Gucci, Louis Vuitton And Vertu Essay Example for Free

Gucci, Louis Vuitton And Vertu Essay Creating luxury brands is a difficult marketing exercise. It requires heavy investment in marketing communications, excellent product/service quality, but above all these brands have to try to remain fashionable, which is notoriously difficult. Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Vertu are three successful so-called luxury brands, that retail to the high-end market. Both Gucci and Louis Vuitton are well-established brands that have been around for decades, even centuries. However Vertu, is a relatively new kid on the block, having only entered the luxury communications marketplace in 2000. Vertu sells expensive mobile phones that retail for thousands of pounds. Only a handful of brands can create a high status appeal among the world’s super rich (e.g. Ferrari, Rolex, etc.). These brands have to adopt innovative marketing strategies in order to succeed in this dynamic environment. What do they do differently to create this luxury appeal? Marketers are moving from the traditional marketing mix approach towards greater use of experiential marketing. This is where customers are treated as both rational and emotional individuals that seek ‘experiences’ from products. The key is to engage customers in a memorable experience around the product/service, developing a relationship with customers and creating an affinity with them. The central aim of experiential marketing is to create an emotional attachment between the brand and the customer. Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Vertu provide this experience through their unique product image and features, their outstanding service, their exclusive retail environment, their pricing, their selective channels of distribution, their distincive packaging and the overall benefits associated with their unique brand images. To promote a product to the high-market it is important that the customers have the right experience so that the desired feelings, images and perspectives beco me linked with the product/service and their marketing programme. It is necessary for the brand to convey a personality that the customer can relate to, or wish to aspire to and then communicate this to others.  Consumers of these brands feel that they too are fashion and design conscious, that they too are wealthy, and that they are part of the â€Å"in-crowd†. In many cases, luxury brands are tapping into the â€Å"aspirational† buyer market; luxury brands are offering products at different price points in the hope that sometime during the customers’ lifetime they will trade up to their more exclusive ranges. However, the risk of ‘democratising’ the brand is that they may lose their aura of exclusivity – as it can be obtained by anyone. Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Vertu rely on the imagery of their products to appeal to the high-end market. The prestigious pricing of their products creates a high quality image and positions the goods in the mind of the consumer as a status symbol. The success of Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Vertu can be attributed to quality of service, brand image, retail environment, management structure and above all their ability to combine these factors to create an exclusive experience. We will now take a closer look at how these companies became what they are today, while focusing on unique product features and image, their brand imagery, retail environments and channels of distribution. Gucci Gucci has experienced many changes since it opened its first luggage company in Florence in 1921. At first, it mainly sold only luxury leather goods. Within a few years the store became popular among international and affluent clientele. By the 1950’s Gucci’s global presence was established with its first store in the US in New York. By the 1970’s stores were opened in London, Paris, Palm Beach, Hong Kong and Tokyo. It has become a truly global luxury brand. Today, Gucci has over 415 stores worldwide and in 2008 alone, reported sales of  £3.4 billion (an increase of 5.5% on the previous year). Gucci was also ranked number 41 in the Interbrand ‘Best Global Brand’Survey 2009. The high fashion industry is notoriously competitive with rivals such as Hermes, Dior, Chanel, and Prada, all vying for a slice of the action. This increased competition has resulted in the Gucci group becoming a multi-brand company, which consists of several well known brands, such as Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney and Yves Saint Laurent. While the Gucci brand represents the core business of the Gucci Group (accounting for 65% of total revenue), the Gucci Empire now consists of eleven leading brands and the channel of distribution differs for each. For example, Yves Saint Laurent uses not only directly operated stores but also points of sale in leading  department stores mainly based in Europe to reach a wider range of customers. A major influence on the success of Gucci in the 90’s can be attributed to the appointment of leading designer Tom Ford. He joined Gucci in 1990 as the company’s Womenswear Designer and became Creative Director of Gucci. With Tom Ford’s vision, Gucci’s image was reinvented. He was responsible for product lines, store image and store design. In March 1995, Tom Ford’s first collection caught the attention of the press by utilising sex and glamour. Within a year of Tom Ford’s launch of his new collection, Gucci’s profits rose by 90% and the company is now worth nearly $500 million. However, Ford vacated his position in the Gucci Group in 2004 due to issues of control in the renewal of contracts, issues which could not be resolved between the two parties. 