My Grandmother: A Powerful Woman
Stella Stefanides was born fifty-four years ago in a small village by the Greek-Bulgarian border. Her life reads like a fictional story about deprivation, loss, love and hardships. This woman, whom I am referring to happens to be my grandmother. Her life is truly inspiring because she has overcome many difficulties and continues to be the glue that holds my family together.
Stella was born in the time of the civil war in Greece. Her parents had many babies but they would all die after being removed from their mothers’ womb, which was very common at the time due to the lack of medical assistance. After dealing with the death of five babies, Theano, Stella's mom, was convinced that her dreams of having children were never to be realized. Even as a baby, Stella was a fighter. She fought for her little life and won. That's where she got her name "Stiliani," which means strong in Greek. That name truly captures the essence of her. Growing up was hard. Dealing with the war, the conflicts, the poverty, Stella, just like any other child, had to work. Because she is a female, school was not a priority. Although she wanted to help her family, she insisted on going to school. Craving to learn something new, to explore the world beyond her village borders; she told her parents that she would never leave school. She was willing and able to do both. They agreed, as long as it wouldn't interfere with her work. Deep down inside, her parents were happy that they had a headstrong, smart daughter. School and work weren't easy for Stella. Adding to the picture was a new brother, Savva. Taking care of him while her parents were at the fields became her responsibility. The responsibilities of school, work, takin...
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...oss and makes all the decisions. Every customer and community member knows and loves "Mamma Stella." She listens, smiles and is always ready with a kind word and a hug. She yells when you don't finish your food and is generous with goods she bakes in her kitchen.
Stella is an individual who fully embodies the "American Dream." She has had to fight to get where she is and she is passionate about staying there. Her family always comes first and their problems are hers. Stella is admired by many for her love, strength and fierce determination. These qualities were given to her so that she would make a difference in people's lives. She has taken those tools in hand and successfully crafted an amazing life for herself and her family.
I am honored and lucky that Grandma Stella is a part of my life. She inspires me to achieve great things. I am who I am because of her.
Humans have the benefit of free will. Every person inherently has the potential for good and the potential for evil. Humans have innate qualities and weaknesses imbued into them from birth as well, although an individual has the will to decide which qualities and weaknesses to further enhance. If our strengths outweigh our weakness, we tend to be better individuals but if our weaknesses outweigh our strengths, we tend to be the opposite. Our greatest weaknesses is that we are purely self-interested and prideful. Our judgements tend to be distorted by pleasures and pains of the moment. In Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the tragic hero, Macbeth, starts out as a prestigious and honorable soldier but he succumbs to the dark shroud of ambition that falls upon him. Although Lady Macbeth and the three witches pester him into pursuing his desires, Macbeth chooses to go along with it, despite being fully aware of the inhumanity. He in turn, murders King Duncan to ensure his crown. This marks the start of a dark and cloudy path which leads to more bloodshed of innocent lives under the command of no other than the fated tyrant, Macbeth. The brutal massacre of Macduff’s family brings Macbeth and Macduff into the final duel and Macbeth ultimately meets his eternal slumber. The darkness and weakness in human nature is best exemplified by Macbeth and Lady Macbeth who lust for power and ignore their intrusive impulse towards human decency and convince themselves that they can live with such heinous acts due to their ego and desires.
Radelet, Michael L. and Marian J. Borg. “The Changing Nature of Death Penalty Debates.” Annual Review of Sociology 26 (2000): 43-61. Annual Reviews. Web.
Fair Trade laws are enacted to provide an equal opportunity in the marketplace for developing countries and small producers of goods. To protect their financial economies, .governments intervene by placing huge taxes and quotas on exports, to restricting producers who try to flood the markets with their products. This intervention also helps those producers who are facing unfair trading practices. Companies who provide cheaper made products, can cause a deficit for any country by flooding their economy with these exports. Fair trade prevent this and provides developing countries with the opportunity to provide merchandise that is not readily provided to the consumer. Fair trade helps provides jobs in developing countries and protect them from the abuses of monopolization. To solve this problem, there must be a fair exchange for goods and services. If these practices are allowed to continue, we as the consumer, will be paying higher prices at the stores.
The death penalty has been accepted in the United States, but was not always approved by the people. In the late eighteen hundreds there was enough attention gathered to the death penalty to lead to restrictions. Many northern states abolished the practice all together like Michigan, Wisconsin, and Rhode Island (Wilson p.45). Pennsylvania in 1794 decided to revises its laws on the death penalty. The state decided to use the penalty mainly for first-degree murder. Around this time many states where deciding t...
Fair trade is defined as the practice of directly benefiting producers in the developing world by buying straight from them at a guaranteed price. As a first world country, the United States is enamored with the concept of helping those in need, and fair-trade products are an essential component to that idea.
