Is It Right to Act in One's Own Best Interest, Or to Obey the State Essay

Is It Right to Act in One's Own Best Interest, Or to Obey the State - Essay Example Socrates’ understanding of the legal obligations is based on the personal morality analogies. He argues that there are two key reasons why people are obliged to obey the law; the reasons are gratitude and contract. In gratitude, the law plays a role for us just like the role played by individuals whom we are mandated to be grateful. In contract, Socrates decided to obey all the laws (Green 1). Socrates applies the general moral principle or rule, which he and Crito (his friend) accept as valid after deep reflection. They agree that we are not supposed to harm others, we are supposed to honor our promises, and that we are supposed to respect or obey our teachers and parents. Socrates uses the principle in his case and argues that if he escapes he will do harm to the society, fail to honor a promise, and he will be disobeying or disrespecting his parents and teachers. He then concludes that it is his moral obligation to obey all the city’s laws despite the fact that the s entence and the conviction were wrong (Frankena 1). ... Therefore, if the law was part of the contract or the agreement, then based on the general theory, he was obliged to obey it (D’Amato 10). The moral commitment of Socrates to obey the laws necessarily entails giving a portion of his own ethical standards to the tribunal. However, his teachings taught that each individual was supposed to think for himself and discover what is morally right and what the truth is. Socrates was of the opinion that there are some immutable standards of wrong and right discoverable through the process of logical thinking. He further believed that no individual is supposed to follow (without careful consideration) the teachings of another individual even if everyone else accepted his teachings in the universe. Thus, one may argue that Socrates was inconsistent in submitting to the presentation of the law by the court of law. Socrates was not lured by the urgings of his friends to escape. His decision was based on his own path of behavior because he t hought it to be right. However, the path he chose to follow consisted of delegation of his part of his own set of ethics to Athens’ lawmaking authorities, such that they, and not him, decided that that the law sentencing him to death was morally just and right (D’Amato 12). Socrates Being Obliged to Follow the Law by the State The difference between justice and truth is a confusing concept that perhaps surrounds the manner in which Socrates’ sentencing proceeded. On one hand, following the law demands that the state is built on principles of justice in an attempt to introduce order in the society. Justice in law entails dedicating the interests of the society and its perceptions of the right

The Story of My Love Essay Example for Free

The Story of My Love Essay Love is a crazy, strange, yet enticing game. Many think that they will never fall into its captivating lure; I am one of these people. If someone had told me back in April, when Aingeal and I were officially introduced that he would later become my Fiancà ©e, I would have laughed at the mere thought. It’s quite funny how life works. We have had our share of problems but I never would have thought I would lose him so soon. Shortly before finishing the last of my college classes, the only thing keeping me from being a free woman was my Externship and graduation. It was happily a time once in my life where things finally seemed to go the way I planned. My very close circle of friends consisted of four people, my childhood friend Jen, my unofficial sister Tracy (who stayed at my house during senior year), and Aingeal who was a dear friend of Jen who also happened to be Tracy’s good friend. Every Thursday, from that first day back in April, when Aingeal and I were first introduced, till the end of the year, the four of us (Jen, Tracy, Aingeal, and I) would meet at Old Country Buffet after classes to sit and talk about all aspects of our lives. We became so close that the four of us could not part. We adopted the funny name â€Å"The Pretty Eyes Club† simply because we all had pretty eyes; it was fun how we acted so exclusive. We also had a special place that even in the cold dark of winter we would could run to just to relax in this beautiful gazebo overlooking the town. I managed to obtain a job for him with me later in the year. Working together and having the same classes allowed the perfect opportunity for a very close and intimate friendship. As life continued on, Aingeal and I became much closer. Eternship and graduation were rapidly approaching and up until this point, I never looked at Aingeal as anything much more than just a friend. We were invited to a party for Graduation. He and I arrived at the party with different friends, however that night changed things completely. After the party, both of our dates scampered home. There was an after-hours party being thrown that we really wanted to go to. The girl throwing the party was Sally. Her family was renting out a hotel room and they were known for throwing the most amazing parties; their room was our destination. There was a shuttle bus driving people from the party to Sally’s house. I recall Aingeal and me quietly sitting near each other taking random pictures of our friends and just talking about how the night was going. I was noticing a bond developing; it was scary but amazing how much we really had in common. Arriving at the party it was obvious that we both wanted absolutely nothing to do with anyone else but ourselves. We sat out on the porch just gazing at the stars. That nice night was the very first night that he kissed me. We acted as if nothing happened and simply considered it to be a one-time thing. There was an entire week gap between externship and graduation, I recall only one time that we talked about that kiss. â€Å"Are you upset with me?† I inquired very timidly, he knew precisely what I was speaking about. â€Å"Not at all.† He responded with such a look that I am sure that I will never forget; a look that said â€Å"are you kidding me?† his eyes said everything, this was just the beginning. Graduation was next up on the list. It was a very exciting day and Aingeal was by my side the whole time. Things were really going well. There was a graduation party the following day. We were sure to bring tents and have them set up in the back yard. I bought a small tent and Aingeal came over a couple of times to get some practice setting it up. I will never forget the time we fell asleep in it behind the house in my backyard; my grandmother thought that we were insane. We had just left work, the tent was laying in my backseat and finally it was time to go to the party. We pulled up to the house and the tantalizing smell of delicious food and the sound of music were coming from the backyard. Somehow, we both knew it was going to be a special night. We got the tent set up and just had a wonderful time. That special night our relationship took yet another turn for the better. Happily by the time morning rolled around we were slowly walking to my car holding hands. It was not until almost mid-month when we finally made the decision to officially go out, it was shortly after I returned back from my job interview. We spent the entire summer working fourteen-hour shifts at work, relaxing in the pools on our days off lying under the stars late at night, and watching movies whenever we wanted. Between you and me, Aingeal and I caused a riot to break out at a concert one time. We accidently knocked over the police, and lead thousands over barricades and through a stadium. We went to Dorney Park whenever we could, no matter how much I begged him he would stil l never go with me on a rollercoaster. Jen and Tracy were with us through it all. It was such a wild time, an amazing warm summer with two of the most important beloved people in the whole world. That gazebo at our secret spot was the very place that Aingeal got the courage to kneel down on one knee and propose to me, the orange and pink sunset and the sweet smell of the flowers on the breeze forever locked this memory in my head where it never will be forgotten. Sadly, we all knew that the summer was going to end soon, and with that, we are all going our own way. I was going off to Atlantic City, Aingeal was thinking of going to upstate New York, Tracy was going to Peru, and Jen was going on vacation to Italy. We all slowly lost touch over that summer. I make it a point to talk to them all now more than ever. Sadly the last day of summer fun came. I picked up my last check from work and in the parking lot, we all said we love each other and then we said our goodbyes. There were a lot of tears; I recall that as being the only time I ever saw Aingeal cry. I knew that there was no way I could comfort him which means, our entire relationship was about to completely change and we both knew it. I sat in the car and all I could do is cry. I cried for all the memories that made my life all the more livable, cried for the expected periods of separation that we would both experience, cried for so many things that day, but I mostly cried because I was leaving the only life that I had worked so hard for years to build. It just felt like it was all shattered to the ground in the course of one day. As I pulled out of that lot and looked in my rearview mirror one last time, I knew that he was indeed the man I loved. From that day forward, I would see him once every three months only if I was lucky to even get that. Eventually our dreams hit hard with the all too painful hand of which we call reality. We realized we were seeing less of each other and living completely separate lives. It was not going to work at that time, and it killed me to admit it. We wound up breaking up after a perfect one-year relationship, with that went all of our dreams and hopes of a life together, and our dreams of raising our own family. We were already picking out names for our child: Isabella Maria Nurena. On the day we separated, I am sure we both lost a tender part of ourselves, something that no amount of time could ever heal. Now all that remains are the memories and dreams, dreams of the future and memories I wished for from my ideal past.