32-year-old Frida Giannini, who originally joined Gucci in 2002 as Handbag Design Director now serves as Creative Director for the entire Gucci brand and to date she served the company well, transforming Gucci classics into modern, successful designs. In addition to the role she plays in the creation of new Gucci products, Giannini immerses herself in other aspects of the business; she has taken an active role in developing new design concepts for Gucci stores, as well as taking responsibility for the creative direction of all advertising campaigns. She has also been responsible for the brand’s increased use of celebrities to promote the brand, including Drew Barrymore and Clare Danes for their jewellery campaigns and singers Rihanna and Madonna for their Unicef initiatives. So what is the key to Gucci’s success? The essence of Gucci is its exclusivity. The brand portrays a sexy and vibrant image, which is communicated through their designs, fashion shows and advertising. The importance of the Gucci brand’s positioning is that it is distinctive and has an aura of exclusivity amongst its target audience. The image and aura of prestige surrounding Gucci gives added value to their products. This is created through advertising, innovative designers and the whole experience of buying Gucci. Gucci uses controversial advertising such  as the promotion of their perfume ‘Opium’ with a naked image of Sophie Dahl. This caused uproar in Britain and was banned by the advertising standards, as it accounted for a third of all complaints about poster adverts. However this campaign managed to win advertising awards throughout Europe. Gucci’s advertisement in Vogue also created controversy with an image of a woman with the letter ‘G’ imprinted in her pubic hair. These illustrations helped gain media coverage for the campaigns and boosted brand awareness. Typically, the Gucci brand tries to appeal to women in their 20’s or 30’s with high quality, fashionable products, and those who aspire to be part of the jet set lifestyle. This image attracts people who feel they can relate to this profile or who wish to aspire to this image. Gucci achieves this in many ways; stores are located on expensive high street locations, thus attracting affluent consumers. The window displays are provocative and the interior has a free flow layout as its visually appealing and allows consumers to browse comfortably. The dà ©cor is rich and classic to add to the atmosphere of the store. The salespeople are model-like, smartly dressed all in black and ready to assist consumers in any way. Even the security guard is suitably dressed to add to the image. The distinctive Gucci packaging concludes the experience. Gucci has directly operated stores to ensure that they retain control over their products and can build their image around these stores. About 70% of sales are done in Gucci stores alone. It is also possible to view and purchase Gucci products online, thus reaching a far greater target audience. Louis Vuitton The famous brand started out back in the 1850’s. The founder was made famous for crafting luggage for Napoleon. From theses roots the brand has become synonymous with luggage and in particular handbags. Louis Vuitton is very much the envy of the industry, recording an operating margin of 45%, whilst the industry average is only 25% for luxury accessories. The company is famous for its handbags, but also sells a range of wallets, briefcases, eyeglass cases etc. The brand is estimate to be worth approximately $19 billion. Louis Vuitton stand out from their peers through their relentless focus on product quality. All products are extensively tested to make sure that they can withstand wear and tear, and that there are no imperfections. The company has blended mechanisation and handmade craftsmanship into their products, boosting their productivity, maintaining that high level of product quality, whilst still holding onto the allure of handmade quality. All Louis Vuitton products contain the eponymous LV initials and many of the products use the brown Damier and Monogram Canvas materials, which were first used by the company in the 80’s. The company markets its products through its own stores, which allows it to control quality and pricing. In maintaining the prestige image of the Louis Vuitton brand, the company operates a pricing integrity strategy amongst its entire distribution network; a Louis Vuitton bag is never reduced in price and there are no sale periods. The company offers customised products such as personal engraving on hand luggage pieces, boosting its appeal further. Furthermore, the company sponsors elite sporting events such as yachting and motorsport events. This is in effort