die. There's no avoiding it. I'd like to say I'm sorry, but, well, I'm not. Such is the way of the world. You do have a choice in how you die, however, and that will be dictated by your behavior.† His eyes lingered on me. I didn't really get why everyone seemed to be singling me out as the troublemaker here. Well, maybe I did. â€Å"Some of you will die more painfully than others.† I didn't need to see Mason and Eddie to know their fear mirrored mine. I was pretty sure I even heard Eddie whimper. Isaiah abruptly turned on his heels, military-style, and faced Mia and Christian. â€Å"You two, fortunately, have options. Only one of you will die. The other will live on in glorious immortality. I'll even be kind enough to take you under my wing until you're a little older. Such is my charity.† I couldn't help it. I choked on a laugh. Isaiah spun around and stared at me. I fell silent and waited for him to throw me across the room like he had Elena, but he did nothing else but stare. It was enough. My heart raced, and I felt tears brim in my eyes. My fear shamed me. I wanted to be like Dimitri. Maybe even like my mother. After several long, agonizing moments, Isaiah turned back to the Moroi. â€Å"Now. As I was saying, one of you will be awakened and live forever. But it will not be me who wakens you. You will choose to be awakened willingly.† â€Å"Not likely,† said Christian. He packed as much snarky defiance as he could manage into those two words, but it was still obvious to everyone else in the room that he was scared out of his mind. â€Å"Ah, how I love the Ozera spirit,† mused Isaiah. He glanced at Mia, his red eyes gleaming. She shrank back in fear. â€Å"But don't let him upstage you, my dear. There's strength in common blood, too. And here's how it will be decided.† He pointed at us dhampirs. His gazed chilled me all over, and I imagined I could smell the stink of decay. â€Å"If you want to live, all you have to do is kill one of these three.† He turned back to the Moroi. â€Å"That's it. Not unpleasant at all. Just tell one of these gentlemen here you want to do it. They'll release you. Then you drink from them and are awakened as one of us. Whoever does this first walks free. The other will be dinner for Elena and me.† Silence hung in the room. â€Å"No,† said Christian. â€Å"No way am I killing one of my friends. I don't care what you do. I'll die first.† Isaiah waved a dismissive hand. â€Å"Easy to be brave when you aren't hungry. Go a few days without any other sustenance †¦ and yes, these three will start to look very good. And they are. Dhampirs are delicious. Some prefer them to Moroi, and while I myself have never shared such beliefs, I can certainly appreciate the variety.† Christian scowled. â€Å"Don't believe me?† asked Isaiah. â€Å"Then let me prove it.† He walked back over to my side of the room. I realized what he was going to do and spoke without fully thinking things through. â€Å"Use me,† I blurted out. â€Å"Drink from me.† Isaiah's smug look faltered for a moment, and his eyebrows rose. â€Å"You're volunteering?† â€Å"I've done it before. Let Moroi feed off me, I mean. I don't mind. I like it. Leave the rest of them alone.† â€Å"Rose!† exclaimed Mason. I ignored him and looked beseechingly at Isaiah. I didn't want him to feed off me. The thought made me sick. But I had given blood before, and I'd rather him take pints from me before he touched Eddie or Mason. I couldn't read his expression as he sized me up. For half a second, I thought he might go for it, but instead he shook his head. â€Å"No. Not you. Not yet.† He walked over and stood before Eddie. I pulled against my flex-cuffs so hard that they dug painfully into my skin. They didn't give. â€Å"No! Leave him alone!† â€Å"Quiet,† snapped Isaiah, without looking at me. He rested one hand on the side of Eddie's face. Eddie trembled and had gone so pale, I thought he would faint. â€Å"I can make this easy, or I can make it hurt. Your silence will encourage the former.† I wanted to scream, wanted to call Isaiah all sorts of names and make all sorts of threats. But I couldn't. My eyes flicked around the room, searching for exits, as I had so many times before. But there were none. Just blank, bare white walls. No windows. The one precious door, always guarded. I was helpless, just as helpless as I'd been from the moment they'd pulled us into the van. I felt like crying, more from frustration than fear. What kind of guardian would I be if I couldn't protect my friends? But I stayed quiet, and a look of satisfaction crossed Isaiah's face. The fluorescent lighting gave his skin a sickly, grayish hue, emphasizing the dark circles under his eyes. I wanted to punch him. â€Å"Good.† He smiled at Eddie and held his face so that the two made direct eye contact. â€Å"Now, you won't fight me, will you?† As I've mentioned, Lissa was good at compulsion. But she couldn't have done this. In seconds, Eddie was smiling. â€Å"No. I won't fight you.† â€Å"Good,† repeated Isaiah. â€Å"And you'll give me your neck freely, won't you?† â€Å"Of course,† replied Eddie, tilting his head back. Isaiah brought his mouth down, and I looked away, trying to focus on the threadbare carpet instead. I didn't want to see this. I heard Eddie emit a soft, happy moan. The feeding itself was relatively quiet- no slurping or anything like that. â€Å"There.† I glanced back when I heard Isaiah speak again. Blood dripped from his lips, and he ran his tongue across them. I couldn't see the wound on Eddie's neck, but I suspected it was bloody and horrible too. Mia and Christian stared wide-eyed, both with fear and fascination. Eddie gazed off in a happy, drugged haze, high from both the endorphins and the compulsion. Isaiah straightened up and smiled at the Moroi, licking the last of the blood off his lips. â€Å"You see?† he told them, moving toward the door. â€Å"It's just that easy.†