The purpose of the management team

The purpose of the management team The management are the people who guide the team in a right path wherein all together working for the same goal of success. They have to work together with Sincerity, Unity, Courage, Communication, Enthusiasm, Strengths, and Secrets of the company to form the ultimate chain of SUCCESS. The manager who runs the team should have proper interaction with each and every team member with proper updates and feedbacks. Also have to take active participation whatever happens within the team and team members. Since the manager knows about each and every member of his team, has to check with the daily metrics where that particular team member is lacking behind and has to make sure that the person has been well trained, again have to check for the daily metrics to give the feedback. Also have to sympathise and empathise with the person having any personal issues as well. Every individual team player also has to develop knowledge, confidence, time management and sincerity to be a part in the grow th of the company. According to the Mintzbergs managerial roles manager should have quality of leader by motivation and activation of subordinates for staffing and for associated duties. Manager have to monitor various activity and to receive wide range of special information to develop the organization. (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2004, p495). Management also have to face the risk factor in all aspects, regarding their own team members issues and also from the competitor perspective. The management has to take a right decision when taking any risk which should not affect the growth of the company and also have to see the financial criteria as well. If any risk factor is taken it has to be handled in a way that the company overcomes that crisis as earlier as possible with success in taking that risk. The whole team has to work together with proper interaction and dedication to make the risk as a success. Each team player has to be committed with their own work, so all team members work together of common commitment. By virtue of his interpersonal contacts, both with his subordinates and with his network of contacts, the manager emerges as the nerve centre of his organizational unit. He may not know everything, but he typically knows more than any member of his staff Mintzberg (1975). There are a wide range of theories which can be implemented to improve the growth of a particular concern. And these are the two theories which I experienced in the concern which I worked for. 1. Maslow`s theory. 2. Goal Theory. 3. McClellands Theory of motivation. Maslow`s Hierarchy of needs theory: One of the most widely mentioned theories of motivation is the hierarchy of needs theory put forth by psychologist Abraham Maslow in 1940-50s USA, and the Hierarchy of Needs theory remains valid today for understanding human motivation, management training, and personal development. Indeed, Maslows ideas surrounding the Hierarchy of Needs concerning the responsibility of employers to provide a workplace environment that encourages and enables employees to fulfil their own unique potential (self-actualization) are today more relevant than ever. Self-actualization- personal growth and fulfilment personal growth and fulfilment Esteem needs- achievement, status, responsibility, reputation achievement, status, responsibility, reputation Biological and Physiological needs- basic life needs (air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep, etc). basic life needs air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep, etc. Safety needs- protection, security, order, law, limits, stability, etc. protection, security, order, law, limits, stability, etc. Belongingness and Love needs- family, affection, relationships, work group, etc. family, affection, relationships, work group, etc. Maslows (second edition 1970) I worked for an MNC in India named CSS (Cybernet Slash Suppport) is a call centre in which we give technical support for the customers calling from US and UK regarding the installation of networking devices like modems, router, cameras, adapters etc. In my company the basic need was a graduate with little bit of computer background who knows to speak English with neutral accent. Since I had their requirement I got selected and was put under a team. For the first time I worked with a team with people having little bit of experience and knowledge whereas I was a fresher. So as per Maslow`s diagram I had the basic requirements need by the company. Working with the team gave me lot of experience and knowledge about time management, and relationship with leaders. At first it was very difficult to get along with the team since my other team members had bit experience in handling calls. The other members in the team will finish the work effortlessly within the given time limit, but I struggled a lot by putting my complete effort to finish the task within the given time limit, but finally I completed my task after the given time limit. So I was clearly monitored by my team leader since I was the bottom performer in my team. Then I was given special training by my leader which was my last chance to perform in this company, else I have to leave the company. And my leader gave me training technically and personally as well, which motivated me to do my best with liking towards the job. Finally I did my best and finished the task within the time limit. Since my team leader motivated me, created a good relationship with the leader as per Maslow`s theory. Goal Theory: Goal theory is about how leader motivate subordinate to accomplish designated goal (Peter g, 2010, p125). The leader, the challenge is to use a leadership style that best meets subordinates motivational needs. (Peter g, 2010, p125). In the concern which I worked the leader motivated me well which helped me a lot not only in technical work but also personally to do all works. Since I was the bottom performer in my team my leader always use to motivate me positively to do my work, but my manager use to discourage me that I am not fit for the job. Since my leader always use to motivate which automatically created a character of motivation in me. From then I use to motivate myself personally and officially whatever I do. The managers job is to get the work done from the technicians, so he sets a time limit for each team member in our team in order to get the output. So eventually everyone use to work in order to finish the task within the given time limit. So I motivate myself to complete the work before the time limit given by the manager. I use to set my own time to finish the task which helped me to finish my work earlier, than the time given by the manager. This motivation helped me to get lot of knowledge and experience which also gained me increase in my payroll. According to the House and Mitchell (1974), leadership generators motivation when it increase the number and kind of payroll that subordinate receive from their work. (Peter g, 2010, p125) Goal setting and performance People lacking positive motivation at work may also help gain improved result and a better sense of achievement by setting themselves specific goal and identifying task directly to their work and measurable target of the time and performance. (Laurie and Mullins, 2006, p274) When I was working in the company I was lacking positive motivation which led me to be the bottom performer in the team. Since my team leader motivated me, it helped me a lot in how to do the work faster. So from then I used to build up positive motivation and I use to motivate myself to do the work better than others by setting own time limit for myself which is earlier than the actual time given. So all my team members will finish the work within the time limit given by the manager, whereas I would have finished my work before my team members finishes. And finally I was the top performer in my team and got appreciation from the manager who discouraged me before, which again motivated me to be the top performer