to match the audience of sponsorship property with the target audience of the brand itself. Like other premium brands, such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton has also turned to the use of celebrity’s to market the brand, with the likes of Madonna, Jennifer Lopez and Gisele Bundchen featuring in advertising campaigns. Over recent years, the brand has tried to modernise its image by utilising the talents of young designers and artists to rejuvenate the image of some of their products, whilst maintaining the classic designs. An example of this was the use of designer Marc Jacobs who created a limited edition handbag range with featured graffiti over the monogram pattern in 2001. Other limited editions patterns created by designers for the brand include the Monogram Multicolore range and the Cherry Blossom Range, which were only made available to VIP customers, further enhancing the exclusivity of the brand. Hermes, a key rival of Louis Vuitton, create even greater exclusivity by having a three-year waiting list before one of their bags can be obtained. These bags are handcrafted, adding to their appeal even further. The reinvention and rejuvenation of Louis Vuitton in more recent years has assisted the brand in attracting a younger target audience, thereby increasing customer base. However no one designer has eclipsed the powerful brand image of Louis Vuitton itself, unlike other design brands. Vertu Vertu is a unique luxury brand specialising in top of the range, deluxe mobile phones. Established in 2000, the Vertu brand was a big gamble for Nokia, its parent company, to take. Nokia, previously the world’s most successful mobile phone manufacturer, developed this new brand as a way of creating an exclusive luxury brand in mobile telephony. However, Nokia does not publicise the linkage between Nokia and Vertu and therefore does not gain from any brand linkages or associations. In essence, their products are jewellery-like mobile telephones. Vertu headquarters are located in the United Kingdom with several offices situated worldwide including: Paris, New York, Hong Kong and Singapore. As a new entrant to  the market, Vertu’s main focus was on creating product awareness among the elite and to create a brand that is exclusive and luxurious. Vertu utilises craftsmanship, precision engineering, high-end technology and a unique personal service dimension to create a dis tinctive luxury brand. Vertu’s concept is to make mobile phones in the same vein as prestigious watch brands such as Rolex and Patek Philippe. Mobile phones typically retail for around  £100  £400 pounds, however Vertu is aimed at the top end of the market, those who can afford to spend thousands on a mobile phone. For example, the most expensive model ever made by the brand is the Signature Cobra, which retailed at a massive â‚ ¬217,000! The most expensive ‘regular’ model made by Vertu is the Signature Diamond, at a more affordable â‚ ¬62,000. These phones are typically made using precious metals like gold, silver or platinum along with fine Italian leather for better grip and have jewelled bearings. When people buy a Vertu they are buying a badge of exclusivity, luxury and uniqueness. It was believed that if watches, pens or even wallets can be transformed into luxury brands, then why not a mobile phone. With mobile phone penetration constantly on the increase and having surpassed 100% in Europe alone, phone manufacturers need new strategies to get people to buy newer phones. Newer technology was a prime motivator in consumers buying a new phone. Vertu have taken a different approach; they want their phones to be status symbols. For a technology product, this is a first, as products lose their value very quickly, with constant technological advances offering new and improved product features. Rather than launch their new product range at technology shows, which is the industry norm, Vertu instead prefers to become associated with fashion shows, launching for example their new range during Paris fashion week. Thus this brand is aiming to create a fashion brand rather than a technology brand, in an attempt to woo people through its fashion status. A big selling point associated with these phones is the Vertu Concierge Service. Vertu Concierge provides specialised travel assistance, allowing users to access and reserve restaurants, hotels, concert tickets and much  more. Having a Vertu mobile phone allows users to access this exclusive concierge service, 24 hours a day from anywhere in the world, where they will try to assist the every whim of the user. This service is free for the first year, but you have to pay a subsequent subscription of  £500 per annum to use the service. Vertu also offers a customisation service thus truly differentiating itself and allowing the firm to earn even higher margins. Also the company offers free upgradability when new technology emerges. The company has established flagship stores in exclusive shopping districts, so that it was close to other exclusive brands, thus benefiting from a halo effect. Vertu has developed a unique buying experience by creating a â€Å"gallery-like† feel to its retail environments. In order to create this new level of luxury