Financial Planning Essay

To inform the audience about how small sacrifices today can result in huge dividends in retirement. Thesis: Today I will inform the audience of the power of saving small amounts of money for the future and how compound interest works in their favor when they start saving as soon as possible. Organizational Pattern: Topical Introduction A. Attention Getter Who wants to be a millionaire? You can be!!! Social Security will very likely NOT be available to people currently younger than 40 and if it does survive will not be a significant amount to live on. How we prepare NOW can determine whether we are world travelers or Walmart greeters. C. Credibility My father impressed upon me the need for financial planning. I began saving when I first started working at 17 and have benefitted greatly. D. Thesis Today I will show how anyone can have a rewarding future by making small and often unnoticed sacrifices currently. E. Preview Specifically, I will discuss retirement saving strategies including 401K matching programs from employees and IRA’s. Transition First I will discuss the expediency of saving at an early age. I. Body A. When to start saving for retirement? 1. The earlier the better. Due to the exponential nature of compound interest the longer the money remains the more significant the growth 2. It’s never too late to start saving for retirement. The problem is the longer you wait the more impact on your budget due to having to save a higher percentage of your current income. If you start saving early your impact is minimized greatly. Transition Next, I will discuss the various ways to save for retirement. 1. 401K plans offer you the chance to deduct monies from your paycheck either before taxes are deducted or afterward. Each option has tax 2. advantages but their impact is geared toward current tax savings or tax savings during retirement. The real opportunity in 401K is the employee match program where your employer invests the same amount into your account, usually up to a certain percentage. . Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) are another way to save for retirement. They can be used independently or in conjunction with a 401K plan. Funds are deposited after taxes have been withheld so there is no tax due upon withdrawal in retirement. IRA contributions can be withdrawn without penalty if you face a financial hardship such as losing your home or significant medical bills. Transition My final point is a strategy that can meet your goal while minimizing impact on your current lifestyle. 1. Many of you are working toward new careers and excited about that first REAL paycheck. 2. If you â€Å"forget† about the percentage of your check that is going into the 401K and structure your budget on the remaining amount you will find saving easy and rewarding. 3. Begin with 3% of your pay going into retirement savings. Each raise/promotion you get increase it by 1% until you have reached your employer’s maximum match rate. Then add the 1% into an IRA until you have reached the percentage that results in your desired retirement account. I have discussed when to start saving for retirement, various ways to save as well as methods for minimizing the impact on your current budget. B. I trust that now you are more informed about the rewards available in the future when you start saving now and have obtained information about ways to achieve your goals. References Ira online resource guide.

My Super Power Essay Essays

My Super Power Essay Essays My Super Power Essay Essay My Super Power Essay Essay This is one of those authoritative iceboat inquiries. We’ve all heard it – likely even answered it – before. and in most instances. we quickly forgot about the inquiry until it was raised once more. Then we’d hem and haw and choice another generic world power. like flight. or super-strength or invisibleness. and likely pick something different than last clip. So I’ve decided to chew over it over this clip. If I could hold any world power. what would it be? I’ve likely imagined holding all of the standard powers at one point or another. Flying saves on gas money. and you can ever do a great entryway ; ace strength is great for when your billfold falls into that cleft behind the desk ; and we’ve all had adequate awkward minutes that we merely want to be unseeable for a piece. Of class. when I truly think about it. would these powers truly do me any good? I don’t by and large get out of the house. and I feel like winging would affect a batch more attempt and swallowed bugs than siting the coach or walking. Super strength is great excessively. until your friends find out. Then you’re the first individual anyone calls when they need to travel. And invisibleness? Well. it’s one thing to worry that everyone’s speaking about that abashing thing you did. but at least they’ll politely shut up about it when they know you’re at that place. So no. I’d instead non hold one of the standard world powers. Besides. as any fan of superheroes knows. â€Å"With great power comes great duty. † I am rather content to minimise my duties. If I have to hold a world power. it has to be something so everyday. so fiddling. that people wouldn’t even bother inquiring me to utilize it. Thus. I have decided on my world power: Once a twenty-four hours. I want the power to spontaneously cite a beigel and a juice box. Certain. now and so if someone’s forgotten their tiffin. I can assist them out. But since I can merely utilize this power once a twenty-four hours. people can’t count on it on a regular basis. â€Å"Sorry. I already made my beigel today. † I would answer. and merely shrug. I can barely be expected to work out universe hungriness with this. but hey. if I’m of all time stuck in the wilderness. I’ll be able to keep out longer than most hapless saps. I leave myself with a moderate grade of flexibleness in this respect. The beigel and juice box may be of whatever spirit I choose. I was originally tempted to spread out the beigel choices to sandwiches. but that would merely intend people would be more likely to inquire me to cite sandwiches for them. And possibly there is still the possible to contend offense now and once more. Muggers could be disarmed with a well-aimed. peculiarly stale beigel. Very little fires could be put out with the juicebox. Evil babe masterminds could be appeased with an afternoon bite. after which they would of course hold to take a sleep and keep off on destructing the universe. Of class. you couldn’t truly anticipate me to be on manus in instance such specific crises were in advancement. Possibly I got hungry in traffic. or I’d already foiled one bagel-susceptible secret plan that twenty-four hours. In that instance. you’d have to go forth salvaging the universe up to all the folks who picked things like super-speed and super-nannying. It’s likely better that manner. Knowing me. if I had a regular crime-fighting gig. I’d by and large five pess into the air before I remembered that I should alter into my costume. And that assumes I could really do a costume in the first topographic point. No. I think I’ll be merely all right with my absolutely simple. absolutely uninteresting power.