consistently. McClellands Theory of motivation: David c, McClellands has contributed to the understanding of motivation by identifying three types of basic motivation needs. He classifies them as the need of power, need of affiliation, and need for motivation. (Koontz and Weihrich, p297) All three drives- power, affiliation, and achievement are of particular relevance to management, since all must be recognised to make an organization enterprise work well. (Koontz and Weihrich, p297) Need For Achievement: Every person in their lifetime they would have achieved something or the other. In the company which I worked, was the place where I learnt about motivation which still helps me to do any kind of work with full dedication towards the work. Since I was the bottom performer in my team in the earlier stage, this motivation given by my leader, leads me finally to be the top performer in the team. So I was promoted to the next level in the team within a short period of time (4 months). Since I had a good relationship with my co-workers and manager, they use to give me high responsibilities and I was able to tackle any kind of situation easily since I worked sincerely with complete liking and dedication towards work, which led me to become a team leader of a team which I consider was a great achievement in my life. So, every single person who motivates themselves and works with complete dedication and liking towards work with reach the ultimate goal of success within a short period of time. People with high need for Achievement have an intense desire for the success and equally intense fear of failure. They want to be challenge and they set moderately difficult (but not impossible) goal for themselves. They take a very realistic approach to the risk; they are not likely to be gambler but rather, prefer to analyse and assess problems, assume personal responsibility for getting a job done and likely specific and prompt. (Koontz and Weihrich, p297) Need for Affiliation: The company which I worked for had the norms or rules for the company which every employer has to be followed. It was a must for every individual to follow the rules of the company which was also considered for the growth of the employer in the company. One of the managers in the company came to the shift drunk and was noticed by the management and was immediately dismissed from the company. In spite of being the manager of a team he was dismissed since he dint not follow the norms of the company. I would use to always follow the norms of the company. I will come in for my shift before my check in time and will work even extending my shift, also had a good rapport with the team members. Since I was promoted as a team leader and was already a team player before was able to know about each individual clearly which helped me to know which work to be given to whom and whom has to be well trained in where they are lacking behind. So I always had a proper relationship, interaction and active participation with my team members in updating all the informations and techniques to give the output soon. People with high need for affiliation usually derive pleasure from being loved and tend to avoid the pain of being rejected by a social group. As individual, they are likely to be concerned with maintaining pleasant social relationship to enjoy a sense of intimacy and understanding, to be ready to console and help other in trouble and enjoy friendly interaction with other. (Koontz and Weihrich, p297) Need for Power: A leader or a manager has the quality of power by taking or handling any kind of situation which does not affect the growth of the company. Since I was the team leader in the company which I worked, my main job was to get the work done by my team members by giving them proper training and consistently updating the technical information. My job was also to monitor my team in each interval and have to update myself about my team members of their performance. So after analysing the performance of team I have to give feedback to the team members with hurting anybodys feeling or by discouraging them and have to appreciate who have performed well and have to give proper training to those of them who are lacking behind. So in this kind of situation a leader or manager has to use their power to handle the situation for the growth of the company and also the growth of each individual by motivating them positively. According to the people with high need for power have a great concern with exercising influence and control such individual are generally seeking position of leadership; they are frequently good conversationalist, though argumentative; they are forcefully outspoken, hard headed, and demanding; and they enjoying Teaching and public speaking. (Koontz and Weihrich, p297) Organisation as Culture: Organisational cultures are of many types; power culture, where individual controls everything and group work cannot exits. Hence no feedback from staffs is entertained. There is role culture, where everyone is assigned a role to complete. Most organisations follow this. Staffs know what to do and everyone knows their boundaries (Mullins 2007: p.722-723). Power Culture: The power culture is, every individual have their own power to take their own decision since they are not working in a group. For Example: I participated in a group work in my tutor VINCE DISPENZA class which was an activity cave rescue. So the total class were divided into 5 groups having 6 members in each group. So the task given to us was to rescue the people who were trapped in the cave and the people who were trapped in the cave were given importance in different order which is equally important that we have to rescue all. So we worked as a group, but there were no proper co-ordination in my group. No one was ready to interact with each other, so I took the leadership and gave my own ideas and tried to interact with my group members. But they were not showing interest and also not ready to give their own points. So finally I had to give my own points when discussed with my tutor. So this power culture exists only in a very small group like this and cannot exist in an organization. Role Culture: The role culture is, every individual will be assigned a task where they have to work in groups. Here an individual cannot work separately or cannot take an own decision without discussing with the team members or leaders like the power culture. For Example: In the organization which I worked, I had to work only in groups. Since I was the team leader my job was to mainly get the works done from the team members of my team by giving them proper training in order to get the output. So here it is not possible to work separately like the power culture. So this role culture is followed by all organization to make the work easier and simpler. Organisation as a processor of information: Information is a critical part of any business we take. Proper information will lead to the success of a firm. For e.g. information about customer needs, information on what products will satisfy those needs, and how those products can be prepared and delivered, and so on. The idea of information processor highlights that an organisation is successful if it uses its information efficiently and learns to go on using it (Wickham,P,2006:P.276). Organisation as Social system: Social system consists of hierarchical ordering; number of subsystems, interdependence, and one component depends on other and permeability. (Farace et al., 1977) said system is input-throughput-output. That is a system inputs material and works on this input which is throughput and gives the output. (Miller 1995: p.87-89) A simple organization can be a very good example of a system, explained by two authors above. Organisation has subsystems like staff, team leader, manager, CEO Etc. They all are interdependent and takes input in the form of information or projects and works among them and gives out the output as product. Hence, they can form social system. Effective reading of the situation being addressed encounters using the mangers