to mobile communication retailing, Vertu focused an enormous amount of attention onto store layout. Each display case is made from architectural glass, limestone textures and floors combined with warm lighting, ultimately enhancing the ambience of the store. Minimalist design was used in order to create the illusion of space. In keeping with the element of exclusivity, original artworks were commissioned and exhibited throughout the stores. Selections of short films are also projected in-store. By offering a first class personal service combined with extensive product knowledge, Vertu has enhanced their image of reliability and expertise. Vertu announced the opening of its flagship stores in Paris and Singapore in October 2002. It has since opened new channels of distribution, with over 600 retail outlets worldwide and 400 employees and it intends to continue to build on this. Along with their stores in Paris and Singapore, Vertu has Client Suites in London, New York, Hong Kong and Singapore and also has points of sale located in some of the world’s leading department stores and fine jewellers. The company were extremely selective when choosing suitable retail channels. They sought department stores that catered for an international client base, and who target very affluent shoppers. Stores must have a global reputation of offering quality and luxury across all product ranges and whose philosophy of high product knowledge and excellent personal service are consistent with that of Vertu’s. For example, Vertu entered into a partnership with a renowned Hong Kong jeweller, King Fook  Jewellery. The introduction of these new speciality stores has made the Vertu range of phones more accessible to its exclusive client base in Hong Kong. As a direct result of this new partnership, Vertu’s Signature Collection is now available in a range of precious metals, such as gold and platinum. To date the company has entered into a number of joint ventures such as Vertu and Goldsmiths located at Harrods in London, Trafford Centre in Manchester, and Bluewater, Kent. This partnership was established to gain greater market share in the UK marketplace. Vertu phones are also available to purchase through their website. With the aid of this distribution channel, customers can now personalise their mobile phone to their own individual tastes Conclusion In order to retain product exclusivity it is clear that you need to provide an excellent product and exceptional service experience, as this creates an emotional attachment between the customer and the brand. Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Vertu have made this experience possible through their distinct products and services, their prestigious pricing (thus indicating their superb quality), their exclusive retail environment and their selective channels of distribution. Maintaining that fashion status and aura of exclusivity is of primary concern to these exclusive luxury brands. For example, the fashion brand Burberry has now become synonymous with the infamous â€Å"chav† subculture in Britain. This once fashion icon brand of the country elite has now be adopted as the brand of choice for thousands of working class Britons, devaluing the brand amongst the fashion elite. The emergence of the so-called â€Å"chav† subculture has garnered the Burberry brand unwanted press coverage. The Ben Sherman brand also fought hard to overcome its association with ‘yob’ culture; similarly Doc Martins were associated with skinheads. By extending their brands to items such as baseball caps, perfumes etc. it can diminish the exclusiveness of a label, sacrificing the brand equity for increased revenue. It is evident that Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Vertu use different promotional  strategies. For instance, Gucci incorporates controversial issues into their marketing strategy to promote brand imagery, Louis Vuitton utilises celebrity endorsements, whereas Vertu concentrates on the benefits and quality of product features. However, all brands are consistent when it comes to retail environment and channels of distribution. The store design and layout plays a crucial role in creating an image of exclusivity to appeal to the high-end market. It is essential to have alignment of the prospective target market expectations of a store offering and the identity that the brand wants to communicate. Companies targeting the high-end market must create the illusion of exclusivity, while generating a seductive atmosphere, appealing to the senses. Once blended together, these elements will help form a pleasurable and distinctive experience that will differentiate your product line from that of your competitors. Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Vertu use exclusive channels of distribution to ensure greater control. This control enables them to exercise greater flexibility on their product ranges and the ability to adjust to the changing market efficiently. This adds to the image of exclusivity and quality of the products. Therefore it can be concluded that in order for a product to develop and retain its exclusivity, marketers must create an overall experience that appeals to and attracts the high-end market.