How to Avoid Being Painfully Nervous During Your Job Interview

How to Avoid Being Painfully Nervous During Your Job Interview You’re all ready for the interview: qualified, geared up, pumped! But the trouble is, you’re nervous. You feel the echo of every footstep down the hall. Your palms are sweaty. Your lungs are thick. You’re on the verge of freaking out. No matter how prepared you are or how perfect a fit you’d be for the position, you don’t want to let your nerves ruin your chances or your first impression. Here are a few ways you can combat the jitters and walk in there cool as a cucumber.1. Plan ahead.The more preparation and practice you’ve got under your belt, the easier it will be to let the preparation supersede your nerves. Do your homework. Research the company, the supervisor, and the position. Have answers down cold for common interview questions. Have questions ready to ask your interviewer at the end. Trust your preparation and the process, stay focused, and let that carry you through.2. Do a run-through.Pick out your outfit, try it on in advance, a nd get someone to do a dress rehearsal of your interview: asking you common questions, drilling you on your answers, etc. Try to treat it like the real thing. Also try a dry-run of getting yourself to your interview location a day or two before. Map out your route, time your transport, etc. Make sure you get there unflustered and on time.3. Don’t be afraid to laugh.There is literally no rule that says you can’t laugh in an interview. In fact, laughter is sometimes the best medicine- and certainly a great way to release some of your pent-up nerves. Remember, when you laugh, your body releases a ton of endorphins. So you’ll feel super happy instead of super nauseous with nerves.4. Get sleep and exercise.There’s no preparation half as good as a good night’s sleep. Stay off the booze the night before, make healthy food choices. Rest up, eat a decent, balanced breakfast, and try to get some exercise. This will also release endorphins, plus give you that extra smug and healthy glow.5. Visualize success.Picture yourself emerging from the office having aced the interview. Go in there with a positive attitude and imagining yourself in your best light. You’ll be surprised at how much of a difference this sort of mind trick can make.6. Watch your pace and body language.Assume your power poses. Don’t slump or cross your limbs. Make good eye contact, give a great handshake, etc. And try to keep your answers measured; don’t rush through. Don’t forget to breathe and take time to listen.7. Groove out.Listen to some music that soothes or powers you up- whatever it takes to get rid of your nerves and give you a little boost of what you need before you walk into the interview, refreshed and ready.8. Be yourself.Don’t try to be too formal, or too informal. Remember, you want them to hire you, not some dressed-up fancy version of who you think they want. Answer questions in your own voice. Be honest if youâ€⠄¢re nervous. Turn it to your advantage- you’re just so jazzed about the opportunity to work with this company!

The Realities of leadership within a retail organisation Essay

The Realities of leadership within a retail organisation - Essay Example How can I give what I do not have, and how can I help others accept change if I am not ready to do the same? One day, our management decided to institute changes on working hours in the store as part of a new model store blueprint. The policy altered each worker’s start and finish times, and break times were shortened to half an hour. For those working more than eight hours, an hour’s break was allowed. We knew that most of the staff would react negatively to the proposal, and that resistance had been building up in many of them. I was given a tight deadline to implement the change in my store. The task was daunting, but I was confident because I had the tools needed to plan and execute the change, ready to confront and solve most of the problems that would arise. What were those tools, how did I use them, and why? Lou V. Gerstner, who as IBM CEO saved the company at a time of crisis, found that â€Å"changing the attitudes and behaviour of people is very hard to accomplish. You can’t simply give speeches, write a new credo†¦and declare that people have to change. What managers can do is create the conditions for transformation. You provide incentives. You have to trust. In the end, the workers themselves decide to change† (Gerstner, 2002). Knowing why people resist change is the first step to help them change. Reflecting on my experiences, I know three main reasons why people resist change: uncertainty makes them nervous and afraid, they do not see how change can be good for them, and coping with change is inconvenient because it requires effort. Equipped with this knowledge, I can help people change by making a plan to deal with each of these reasons. First, I eliminated uncertainty through communication, helping the workers build up their trust in management through me by discussing with the workers the reasons behind the policy decision, like better efficiency, increased sales, and more satisfied