creative ability that gives way to do things differently or new leverage in solving complex issues. Reading itself does not denote a mechanical process or the application of the metaphors discussed above. It is about building a relationship with a vastly complex phenomenon to understand it by analysing it in different angles. (Morgan, 2006: p.361). These different perspectives of organisation are not mutually exclusive; indeed to the some extent they are complementary. There is no proper perspective which an organisation follow but these are one of the perspectives which organisation do follow. Change Management: Apart from these perspectives discussed above this is also necessary that a manager should take care. Managers often think that change can be a problem but sometimes managers forget that change can also be the solution for their problems. All managers must realize that one cannot separate change management from organizational strategy. According to Burnes(2004),change is now a present future of organizational life(Paton,R McCalman,J ,2008:p.39). CHANGE MANAGEMENT NEW CHANGED ORGANIZATION OLD ORGANIZATION As the figure says, for developing an old organisation into new improved one requires change. The scope for change management are managing project, quality, corporate development, IT and in human resource (Recklies,O,2001). Another point to be noted is that once the change has been done there is no chance to undo mistakes. Once a manager fails in the change management process, there is hardly any chance for him to motivate the employees again. There may also be many barriers to change. There may be barriers of perception like stereotypes in analysis, misjudgement etc. Also, emotional barriers like fear to make mistakes, not spending enough time to think. There may be environmental barriers like lack of support from the staffs, lack of accepting criticism when others do. At last there may be cultural barriers like tradition. It is very challenging task to overcome traditions. Character of a taboo in an organisation can also cause a problem (Recklies,O,2001). Research: Conclusion:

Essay --

Some agile teams hold a retrospective meeting once a week along with their daily project stand-up meetings. It is called â€Å"stand-up† because the meeting is essentially conducted with all the team members standing. The basic idea behind this is to keep the meeting as short as possible typically 15 minutes or lesser. During this meeting the team members discuss about the status of the project and the issues that they are facing. The weekly retrospective would help in identifying any process changes that are required immediately. As the completion time for the sprint nears, the time taken to discuss about process improvement for the current sprint decreases as improvements for the ongoing sprint has been discussed in the everyday stand-up meeting. This results in a better software product as the team is continuously working on improving its knowledge management process. Each retrospective has both qualitative and quantitative aspects. The qualitative part discusses the various team practices and the success of each. It also comprises the specific challenges that presented themselves during the iteration. Upon identification of the issues, root cause analysis is performed and potential corrective actions are discussed and recorded. The quantitative review gathers and reviews any metrics the team is using to measure its performance. Purpose An iteration retrospective is a reflective process. The iteration retrospective enables the team to reflect on the iteration just completed and derive new ideas for process improvement. This helps instill the spirit of continuous improvement or kaizen mind in the individuals and the team, and helps assure every iteration makes some small improvements in the processes. The Scrum Master plays an import... ...s an insight into the project from the perspective of each team member and make them realize that it’s the team that can make the change. A qualitative study can be done among companies employing the agile methodology about the effectiveness of the retrospective process. Interviews can be conducted with the scrum masters and certain important people within the team to elicit what kind of improvements they have seen in their projects due to the action items suggested in retrospective meetings. A major challenge facing most agile teams is how to keep the retrospective meetings fresh. A comparative study can be done among agile teams about the various retrospective techniques that they employ and how effective and interesting these techniques. This would give an insight into a plethora of ideas on conducting a retrospective that will never become boring and redundant.

Myths as a Mirror of Society Essay

In a democratic society that struggles with how to support individuality and yet develop a consciousness of shared concerns and actions that promote equality, the color of your skin and the place of your origins still matter to a lot of people. Power relationships between people still exist and continue to influence people’s perceptions of themselves and the members of other groups. One of the struggles of a certain person is the construction of self, including identification and affiliation with one’s gender and a racial or ethnic group. Living in a â€Å"melting pot† of cultures like the United States, one could not help but encounter different people that belong to different ethnic group. In an article by Linda Seger entitled â€Å"Creating the Myths† (2000), she averred that although people come from different cultures or has a different skin color, We share similar experiences in the life journey of growth, development, and transformation. We live the same stories, whether they involve the search for a perfect mate, coming home, the search for fulfillment, going after an ideal, achieving the dream, or hunting for a precious treasure. Whatever our culture, there are universal stories that form the basis for all our particular stories. The trappings might be different, the twists and turns that create suspense might change from culture to culture, the particular characters may take different forms, but underneath it all, it’s the same story, drawn from the same experiences (p. 308). Living in a multi-ethnic society does not come in as easy. Often, we have heard or maybe encountered ourselves some prejudice with regards to people that has not the same color of our skin. In television and in movies, there are clashes in cultures. Unknown prejudice caused mainly by people’s refusal to accept reality as it is. When you see the word crash, it always summons to mind an unfortunate event that has to deal with vehicles. Someone even told me that it is prohibited to say this word when you are boarded on an airplane because you might cause panic among another passengers. Planes, cars and even computers crash. Crash basically means collision. Similarly, the title of Paul Haggis movie is Crash (2005). However, viewers will see not only collisions involving cars, but collisions involving race, culture and classes. Although it is just a movie, †Crash† tackles the realities of what cross-cultural panorama of Los Angeles urban life looks like. More than an interwoven stories of mythic heroes, it involves no direct good or bad people. These are people interconnected to each other in vestiges of crime, racism, corruption, obligation, indignation and chance over a two-day period. The storyline superimposes the complexity of the multifaceted narratives of their lives entwined under the numerous social and psychological issues usually hidden inside the closet of the American consciousness. Demystifying the Plot Seger proposed that a myth is a story that is â€Å"more than true. † She elaborated that these stories are true because one person, somewhere, at some time, lived it. Like the stories that intertwine in the movie Crash, these events are based on facts that we encounter in our daily lives. We connect to a â€Å"myth† because we believe that this is more than true