Chinese Schools Essay Example for Free

Chinese Schools Essay Chinese schools have come a long way since the colonial days. Over the years and with the evolution of the national education system, Chinese schools have had to face countless threats to their survival. Despite this, Chinese schools have gained popularity and have enjoyed high enrolments, even among non-Chinese students. It has been reported that at least 10 percent of students studying in Chinese schools come from non-Chinese backgrounds. A number of factors contribute to this growing phenomenon. First, Chinese schoolteachers are well known for their high level of commitment. For this and other reasons, students from Chinese schools often excel in public examinations especially in Science and Mathematics. The other attraction of Chinese schools is that students are required to learn an additional language, Mandarin, which is a highly marketable skill in the job market. Chinese Education: A Historical Perspective The beginnings of Chinese education in Malaysia can be traced to the early nineteenth century. It was recorded that by 1815, there were already three Chinese schools in Malacca. One was founded by the London Missionary Society. With regard to the other two, sociologist Yang Qinghuang suggests that at least one would be a school founded by the Hokkien people. Scholar Zheng Liangshu suggests that some old-type Chinese schools might have existed in the Straits Settlements since the end of the eighteenth century. For a long time, Chinese schools in the Straits Settlements received neither help from the British government nor assistance from the government in China. Despite this, they thrived —funded mainly by clan and dialect associations. When faced with political and financial difficulties at the turn of the twentieth century, the Ching government of China changed its attitude towards overseas Chinese and began to promote Chinese education outside of China. It implemented educational reforms based on a proposal by Zhang Zidong. Following the reforms, the curriculum was revised to include Chinese Classical Literature, History, Geography, Mathematics, Moral Education, Physical Education and other optional subjects like Commerce and Drawing. In Malaya, Chung Hwa Confucian School in Penang not only adopted this new curriculum (it was the first to do so), it went further to include English as a subject. Support from the Ching government, however, was short lived. It ended with the fall of the dynasty. Chinese schools that attempted to run modern educational programmes (with a modern curriculum and incorporating English as a subject) faced enormous challenges. On the one hand, they were constantly in need of more funds. On the other hand, they lacked competent teachers. Furthermore, they had to compete with the more established English schools. Even so, there were five hundred Chinese schools with modern educational programmes established in Malaya and Singapore in 1920. By this time, textbooks for these schools had departed from the classical into the vernacular Chinese language (baihuawen). Because of their impressive growth, the British government decided that it could no longer afford to ignore Chinese schools. On 29 October 1920, it introduced the Regist ration of School Ordinance to restrict the activities of Chinese schools in the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States by way of registration and inspection. In 1935, control was further tightened: textbooks and teachers from China were prohibited. Only local materials and Malaysian-born teachers were allowed, and activities in Chinese schools came under strict scrutiny. Despite these challenges, Chinese education continued to thrive until it was suspended at the time of the Japanese Occupation of Malaya. After the war, Chinese schools resumed operation. By 1946, their number had ballooned to more than one thousand in Malaya. However, following the Barnes and Fenn-Wu Reports (June 1951) and the Education Ordinance 1952, Chinese education was exclude d from the national education system. The Chinese community rallied to form Jiao Zong (United Chinese School Teachers Association of Malaya, UCSTAM) and Dong Zong (United Chinese School Committees Association of Malaya, UCSCAN) to safeguard Chinese education. The Malayan Chinese Association (MCA) joined in. Its president then, Tun Tan Cheng Lock spoke these memorable lines, †¦Chinese in Malaya †¦ should be given Chinese education †¦ The dialect or mother tongue can be likened to a person’s shadow, and is inseparable from the person himself/herself † (translated from Chinese). Efforts to safeguard Chinese education became even more difficult following the Razak Report in 1956 and the Education Ordinance in 1957. Thereafter, Chinese primary education was officially included in the national education system, classified as standard-type primary schools with Chinese language as the medium of instruction. However, Chinese secondary schools were excluded from the system when the Lower Certificate of Education examination (L. C. E) was introduced in English. This was not in accordance with the promise of fairness to other ethnic languages in the country as specified in the Razak Report. Furthermore, the Chinese community were horrified by the terms of reference in Paragraph 12 of the Razak Report: †¦the ultimate objective of educational policy in this country must be to bring together the children of all races under a national education system in which the national language is the main medium of instruction. Paragraph 12 was subsequently omitted following strong opposition from the Chinese community headed by Jiao Zong. Both the Rahman Talib Report (1961) and the Education Act (1961) reaffirmed the education