Reputation is everything to most families in Ghana. My grandparents have always defended their reputation for decades. This has created a culture whereby the opinions of others about the family matters more than the actual reality. Living under such circumstances raises expectations and forces an individual to live by the dictates of society. It creates an identity crisis because you become who society expects you to be rather than finding your true self. In the early sixties, during the exodus of professionals from Ghana to Nigeria, my grandparents left Ghana with my mother to Nigeria. My mother became pregnant with me at age fifteen in Nigeria and to protect the family image, she was sent back to Ghana by my grandparents to live in Ghana with a family friend. My dad was never informed and to this day he has no idea I exist. My Grandparents moved back to Ghana about three years after this incident. Growing up as a kid, I was under the impression that my grandparents were my parents. At the age 8 when I found …show more content…
I began to challenge myself to take risks and make choices that were considered impossible and against the status quo. Right out of college, I had multiple offers from large organisations, since my year abroad enhanced my chances as a suitable candidate for job recruitment firms. However I chose an arduous task to help build a startup in freight and forwarding from the ground up with a friend. Culturally, this is seen as a male oriented industry, but breaking barriers and norms of society motivates me to excellence. Being part of a smaller organisation gives me the opportunity to challenge myself each day and measure my impact. The startup experience in the last four years has taught me passion and commitment by dealing with the roller coaster that comes with establishing a business especially in a like
I do not have any memories of my own father as a child. I met him when I was about fourteen years old. My mother and grandmother, with the help of my uncles and aunt, raised me. Although I had strong positive male role models in my life, there was always the void of my father that I dealt with on a daily basis. I can remember at a young age, before blowing out the candles on my birthday cake, I would wish that my father would show up to my party. I had elaborate daydreams of him coming back into my life and doing things with me like I saw on television. It never happened. While walking to the train station one evening my uncle casually said to me “there’s your father” as if I saw him on an everyday basis. I didn’t...
My dad was the first person from my family to come to America. Only after raising his own family up in America did he begin to bring over my aunts, uncles, and grandparents. My relatives were perplexed by
Have you ever wondered what it takes to be successful? Some people are not born into success or wealth. Many successful entrepreneurs had a vision they turned into reality. Samuel Truett Cathy is one prime example of a man who lived out his convictions. An inventor of the beast-of-chicken sandwich, mall counter service in the days before food courts and Sunday closing as a policy, Truett Cathy celebrated his 80th birthday in 2001. Many might think of him as a true modern-day role model and hero. Some sees him as the Chick-fil-a man. From his book “It’s Easier to Succeed than to Fail”, Cathy represented a real-life case history showing that a determined and energetic entrepreneur can overcome anything. Cathy stated, “ The secret to success is not secret at all. It is very obvious, but we are too often blinded to the truth.” (Cathy, p. 191)
Upon receiving this project, I immediately began to worry about a survey that would seek to determine how strong of a leader I would be. I cowered at the fact of coming up with either false information or information I felt was less than perfect. I think that this fear alone, confirms my primary style. My primary style is that of Self-Actualization. Self-Actualized individuals seek to always become all that we can with the talents and knowledge we have. We tend to be creative and like to live in the moment. We bring almost a refreshing perspective to most situations and have a continuous intrinsic drive for self-development. I see this style manifested in myself on a daily basis by my strong desire to always meet new challenges. My motivation for success and coming up with new ideas is completely internal, and when the outlook seems grim to others, I am always the one that sees a positive outcome ahead, through the use of a plan. Although, I am currently a stay at home mom, I would imagine that as a manager that worked outside the home, I would share the same values as I do at home. I am a planner and a “lister”, because I feel that in order to tackle a task, the plan of attack must be clearly laid out and readily available to refer to. My backup thinking style is the Achievement style. I think this is very obvious because I seek to find jobs or take on challenges that will allow me to feel a sense of achievement. I have been known to quit jobs that paid a decent amount, but weren’t allowing me to achieve anything. On several jobs before, I’ve ended each day with a feeling of unimportance or frustration because I felt like the majority of my day had been spent working a job that wasn’t fulfilling or impacting the world. I think the fact that I decided to leave the corporate working world to be a stay at home mom, attests to the fact that I want to feel a sense of achievement in the personal raising of my child. I want to set up a standard for my child to ultimately be able to be a self-actualized person as he grows older.
The prior history of Nigeria before the 1900’s is critical in exploring the effects of colonialism. During the pre-colonial era, Nigeria was mainly divided into three tribes: Igbo, Yoruba, and Hausa Fulani. A female’s role differed according to kinship structure of the tribe and the status of the woman in the economy. Neither new nor peculiar, women have long been regarded as the “subordinate” class in Nigerian culture. Nigerian women were able to achieve high statuses by lineage or marrying into ruling class families. Under customary laws, a woman’s purpose was to be fertile and able to bear children. Tribes expected their women to marry into Igbo, Yoruba, and Hausa Fulani patri-lineage and bear sons to guarantee the future of the tribe. A wife’s position improved as she gave birth to more children and gain approval from elder members. Women who could not were scorned just as Mama wa...