because it is lived by all of us, at some level. The plot of the movie Crash are stories that connects and speaks to us all. One of the poignant stories that revolve around the movie is about two cops, one senior and the other junior. The other jaded and abusive, the other one is a novice and willing to learn the ropes. These cops are played by Matt Dillon and Ryan Philippe respectively. One day, when they were assigned in their beat site, they pull over and eventually harass a black couple (Terrence Howard and Thandie Newton) because the SUV they’re driving vaguely fits the description of a carjacked vehicle that was reported. Viewers get the impression that the character of Matt Dillon is racist chauvinist pig. We immediately tag him as the villain. More complications swiftly supersede within 24 hours as archetypes of characters cross paths again in separate incidents of incredibly high tension. These archetype characters challenge both the prejudices that have formed between them and the assumptions we draw out from their different perspectives about race and culture as a whole. Later in the film, we are surprised to see that it turned out that Christine (Thandie Newton) that she encounters Sgt. Ryan (Matt Dillon), the racist cop who sexually molested her during a traffic stop the previous night, the officer on the scene who tries to pull her from the burning car. Of course, she refused. â€Å"Anyone but you! † Christine screamed. We see the frustration in the face of Sgt. Ryan. He profusely apologized and explained that nobody was there to help but him. He informed that gasoline was dripping off her car. More or less, she has to get out of there before it explodes. Hesitantly, Christine agreed after Sgt. Ryan promised not to touch her anymore. Luckily, Christine was pulled out before the explosion. Viewers are perplexed with the transformation of Sgt. Ryan as an anti-hero. Maybe, he was not bad after all. Heroes and anti-heroes abound the movie Crash. To further intricately muddle the conflicts, characters encounter and reencounter one another in highly convenient ways. For example, a young African-American criminal Peter (Lanrez Tate) is murdered. Fortunately, he has a brother, Graham (Don Cheadle), an LAPD detective, who discovers Peter’s dead body in the desert. Prior to learning of his brother’s death, Graham is thwarted by the district attorney’s office into suppressing evidence that may partially absolve a white police officer charged with killing a black cop. Incidentally, the district attorney (Brendan Fraser) is looking for a conviction that would help him gather enough support from the black community, since he is trying to manage a potential media scandal. He and his wife (Sandra Bullock) were carjacked in Sherman Oaks by two young black men. We come to realize that around the community of New York we get acquainted with various myths, as this movie depicted. We witness the patterns and elements that connect with our own human experience As film involves various crashes and clashes, forcefully it does not just invoke commonly hackneyed racially-charged confrontations found in some films, but it almost subliminally showcases how passive prejudice and pre-conceived notions are often prevalent in simple day-to-day life. Thus, people could just collide and all these complications happen within a blink of an eye, unaware that they are villains and victims all at the same time of the milieu. The Myths of Crash Although the dominant illusion of myths that Crash could perpetuate among its viewers about its own narrative is that each character does something virtuous in one situation, and something unconscionably racist in another. Entirely, this is not the case because some characters could be deemed as purely good people. These characters are not simply out and out heroes. They are called anti-heroes because they do not possess certain respect that people should bestow them because of racism and prejudice. The Latino locksmith Daniel exists solely to incur racist threats and insults from other characters, then to disprove their opinions through his role as the most upstanding of family men. Unfortunately, other characters display no redeeming traits, like the DA’s wife, Jean Cabot (Bullock) is depicted as a self-involved rich and uptight woman who is there to speak the unspeakable ‘truth’ when justifying her fear of black men. Eventually, she stops just short of calling Daniel a wetback, and undergoes a quite insincere transformation that resulted from her inability to understand that her housekeeper Maria (Yomi Perry) is nice to her when she fell down some steps and fractured her leg, and nobody else has given her sympathy. She had no choice, but be nice to the person who helped her (Sicinski, 2005). Craig Detweiler (December, 2005) analyzed that Haggis portrays the film as a depiction a fine interconnectedness of realistic portrait of pertinent issues with a subliminal touch of magic realism. The movie offers a range of familiar types, attempting to prick his viewers’ consciences without being overbearingly preachy or nearly jingoistic. As the film kicks off, tempers are already surging as invectives and epithets are blurted out without batting an eyelash. Prejudices are looking for confirmation. â€Å"I am angry all the time, and I don’t know why,† laments a frustrated housewife. The first half of the film whips up the melting pot of complications, with racist assumptions spilling out of the characters ears. Viewers relish a platter of racism and crime, seasoned with sexual harassment, a broken health-care system and the purchase of firearms. In the softer second half, Detweiler explains that the isolated moments suggest a possibility of redemption for the characters. A motorist hassled by the cops for â€Å"driving while black† turns out to be a conflict-avoiding â€Å"Buddhist for Christ’s sake. † But that doesn’t dissuade the police from violating his humanity and that of his wife. A statue of St. Christopher shows up at surprising times, but it ultimately proves ineffectual. A protective icon inspires a random act of violence. As Christmas unfolds in the movie, we see images of the nativity that could only summon unrealized prayers for â€Å"peace on earth† (Detweiler, 2005). Circumscribing the â€Å"circle† that goes around the film’s plot, a realization could smack its viewers that in the small world we are living in, we are connected to each other, like it or not. Conclusion To quote John F. Kennedy, he said that â€Å"every American ought to have the right to be treated as he would wish to be treated, as one would wish his children to be treated. † In our present time, racism is a topic well-tackled among discussions. We are aware that it is generally loathed by people and we heard calls of putting a stop to it. We have seen the fall of Apartheid, we have seen those protests voicing out equality, but people still commit racism unconsciously as they encounter each other in their daily lives. Is prejudice primarily a question of color? How do differences of language and culture play into our misunderstandings? What must be done to bridge understanding and permanently inculcate the ugly face of prejudice regarding our differences? The film Crash does not present the myths to an ultimate panacea to racism and prejudice. But certainly, it is a mirror of the archetypes that persist in American society. It is presenting a consciousness about the interconnectedness of people and the situations that made them come up with their own realizations. Thus, the film invites its viewers to come up with their own realizations about the contemporary cross-section of American society and provide a space about perspectives on how to deal with their own prejudices. Works Cited Detweiler, Craig. Cultural Collisions. Sojourners Magazine. Washington, (December 2005), 34 (11): 45-46. Seger, Linda. â€Å"Creating the Myth. † Signs Of Life In The USA. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000. 308-316. Sicinski, Michael. Crash, Film Review. Cineaste. New York, (Fall 2005), 30 (4): 51-54.