policy as stated in the Education Ordinance 1957. Since government financial aid was vital to the survival of Chinese secondary schools, more than half of the 41 Chinese secondary schools then had little choice but to ‘convert’ itself into English medium national type secondary schools. On hindsight, many Chinese view this decision as a big mistake. The remaining 14 schools refused to give in, and have remained ‘independent’ to this day. The MCA facilitated this ‘conversion’ as it was satisfied with the verbal promises made by the Education Minister that the government has no intention to exercise its authority granted under the Act to change Chinese primary schools to national schools and that Chinese schools are allowed to allocate one third of their curriculum for learning Mandarin and Chinese literature. † As a consequence of this concession made at the secondary school level, development of Chinese education in Malaysia was restricted thereafter to the primary school level. The New Education Act 1996 posed an even bigger threat. It threw into question the status of national-type schools that were not established under Section 28 of the new Act. In fact, prior to this during the initial stage of implementing the ‘3R system’ (Reading, Writing Arithmetic) in 1980, Chinese schools had already been challenged to forgo their medium of instruction. Materials for learning all subjects except Mandarin were available only in Bahasa Melayu. In response, Dong Jiao Zong and various Chinese guilds and associations submitted a memorandum to voice their opposition to the Ministry of Education in 1981. The schools were given the assurance that the government had no intention of changing the character of Chinese schools. However in the ensuing years, Chinese schools were asked to consider the concept of ‘integrated schools’ (1985) and Vision Schools (proposed in 1995, implemented in 2000), in addition to the latest 2-4-3 resolution that sought to introduce the teaching of Mathematics and Science in English (proposed in 2002, implemented in 2003). Despite these challenges, Chinese schools seek to maintain emphasis on the Five Aspects of Formal Education in Confucianism (Wuyu Jiaoyu) namely, moral (de), intellectual (zhi), physical (ti), social (qun ) and aesthetic ( ei) education. Until today, Chinese schools m continue to value discipline, respect for the elderly, courtesy, personal character and morality, rather than marketable skills such as computer literacy, Mathematics and Science. Some Reflections How does the development of Chinese education affect the church community i Malaysia?n Should we stake our claims to citizenry and defend our right to be educated in our own (mother tongue) language? What about racial integration? Is it possible to promote Chinese education without further polarising the different communities? First, we have a moral basis for defending Chinese education. Being given the choice and having the opportunity to be educated in one’s own language is a universal human right according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948. Chinese education ha s existed in this country since the nineteenth century. As such, I believe we ought to defend the right of its existence in the same way as we would for the education of other ethnic communities in their own languages. Second, there is value in the Chinese school culture that is worth speaking up for. Even though outsiders might consider the Chinese community uncompromising in its stand with regard to educational issues, it must be pointed out that it is not just about safeguarding the Chinese language but it is also about retaining the ideals of holistic education. Furthermore, Chinese schools have a tradition of nurturing dedicated schoolteachers, and the Christian community should be at the forefront to encourage this culture of service and excellence. In the past, many of them have had to pay a high price for their conviction and dedication by becoming ‘martyrs’: Zhuang Xiquan, Chen Taomin and others were deported for opposing the Registration of School Ordinance 1920; Lim Lian Geok and Yen Yuan Chang were deprived of citizenship in 1961; Lim Huang Sheng and Sim Mow Yu were jailed under the Internal Security Act in 1987. Chinese education aids evangelistic work among the Chinese community. It provides students with a better understanding of the Chinese culture. Whereas in the past, the content of Chinese education was often influenced by traditional beliefs and practices, the Chinese education system today is more open to intellectual discourse on rethinking and repositioning the Chinese identity. The main grouse against Chinese schools is the lack of racial integration since students come from predominantly one ethnic background. The question we must ask is, is this acceptable or healthy in a multi-ethnic society like Malaysia? Most advocates for Chinese education would argue that it is less than ideal but what choice do they have? If national schools were to adopt a more holistic philosophy, and their teachers showed a more credible record in terms of commitment and disciplining of students, and if they provided students with the opportunity to study their own languages, racial integration would be less of an issue and Chinese students would be more evenly distributed between national and Chinese schools. Despite this obvious shortcoming related to racial integration, I still advocate Chinese education for what it offers. Clearly, through its holistic philosophy and track record, it has produced many responsible citizens through the years. Chinese education continues to play a significant role in nation-building and church life in Malaysia. Florence Kuek lectures Mandarin at Universiti Teknologi Mara.