I always thought my aunt Victoria raised me since I was born, but I didn’t go to live with her until I was 9 years old. I was informed that I was with my mother up to the age of 2 years, then I went to live my paternal grandmother until 9 years old. Sometimes when a child is raised by someone other than their mother, they think their mother didn’t want them. I used to ...
The history of Nigeria before the 1900’s is critical in exploring the effects of colonialism. During the pre-colonial era, Nigeria was mainly divided into three tribes: Igbo, Yoruba, and Hausa Fulani. A female’s role differed according to kinship structure of the tribe and the status of the woman in the economy. Neither new nor peculiar, women have long been regarded as the “subordinate” class in Nigerian culture. However, Nigerian women were able to achieve high statuses by lineage or marrying into ruling class families. Under customary laws, a woman’s purpose was to be fertile and able to bear children. Tribes expected their women to marry into Igbo, Yoruba, and Hausa Fulani patrilineage and bear sons to guarantee the future of the tribe. A wife’s position improved as she gave birth to more children and gained approval from elder members. Women who could not were scorned just as M...
This is perhaps because of the role of tribalism within Nigerian society. Because tribalism is so deeply ingrained into the upbringings of each and every Nigerian native, the value of people just like you, which would usually be your family members, increases. As you grow up within this society, you learn that family exists on a plane above all else, because your family is the most specific tribe you exist in. Within Phillipe Wamba’s Kinship: A Family’s Journey in Africa and America, the narrator touches on growing up in America as an African-American student. One thing that all African-American children experienced while growing up is the struggle to “figure out how to identify with a historical homeland that they have been taught to reject” (82). America experiences an excess of racism as opposed to tribalism, which means that in America, people forge alliances with other people of their race, such as the alliance between African-Americans as a result of their mutual understanding of the nature of their
"Africa Before Transatlantic Slavery: The Abolition of Slavery Project." Africa Before Transatlantic Slavery: The Abolition of Slavery Project. E2BN, 2009. Web. 08 Apr. 2014. .
Ghana: The Gold Coast of Africa The Gold Coast, now known as Ghana, is one of many civilizations of Africa. It was a British Colony until March 6, 1957, when it became independent as the State of Ghana. In 1471, the Portuguese invaded this area and became involved in gold trade, giving the region the name, The Gold Coast.
The information that I’ve gained from this project is that I think I have what It takes to become a business owner I don’t know what kind of business I want to own yet, maybe a bunch of restaurants because I like to cook and I have a passion for food and to make people happy but I would also like to own a bowling center because I have experience working in the bowling industry for 6 years now and I’m learning more and more everyday I’m at work. The negative is that I need to take more risks I’m more of a go with the flow kind of guy and not much of a risk taker but according to my research high risk equal high reward with profit. My reaction to this is I’m very excited to get through college and learn all there is about business.
I want to begin with my dad’s side of the family as we know a little more about where we came from. From what we know, his relatives lived in Ireland until the time of the great Irish Potato Famine. Once they arrived in America my dad’s relatives settled down South, but somewhere down the line, someone moved North. This brings me to my Great Grandma Mary. She and her husband lived near Coldwater Michigan where they settled and had my Grandma Lela and her brothers, Lee Combs, Lewis Combs and her one sister that
I am gratified to reflect on my Entrepreneurial Potential Self-Assessment. I have always enjoyed learning the concepts of running and managing a business. Personally, what I enjoy generally is implying these concepts in real life situations. Seeing the ‘real life’ effects are stimulating to me. I always saw myself running a stable/well- establish business; however, I never saw myself running my own business. For my part, I find that I do not have all the characteristics an entrepreneur should have. Therefore, the results are not surprising, but assuring of what my strengths and weaknesses are.
We learned a lot of things in this course, but I think the most important lesson I learned is that it’s not easy to be an entrepreneur. I was surprised to hear in the first class that 80% of startups fail, but after reading The Art of Start and E-myth Revisited I understood why this happens more often than one might expects. Some people start their own businesses for the wrong reason and some start with wrong mindset. I’ve always thought that if someone has a brilliant business idea and hardworking they will succeed and grow their business. However, now I know that there are many things to consider before starting any business. In fact, there are many strategies that an entrepreneur could follow to achieve success, such as know your customers, work “on” the business, and how
1. WHY? Develop your "why". As an entrepreneur, not all times you have in business will be perfect. In fact, there will be many, many difficulties along the way. However, if you can develop your why, you can achieve success. Your why must be this personal, passionate, emotional drive that keeps you going, when the world tells you to give up. It is the reason you commit and work so hard. Pushing on when it seems all the odds and world is against you. Your "why" becomes your driving will to wake up and do it again tomorrow.