Free Essays on Juveniles

Are juveniles as under control today as they were in the past? Crime plays a major role in today’s society. The government follows the policy and has always followed the policy that no crime goes unpunished. The controversy that surrounds the United States courtrooms today is whether or not a minor needs to stand trial as an adult for committing a serious offense. These decisions made by the judge or jury in the preliminary hearing affect the rest of the suspects’ life. The opposing argument to the issue of juveniles being tried as adults; remains that the minor is too young and immature to understand the consequences of what he or she did wrong. Juveniles need to be punished according to the severity of the crime in which they committed. Ultimately, juveniles should stand trial as adults. The opposition believes that holding court cases where juveniles remain tried as adults undoubtedly violates the rights of the juvenile. Initially, the age of a person when the alleged crime occurred decides whether or not he or she will be tried as a juvenile. "Definitions of who is a juvenile vary for different purposes within individual states as well as among different states" (Rosenheim 36). Children, ages seven to seventeen, who are suspected of crime, must be treated as children in need of guidance and encouragement, and not as vicious criminals (Emerson 6). Also, the opposition feels that the juvenile cannot accept full responsibility for his or her actions. Some people insist that each minor who committed a crime was influenced in some way or another (Emerson 8). Not only does the opposition believe that the minor was influenced, but they also believe that the juvenile was not able to control his or herself (Emerson 8). In addition, juveniles have not yet reached the necessary maturity level to share a prison amongst other adults. Minors, isolated for punishment, do not deserve this radical treatment (Staff Report C13). Numero... Free Essays on Juveniles Free Essays on Juveniles Are juveniles as under control today as they were in the past? Crime plays a major role in today’s society. The government follows the policy and has always followed the policy that no crime goes unpunished. The controversy that surrounds the United States courtrooms today is whether or not a minor needs to stand trial as an adult for committing a serious offense. These decisions made by the judge or jury in the preliminary hearing affect the rest of the suspects’ life. The opposing argument to the issue of juveniles being tried as adults; remains that the minor is too young and immature to understand the consequences of what he or she did wrong. Juveniles need to be punished according to the severity of the crime in which they committed. Ultimately, juveniles should stand trial as adults. The opposition believes that holding court cases where juveniles remain tried as adults undoubtedly violates the rights of the juvenile. Initially, the age of a person when the alleged crime occurred decides whether or not he or she will be tried as a juvenile. "Definitions of who is a juvenile vary for different purposes within individual states as well as among different states" (Rosenheim 36). Children, ages seven to seventeen, who are suspected of crime, must be treated as children in need of guidance and encouragement, and not as vicious criminals (Emerson 6). Also, the opposition feels that the juvenile cannot accept full responsibility for his or her actions. Some people insist that each minor who committed a crime was influenced in some way or another (Emerson 8). Not only does the opposition believe that the minor was influenced, but they also believe that the juvenile was not able to control his or herself (Emerson 8). In addition, juveniles have not yet reached the necessary maturity level to share a prison amongst other adults. Minors, isolated for punishment, do not deserve this radical treatment (Staff Report C13). Numero... Free Essays on Juveniles Overrepresentation of minorities in the juvenile justice system is well established. On a national level, minority youths are arrested in numbers greatly disproportionate to their numbers in the general population. While black youths comprise approximately 15% of the ten to seventeen year old populations at risk for delinquency, recent figures indicate that they constitute approximately 28% of youths arrested (Engen; et al.). Further, according to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's "Children in Custody" census, minority overrepresentation increases dramatically as one moves beyond arrest to later stages in processing. For example, minorities constitute approximately 62% of youths held in short-term detention facilities, and approximately 60% of those committed to "deep end" long-term institutional programs (Engen; et al.). Quite apart from issues related either to the extent or causes of differential minority involvement in crime, a number of researchers have expressed concern about whether the juvenile justice system operates with a selection bias that differentially disadvantages minority youths. Race Effects in Juvenile Justice Decision-Making: Findings of a Statewide Analysis This study was divided into two parts. In Part I, the researchers reported the findings of quantitative analyses conducted using official records of cases processed through the juvenile justice system in Florida. In Part II, they supplemented and provided a basis for a more detailed interpretation of the quantitative findings, drawing upon in-depth interviews with system insiders- juvenile judges, state's attorneys, public defenders, and social service personnel. Data for the quantitative portions of this study were obtained from the Client Information System maintained by Florida's Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services. The data set includes the total population of youths referred for juvenile intake proc...

ACT Strategies

Extracurricular Strong Students College Admissions and SAT / ACT Strategies SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Do you have great extracurriculars? Maybe you’re captain of the football team or president of a top debate team. Your approach to college admissions will be quite different than a typical student’s, and your SAT / ACT prep process should be uniquely tailored to you. In this article, we talk about what unique opportunities you have in test prep and what traps you should avoid. In this guide, first we'll discuss the different academic and extracurricular strengths students can have and which categories you fit into. We'll also go over why extracurriculars are important to colleges and why certain schools care about them more than others. In the next sections, we'll discuss specific strategies you can follow based on the strength of your extracurriculars and academics. Our final section is for students who are being recruited or otherwise meet special admissions requirements. How Good Do You Have to Be? The best way to approach admissions and test prep depends on two factors: extracurriculars and academics. First, are you relatively good at extracurriculars (think captain of the chess team), or are you truly stellar (think second-best high school football player inthe entire US)? Second, are you already doing well academically (90 percentile or higher on SAT/ACT) or are you more towards the middle? We'll define each of these terms below and give you advice that best fits your situation. Extracurriculars For this article, Relatively Good extracurriculars means that your percentile in an extracurricular is at least three times as good as your academics. For example, if you are an 85th percentile academic (perhaps a GPA of 3.8 unweighted), then you are Relatively Good in extracurriculars if you are at least a 95th percentile in extracurriculars. Likewise, if you are 97th percentile academically (perhaps a GPA of 3.95 unweighted), then you’re relatively strong in extracurriculars if you’re in the 99th percentile. Having Relatively Good extracurriculars is a challenge, and it does make you stand out. Conversely, for Stellar extracurriculars, I’m not talking about being the president of a chess team that you started with five people. I’m not talking about winning second place in a county track meet. You need to be ranked in the top 500 in the country in a popular area (e.g. football, math, debate), or you need to be ranked top 50 in a less popular area (e.g. javelin throwing, Model UN). When calculating these rankings, do it honestly. Don’t kid yourself by making artificial categories. Top 500 in touch football doesn’t count, nor does being top 500 in the uncommon Mandelbrot math competition. If you have to ask whether you’re within the top500, I would play it safe and count yourself out for now (but you can always improve!). Those who are clearly ranked in the top 500 of a popular extracurricular will know without having to mull over the question for hours. Academics Finally, different advice applies to students with strong academic baselines versus those who are more moderate academically. For the purpose of this article, we define a strong academic baseline as someone performing at the 90th percentile forboth their GPA and SAT / ACT score. That is, you’ve looked up your SAT percentile or ACT percentile, and it’s above 90. You’ve also asked your guidance counselor for your class rank, or informally polled your classmates, and you’ve found that that you’re performing at