I had practiced it before, but this time it was for real. Well, as real as a college mock trial tournament can get. I objected, pointed, and did squat thrusts during 10-minute breaks. During the trial, I paused for a few seconds of silence and methodically tied up the loose ends of my closing monologue. My mock trial team sat quietly for a couple of minutes until the judges offered some feedback and tabulated the scores. Unfortunately, we lost in a landslide and would not be moving on to the final round of competition. Before our team departed from Ithaca, however, we still had to sit through closing ceremonies, where team and individual awards would be distributed. We arrived to the function with our head between our tales, but when they read the award for best mock trial attorney, my name was called. I was shocked and utterly ecstatic. I was even surprised that it wasn't a run of the mill paper award I had won, but actually a wooden plaque with some official looking carvings. It wasn't an Academy award or Nobel Prize, but for someone who had practiced relentlessly for months, it su...
Each speech was written as we strived to choose the right words that would have exactly the right impact on the crowd. I became more anxious as I tried to prepare myself to give my last speech. I cleared my throat and I was suddenly the first one in line. I stepped up to the microphone and began flipping through a pile of loose papers searching for the speech I had written, analyzed, read, and re-read. Just as quickly, I came across a paper with my name written across the top. I took a deep breath and began to read it aloud. My nerves were a little more at ease as I read through the text I had written. I spoke naturally and fluently just as the day before when I practiced. I took time to look into the crowd. As I scanned the crowd I spotted my parents once again, and just like before they began to excitedly
My most significant accomplishment would be placing second in the United States of America National FFA Agriscience Fair. Building up to this accomplishment was a challenge I never imagined to take on. It began with my FFA Chapter Agriscience Fair. I had decided against competing, but my adviser suggested I try. Pulling together a project, I placed second. This meant I would not compete at the state level. My adviser urged me to perform another project, under a new category, promising to take me to state. I worked hard and created a project in a week. Surprised, but true to his word, my adviser entered me into the State FFA Agriscience Fair. Upon my interview, I was nervous. I was shy and out of my comfort zone, but I gave my best effort. I
The 20th century was filled with years of expansion for the United States. There was an increase in production by industries, the demand for resources was growing rapidly, and the only option was to expand. Although the United States was late on deciding to expand, and most of the globe had already been claimed, the US acquired many territories along the road of expansion. The US annexed Hawaii in 1898, they purchased Alaska from Russia in 1876, and the Spanish-American war brought the US Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. These new territories made trade and contact with Asia
“So this is the little lady who made this big war.” Abraham Lincoln’s legendary comment upon meeting Harriet Beecher Stowe demonstrates the significant place her novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, holds in American history. Published in book form in 1852, the novel quickly became a national bestseller and stirred up strong emotions in both the North and South. The context in which Uncle Tom’s Cabin was written, therefore, is just as significant as the actual content. Among other things, Stowe’s publication of her novel was stimulated by the increasing tensions among the nation’s citizens and by her fervent belief that slavery was brutally immoral.
I am hoping to be able to build upon the relationships I have already established with fellow judicial participants and meet new students involved with YAG who share my passion for the program. I would like to offer help and advice to others on North Carolina’s team as well as continue to better my own Mock Trial ability. There is still so much for me to learn about the trial process, and it excites me to think how I can continue to hone my Mock Trial skills. I think it would be great to then be able to take what I have learned back to our state as a Mock Trial officer and consequently raise the standard for our state competition. There is much I would like to take away from this year’s National Judicial Competition, but my last hope is that I get to carry that 1st place banner back to North Carolina. It would be an immense honor to represent North Carolina in Mock Trial on the national stage. I look forward to every regional meeting, pre-con, and each year’s state conference. I cannot get enough of Youth and Government! I would love to be able to compete in Chicago this summer at the National Judicial Competition. Thank you for your
The United States had taken part of an agreement in 1898 called The Treaty of Paris. This treaty officially ended the Spanish-American War. The United States acquired three new territories, including Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. The nation had all this new land, and they could not decide what they wanted to do with it. This was one of the first opportunities the nation had to begin imperialism and it consequently started disputes between Americans.
Originally planned for a series of short essays for the National Era (an abolitionist newspaper) in 1851-1852, Stowe gathered so much information, that is was too large for newspaper print, and was published originally by the Boston publishing company Jewett. Immediately it became a hot seller, with northerners and southerners alike. It sold more copies than any other piece of literature, with the exception of the Bible and soon Stowe was touring the United States and Europe to speak against slavery. Many argued that there were false reports in what she wrote because the slave owners were portrayed as heartless devilish men, and the slaves were portrayed as their victims. These were mostly Southern slave owners who believed they treated their slaves well and the slaves were happy. To respond to this, Stowe published A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin a year later, in 1853, to provide documentation of the truth upon which her novel is based.