Capital Punishment in this country is a very controversial issue, and has been for quite some time. The history of the death penalty in America dates all the ways back to 1622, where Daniel Frank was executed in the Colony of Virginia for the crime of theft. (UAA) Many more unrecorded executions occurred until the U.S. Bureau of Justice statistics began keeping track in 1930. During that time, there was an average of about 150 executions per year. That number rose until about 1938 then began to decline until 1967, when executions in the U.S. came to a halt. There was no law or court ruling that resulted in this, it was more of a self-induced moratorium on the state level. The legal and moral questions seemed to be coming into play. Then a ruling in 1972 by the U.S. Supreme Court stated that the death penalty under current statutes is 'arbitrary and capricious' and therefore unconstitutional under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. (Furman v. Georgia) That ruling was reached on a vote of five to four, clearly showing how even the U.S. Supreme Court Justices, the highest authority of the law, were torn on the issue. This ruling essentially made Capital Punishment illegal in the United States. This lasted about four years, until another case heard before the U.S. Supreme Court (Gregg v. Georgia 1976) that reinstated the death penalty. It stated that it must be administered with guided discretion, meaning it must be applied fairly and uniformly. Two additional cases brought before the Supreme Court this year (Jurek v. Texas) and ( Proffit v. Florida) upheld the original ruling, that the death penalty is Constitutional. All of these court rulings deal with only the legality and constitutionality on Capital Punishment. However, there are many more fractions to be examined to truly evaluate the effectiveness of the death penalty. The question of morality enters into the equation. Is state sanctioned Capital Punishment moral? Deterrence is also another large factor. Does the death penalty deter capital crimes? Any problems within the justice system have to be reviewed, such as defense for lower income individuals, judges discretion, and discrimination. Public opinion on the subject is a fairly important issue, as the laws in this country should reflect the public interest. The economic cost of the death penalty is of cour...
She is a multi-talented women with determination and believes if you set your mind your goal there isn't anything that you can't achieve. My grandma wasn't able to be somebody that gave a lot of influence and didn't meet some of her goals, I am proud of her intelligence and how much she was able to do independently. Even as a grandma she loves to learn and presently is learning English. She is almost eighty years old and she looks like she is only sixty. Even now as a grandma, she is active and passionate about education. She encourages me to get a
As children grow up they always look up to someone special in their life, someone that they can trust and is always there for them. This person is someone they admire and hope to be like someday. The person that I’ve described best fits my Grandma. She knows all the right things and is there whenever I need her. My grandma is one of the most important people in my life and I’m so happy that I have her.
Fair Trade is considered as an alternative trading system, which aims to protect the economically disadvantaged producers, especially in developing countries. It provides transparency and respect in international trade (Gingrich and King, 2012). Besides, Fair Trade also contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions for marginalised producers and workers and securing their rights (Mohan, 2010).
Costanzo, Mark. Just Revenge: Costs and Consequences of the Death Penalty. New York: St. Martin's, 2001. Print.
My grandmother has always been my biggest supporter throughout my life. My Grandmother is my back bone; she is the reason why I am the person that I am today. Most people hear the word grandmother and expect to see older lady with possible white hair, standing in the kitchen cooking and baking, evening sewing. My grandmother is the exact opposite of those things, she is still employed full time, enjoys making jewelry and furniture. Although she is only five two she is very witted and outspoken she never bites her tongue and will always give her opinion even if you don’t ask for it. There is a softer side to her, she will give you her last and be a listening ear day or night. Like the saying goes “to know me is to love me” and believe me
In life many of us experience what it is like to be hurt by those we hold dear. As a young girl I saw this first hand that generally the people we hold the closest actually end up being the people that hurt us the most. You expect more from them and their actions affect you on a deeper level the people you hold to a different standard from your loved ones. My grandmother taught me through the hardships she experienced what it mean to be a genuinely selfless person. My grandmother showed me the best way to live is by ensuring the happiness of loved ones even when they have wronged you
This lady is the most wonderful person I 've ever met. She is old, affectionate, and intelligent. It took me eighteen years to realize how much this extraordinary person influenced my life. She 's the type of person who charms everyone with her stories and experiences. She always time for her family and friends. She is the kind of leader who does everything to keep her family together and in harmony. She is my grandmother.
What does phenomenal mean to you? One dictionary states phenomenal means very remarkable. My great grandmother was a very sophisticated and remarkable woman. Phenomenal should have been her first name, because that she was. My great grandmother was a rare breed; many do not come like that anymore. Memories of my great grandmother take me to a happy place, and hold a special place in my heart.
Fair Trade is a simple idea that improves the living and working conditions of small farmers and workers. The Fair Trade movement promotes the standards for fair labor conditions, fair pricing, direct trade, environmentalism, social policy, and community development. Businesses wishing to adopt Fair Trade practices have to purchase certification licenses, which then leads to Fair Trade Labeling Organization (FLO) sending representatives to the farms from which the products are purchased and ensures that the farmers adhere to the procedures outlined in the Fair Trade standards. Products marked by the Fair Trade label contain 100% Fair Trade certified contents. Buying Fair Trade Certified products, consumers are helping the lives of famers out of poverty through investments in their farms/communities, protecting the environment, and developing the business skills for trading. The practice of Fair Trading a good way to not only help cause awareness but also improve the lives of the workers.