least 90th percentile there too. Those who are performing much less than this have a standard or moderate academic baseline. Of course, there is some flexibility here. Some may say 80th percentile is a strong baseline, and if you’re targeting an institution outside of the US News top 20, this is true. A GPA or class rank that’s 70th percentile or lower is probably no longer strong enough for the definition of this article. Why Do Colleges Care About Extracurriculars? Which Colleges Care More? To begin understanding why students with great extracurriculars are viewed differently by colleges, it’s useful to review the ideas behind why colleges even look for extracurriculars in the first place. Extracurriculars, in general, allow great colleges to have a student body that is more than just students who did well in school.Colleges have their own values, often shaped by the social landscape to which they belong. They may care about social impact, richness of student character, diversity of student body, and so on. Extracurriculars are the method by which colleges select students in furtherance of these values that they hold. However, colleges, at their core, are academic institutions. They believe the most important things are academic: learning subjects, doing well in classes, furthering knowledge through research, etc. Colleges generally value academics more than other areas. This is demonstrated by their emphasis of SAT/ACT scores and GPAs over other applicant qualities like extracurriculars. Think of academics and extracurriculars as being in a â€Å"pyramid of college needs." The academic layer is the lower half, and extracurriculars are the higher half. Colleges want to fill the lower half before filling the upper half.Only colleges that have already had their fill of strong academics will start caring more about extracurriculars.Analogously, in humans, we say that eating is a more fundamental need than watching a movie. If we don’t have a movie and we’re starving, we look for food first. Only if we have enough food do we start caring about the movie. Figure: The hierarchy of college needs. Academics come before extracurriculars. With this model, it’s easy to see why the top colleges care disproportionately more about extracurriculars.The top colleges (generally defined as US News top 50), can already get their full fill of strong academics. There are hundreds of thousands of students every year with GPAs above 3.8 unweighted or with ACT scores above 30 (SAT scores above 1300). These strong academics are more than enough to fill the academic needs of top colleges. Therefore, these top colleges will start using extracurriculars more to differentiate students. If you’re already strong academically, then you’ll likely be targeting higher ranked schools, and your extracurriculars will matter more. Conversely, colleges ranked below 50 in US News (which can still be great colleges for a number of reasons) will care a lot more about academics. If you’re performing only mediocre academically, extracurriculars won’t carry you (unless you are specially recruited, as we’ll discuss below). The next part of this guide will give you specific strategies depending on your current academic status. If your grades and test scores are about average, read the next section for Moderate Academics. If your grades and test scores put you in at least the 90th percentile, skip two sections down to the section for Strong Academics. The final section is for students who are being recruited or who otherwise have special admissions requirements. Moderate Academic Baseline? Shore Up Your ACT / SAT First! As we saw above, your extracurriculars will only really matter if you're great academically as well. Academics and extracurriculars complement each other. After all, the top-ranked schools care about extracurriculars the most, and only then in students who already have a good academic baseline. If you're not currently in the 90th percentile academically, the advice in this section applies to you, regardless of whether your extracurriculars are Relatively Good or Stellar. As we mentioned previously, our rough cutoff to be academically moderate is being below the 90th percentile on the SAT / ACT. If you’re less than that cutoff academically, the most important thing you can do for college admissions is improve your SAT / ACT score and GPA while maintaining your extracurriculars. The further you are from that 90th percentile transition point, the more important academics become. In the extreme, if you’re scoring average or below average academically (ACT 20 out of 36, SAT 1000 out of 1600), your admissions will depend nearly entirely on your academics. Now, how do you solve this? Of course, don’t lose your extracurricular it will be important to admissions later. Also, if you’re so good at this activity, you probably do it because you enjoy it too. However, recognize that, if you’re mediocre academically, you should mainly focus on improving those scores. How will shoring up your academics be different from normal students trying to raise their grades? For one, since you have a great extracurricular going on, that presumably takes up a lot of time. Therefore, you want to increase your academics in the most efficient way possible. This often means that SAT / ACT prep is probably the best way to improve. Just a few hours of study will increase your points substantially and move you up a few percentiles. It’s not uncommon to see a gain of 20 percentiles on the SAT or ACT in return for just 40 hours of study. Contrast that with improving your GPA. Suppose you put in 40 extra hours on your academics. Over the course of your high school career, between classwork and homework, you’re already putting in over 4000 hours of work into academics. An extra 40 hours moves your GPA less than 1 percent! Maybe your GPA will go up from a 3.50 to a 3.53 barely moving the needle. When it comes to time efficiency for college admissions, classes andGPAs are often a wasteland. Thus, the conclusion is that, if you’re not doing superb academically, definitely work to improve that first. Regardless of whether your extracurriculars are Stellar or Relatively Good, if your academics aren't great, the best way to improve your college chances is to work on improving your academics. And, as we explained above, the easiest and fastest way to significantly improve your academics is through ACT / SAT prep. Strong Academically? Here’s What You Should Do Now, suppose you are already performing at the 90th percentile on both your GPA and the SAT / ACT. That’s great news because you have a goodshot at the top 50 US News ranked schools. This is when your extracurricular will start to shine! First, your extracurricular will be the differentiator at this point, so make sure whatever strategy you do, you don’t ruin your main selling point, your main extracurricular strength. If you are in tennis, I would avoid doing activities that injure your arm. If you’re trying to improve academics, then realize that 90th percentile is already good, and be careful not to take any actions that will endanger your special strength. For example, suppose you are a US ranked tennis player. Your GPA is above the 90th percentile, but your ability to write essays about world literature is merely average. You are considering missing some tennis practice sessions to take an essay-writing improvement course. My strong advice: Don’t do it. Your ability to write a bit better about Shakespeare won’t make an impact on college admissions, whereas your tennis ability will. You should understand at this point that colleges will care more about quality than quantity of extracurriculars.Being state-ranked (top 100) in debate and also state-ranked in math is far worse than being nationally-ranked in just one of the categories. Choose one or two things that you are especially good at. Once you go into the â€Å"three somewhat good extracurriculars† area, you seem like a dilettante to colleges, a negative. If you’re good at three or more activities, focus on the one that you’re strongest in, you’re making the most progress in, or that is most recognized by colleges. Thus, my number one advice to you is to focus on that one great extracurricular. At this point, if you’re Relatively Good at an extracurricular, you want to turn that into a Stellar. If you are already Stellar, you want to improve your rank even more. There are two cases when you should still pay attention to academics. First, you should always pick the low hanging fruit. If an easy project or essay comes your way that will boost your score by a lot for very little work, you should definitely still do it. You should also still invest in some SAT / ACT prep, whether by yourself or some other way.Studies show that the first few hours of prep improve your score by the most. While some students study hundreds of hours, 40 hours of prep often is very low-hanging fruit for you to pick to improve your application by a lot. Also, if you are very Stellar already (but not recruited I’ll talk about recruited below), it is worth re-examining your academics. If you are in the Stellar category, you’re probably in the top 0.1 percentile in terms of extracurriculars. If you are just â€Å"merely† top 90th percentile in academics, then your academics are still trailing behind. In that case, it’s worthwhile to push your academics harder still getting up to 98th or 99th percentile. This doesn’t mean a perfect score: you just need to get around a 