Rarely is one work of literature so significant that it has the ability to change a society or cascade it down a path of ruinous conflict. Uncle Tom’s Cabin, written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, is a work that provided such a catalytic occurrence. To this day, this work of fiction brilliance is considered one of the most instrumental American works to ever be published. Selling over a million copies in its first two years and being the second bestselling book next to the Bible, what makes this accomplishment even more incredible is the fact that a woman wrote this book during a period in history when women were not granted the ability to have roles of influence or leadership, in any society1. In 1852, when the book was published, women were nonetheless confined to domestic obligations. With the help of the books, Uncle Tom’s Cabin written by Harriet Beecher Stowe and Social Analysis: Linking Faith and Justice written by Joe Holland, one is able to understand how much of an impact Stowe had on America’s history with the way people viewed slavery. The percussion of Uncle Tom’s Cabin caused much conflict between the abolitionists and the antislavery citizens. This work is important to history because it created the idea of finding a place for religion in society, shone a light on how African American slaves were treated, pushed the United States to a realization with the idea of whether slavery could continue to be a cornerstone of American life and how it contributed to the beginning of the Civil War. As Abe Lincoln said of Stowe, “the little woman who started the Great War1.”
On the first day at my new job right after graduation, the Vice President asked me why I became a structural engineer. My answer was “I want to contribute to society and my local community using my strengths in numbers and analytical thinking.” This answer has never changed to this day.
I like options, I like security, and I like power. With these wants, I knew at a very early age that I would enter business and thus I attended a college that specializes in the subject. In my first position out of school, I was hired by Dunhill Equities as a cold-caller. After several weeks of being hung up on by angry prospects, I decided that this career path would not lead me to success. I then moved within the firm to a position as sales assistant. While this was by no means my dream job, I learned a tremendous amount about business, and I gained useful exposure to the world of finance. Unfortunately, the company hit a period of instability, and after ten months I transferred with my boss to Coleman & Company. Thirteen months later, that company also began to fail, and I began to search for another path to advancement. With two strikes against me, I hit a home run and was hired by Sanford Bernstein into a challenging job with limitless opportunity for growth.
Ever since I was young I have always been interested in businesses and how they operate, as well as being fascinated by other languages and cultural differences. My passion for the subject expanded when I chose business studies and french, as part of my A-level education. Although these subjects are somewhat demanding, I find them extremely interesting. I believe that a degree combining both these aspects is the correct choice for me. I am confident that a course in international business studies and modern languages satisfies both these interests. I will be looking forward to learning about the international business world and I am relishing the thought of learning to integrate with other European countries. The idea of learning to communicate with other people across the world is something that has always appealed greatly to me.
My current employer, Hughes Network Systems, will partially sponsor my MBA. In the short term returning to them as part of the Strategic and Solutions Management team is an attractive option. In the longer term, I would like to work as the CEO of my own high-tech telecom company, using my vision and experience together with my Smith MBA, to develop cutting-edge strategies and products to empower companies to better utilize technology for establishing beneficial customer relationships.
At last we had brought all our practicing skills into work at the final stages. After working hard for three solid months it all paid off, the competing mat was beneath our feet. It was as if I could almost hear the girl?s hearts thumping before we walked onto the mat. I couldn?t stop smiling, I had the biggest grin on my face as if I were the cat who just ate the canary. Only when I thought that was enough, my facial expressions were amazing, all the nights I spent in front of the mirror or watching my self through the reflection of the glass door in my kitchen. It?s hard to go first because watching all the other teams compete makes you think, how did I do?
This topic, challenges and performance of MBA graduates in their career, is deeply related with my situation and future since I am going to specialize in business administration. Therefore I predicted it is important for me to understand challenges and performance of MBA. People, including me, consider MBA is beneficial, however severable articles argue about challenges of MBA program itself through evaluating workers who have MBA degree. As a future MBA student, investigation of these topics is going to be highly meaning full for my feature career.
We were first lead into a room where we could eat breakfast and revise our arguments. All of the participants were given a fact sheet outlining the details of the case ahead of time. We each had to prepare an argument for our case that we would present in front of experienced lawyers. After eating breakfast, we were divided into groups, and after we all presented our statements, each group would have a winner to represent their own school. After giving our arguments, we went into the auditorium, where we had a quick raffle, as well as a talent show with representatives from each school. The representative from my school, JHS 194, was my former classmate, Dylan, who spoke and made jokes for the audience. Other participants danced, sung, and did gymnastics. The winner was chosen by the level of applause they got from the audience, so of course, the winner was a young girl whose family was in the audience. Afterwards, we were each given certificates of achievement, and the names of the winning schools were announced from each