1500 out of 1600 on the SAT or a 33 out of 36 on the ACT. Again, ACT / SAT Prep is your friend for the above goal. Being Stellar, you likely won’t have much time to invest. Because ACT / SAT prep is a relatively fast way to boost your percentile, it’s a great fit for you. Extra Advice for Students Stellar at Extracurriculars: Recruitment and Special Slots All students who are strong in extracurriculars have an advantage. Usually this advantage is implicit, a wink or a nod from an admissions officer approving of your math team trophy or debate win. However, for some students who are truly stellar, the implicit becomes explicit. A nudge turns into a likely letter. Waffling about flexibility in ACT scores turns into explicit ACT cutoffs. Therefore, if you are really Stellar in an extracurricular, you should look to see if you have explicit special admissions requirements. Special admissions requirements are more advantageous, so you should definitely find out about this if you can. If you’re a Stellar athlete, I would talk to your coach, your local association, your trainer, or even the school you’re interested in attending. Athletes in popular sports like football, baseball, basketball, and so forth especially are recruited. If you are a top athlete looking to continue playing for a college team, this section applies to you! Special admissions requirements also apply for Stellar students of non-athletic fields. For example, if you are a stellar scorer on the USA Math Olympiad (USAMO), both MIT and Caltech have relaxed admissions requirements. Caltech, in fact, explicitly asks for USAMO type scores. Students admitted to the prestigious RSI science community are even given guaranteed admissions to MIT and Caltech. There is no single rule when it comes to explicit special admissions for stellar students. Explicit special requirements depend on each school and each activity. The special SAT / ACT requirement for a USAMO winner at MIT will look very different from that of a Division 1 recruited football player. The best way to find out more information is by researching your particular field. If you’re stellar in a field, chances are you have much deeper and unique resources than a blog can give you. I should also mention that explicit spots depend very much on school, activity, and year, and the specific interaction of all three parts. If Harvard is looking for a flutist in 2004, being good at the flute will give you a much stronger advantage at Harvard than it would at a similar school (like Yale) not recruiting flutists that year. Similarly, if Harvard has a much greater need for a flutist in 2004 than they do in 2006, a flutist who applies in 2004 will have a much better chance of getting in than a flutist who applies in 2006, even if their applications are identical. If one school offers you explicit admissions requirements one year, don't think all schools will give you the same advantage all years. Luck and timing become are important parts of the process. Once you find out about explicit special requirements, you should follow the specific advice you get from your recruiter or mentor about SAT / ACT guidelines. However, it is very common for recruited students, especially in sports, to need to hit a hard SAT / ACT score quota (which is also called a target, goal, or baseline). Recruited Students: Need to Hit an SAT / ACT Quota? In sports and athletics, it’s very common for the best athletes to have explicit SAT or ACT score cutoffs. This means that a recruiter will call you and literally say that, if you get a 30 on the ACT, you will be admitted. Even if it’s not a guarantee, your chances of admissions jump from 10% to 90% at this hard cutoff. This was the case for one of my tutoring students who was a tennis star, and it’s a very common situation for exceptional athletes to find themselves in. In these cases, you should understand that the reason colleges use the SAT / ACT is because these scores tend to be more objective thanteachers or school districts. Colleges are afraid that an easy high school or an easy teacher will give a popular athletestrong grades despite her performance being poor. The internal politics of the college also revolve around ensuring that the stellar extracurricular student can pass everything. If you’re a basketball star, you don’t need to be getting an A in Organic Chemistry. If you’re a math genius, you don’t need to be writing research papers on Voltaire. However, if you start failing out of classes, that will embarrass your future coach. Having an ACT / SAT cutoff is supposed to reduce admitting students like this. When aiming for the SAT / ACT quotas, you should take the test in ways that are different from usual. Suppose you’re reasonably sure that you’ll hit the quota. Then you’re in a good position, and the name of the game is to play it safe and don’t waste time. Unless you are really above the cutoff by a ton, it’s useful to do some ACT / SAT prep. The prep will take just a few hours (no more than 40 hours, or the same amount of time as 1-2 weeks of rigorous sports practice), and it will very effectively improve your score. You don’t want a program that interrupts your sports training; classes that make you miss practice are a bad idea. Now, suppose you’re getting much lower scores than your quota. For example, you usually score a 28, but the quota is a 30. First, it would an extremely good idea to prep in this case because this one number literally will make or break everything.Most students don’t have the good fortune to be told an ACT score can (virtually) guarantee them admissions. You do have that opportunity, so the gains test prep can give you matter more than ever. Second, you will want to take the ACT / SAT as many times as you need so you can maximize your chance of getting above that score. Each time you take the exam, you will want to have higher variance. Try out different strategies read the passage before the questions during one test and vice versa during another. Any strategy that increases the volatility of your score will increase your maximum score attained, and thus your overall chances of getting over the quota. You should invest every bit of time you need in SAT / ACT prep to hit the quota because if you miss it, at least for admissions to that college, all your talent and hard work in that sport or activity will have amounted to nothing. While having so much depend on the ACT / SAT hardly seems fair, it’s actually an advantageous position to be in because the quota is likely a lot less than what you’d need to get if you were applying normally to that university! Conclusion For students who are strong at extracurriculars, here's a handy chart to guide you through the test prep and college admission process: Advice Strength at Extracurriculars Moderate Academically (90%tile) Strong Academically (90%tile) Relatively Good: Percentile-wise, extracurriculars at least 3x stronger than academics. Academics is your first priority. Focus on SAT / ACT prep while maintaining extracurriculars. Your single best extracurricular is the priority. Get low hanging academic fruit like SAT / ACT prep. Stellar: Top 500 in the US (in a popular activity) See if your stellar extracurriculars qualify you for special admissions. Otherwise, focus equally on improving extracurriculars and academics. Your single best extracurricular is the priority. However, make sure your academics don’t fall too far below extracurriculars. Recruited: Your mentor in your field tells you about special circumstances Follow recruiter guidelines. SAT / ACT quota likely. Take the SAT / ACT multiple times. Follow recruiter guidelines. SAT / ACT quota likely. Take the SAT / ACT safely. Most students who are strong in extracurriculars are in the Relatively Good category, as opposed to the absolutely Stellar category (and that’s not a problem, be proud of your strength!). In the Relatively Good category, those who fall below the 90th percentile are urged to focus mainly on academics. At your target colleges, academics are still the bread and butter, and extracurriculars are merely a garnish. Push academics as hard as you can, and often that will mean SAT / ACT prep. If you are already academically strong, though, you are better off continuing to improve your extracurricular. For students with Stellar extracurriculars, it’s always worthwhile to see if you can berecruited or get special admission requirements. At this point, you should be very careful to keep your extracurricular top-notch.If your academics are moderate, though, they will hold you back improve to at least 90 percentile. Once you’re at 90%, extracurriculars become more important, unless you become so good at extracurriculars that it makes sense to notch up academics just a bit more. Finally, recruited students and special admissions students you have the best deal of the bunch. Follow the advice that your recruiters and mentors give you, and remember that, as a general rule, put your extracurricular first. For students of all types, SAT / ACT prep is a relatively low hanging fruit a fast and efficient way to improve your academic standing. What's Next? Want more information on athletic recruiting?Check out our guide which goes throughthe entire process, from beginning to end. Looking for ways to strengthenyour extracurriculars?Check out four examples of amazing extracurricular activities that are sure to impress colleges. Want more tips for test prep?We have lots of guides for SAT prep and ACT prep!