Social Work Self-Evaluation Example

Social Work Self-Evaluation Example The case was referred to the school social worker by the F.1 class teacher and the teacher reported to the worker that she had noticed her student named Judy had avoided joining group activities and she was feared about bulling and she would cry suddenly in the class sometimes. After exploration, the following presenting problems are observed: Constantly bullied by classmates Avoid joining group activities Fear about bullying and cry suddenly in the class Aim of the assessment The aim of the assessment is: To gather the basic information of the client about personal, family, school and social network To study the underlying factors contributing to the presenting problems and To find out the facts those trigger the problems so that an intervention plan could be set up to help the client. Brief Social History The worker had conducted four personal interviews and based on the interview sessions conducted with the client, the following information is gathered. Genogram/family background and relationship The parents of Judy were divorced since she was in primary school and thus she was brought up in a single parent family. Judys father lives in Mainland China and he does not contact with the family. The three family members: Madam Wong, Andy and Judy live together. The mother: Madam Wong, 44 years old, works as a cleaner and she is the only bread winner of the family. Andy Cheung: elder brother of Judy is 15 years old attending F.2 at a different school from Judy. Emotional condition The client was observed to be upset with the situation she is being bullied. Moreover, she did not want to disclose much about her problems and she was not convinced that others could understand and help her. She also felt that she is not as capable as her brother in doing not very well with her school lessons. Living condition The client lives together with her mother and elder brother at a public housing flat. Financial condition The mother, Madam Wong is the main bread winner of the family and the monthly income was unobserved. History of violence/abuse There is not serious case of violence according to the workers observation. However, the worker had studied that the client had been constantly bullied by her classmates at school. She was hit and her belongings were destroyed sometimes. Supportive network The client had some friends at the previous school she attended but she does not have any friends at the current school. The client told the worker that although she reported to the teacher about the issue, those who bullied her did not stop bullying and she does not think it is a good idea to report the teacher. Moreover, she does not want to tell her mother about her problems and feelings since she does not want to bother her. It seems that the mother alone would be her supportive network since she mentioned during the interview that her mother would listen to her if she discloses her feelings. Coping strengths The worker assessed that she does not know how to cope with the problem except crying and according to the client, reporting to the teacher did not work. Case conceptualization Core issues referred by the school teacher a) Avoid joining group activities in the class b) Cry suddenly in the class sometimes c) Constantly bullied, belongings are destroyed and hit by classmates Workers perception of the core issues The worker identified based on the personal interviews conducted that a) The client lacks self confidence and self esteem Since she stated that she was not doing well at school and she is not as clever as her brother. b) The belief of the client that there is nobody who cares and understand her The client mentioned that talking with other people (eg. Teacher and family) would help and they would not listen to her nor understand her. According to cognitive theorists, most social and behavioral dysfunction is derived from misconceptions that people hold about themselves, other people and situations (Hepworth, 2006). In this case, the self-defeating belief of the client that she is not as capable as others and that there is no one who can help/understand her had led her to emotional and behavioral consequences that block her to be a confident and capable girl. Analysis of the problem The worker analyses the case by applying the Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT), using the ABC model which was created by Albert Allis (Corey, 2005). A (activating event) B (belief) C (emotional and behavioral consequences) D (disputing intervention) E (effect) F (new feelings) In this case, the worker conceptualized that the irrational beliefs of the client that she is bullied and maltreated because there is no one who understands her and that she is incapable triggered her to be depressed and to be away from the social environment at school. The worker strongly believes that once the client can detect what her irrational beliefs are, the client could be helped with the disputing interventions to debate her dysfunctional beliefs by herself to solve the problem and to be a confident girl. Strengths and opportunities The worker had identified the following strengths and opportunities of the client during the interview sessions: Strengths: Good friends (social life) at primary school. This implies that she does not lack socialization skills Helping her mother with household chores. It means she is a considerate daughter and she has a strong affection to her mother. Opportunities: The class teacher is concerned about the problem. She is also willing to help the client with the problem. Her mother would listen to her if she discloses her problems and feelings to her. Intervention plan The goal of the intervention plan is to help the client: a) To identify the irrational belief b) To debate then discriminate these irrational beliefs by herself c) To help the client to build self confidence and self esteem d) To help the client socialize and participate in school activities Immediate plan Ask the client to do assignment so that she can identify and cope with her irrational beliefs Assignment such as Feeling List would be given so as to make the client aware of her own emotional condition and the progress (Sheafor Horejsi, 2006). Encourage the client to build up self confidence and self esteem by assigning her to identify the specific conditions and circumstances under which she feels positive and worth about herself (Sheafor Horejsi, 2006). Promote the clients resilience by helping her to discover her own strengths to overcome all the hardships (Egan, 2007). Discuss with the teacher how to provide psychosocial support to the client Long term plan To set up a good social support for the client: to engage the school environment, family members in the helping process (Egan, 2007). Discuss with the class teacher for organizing classroom activities where the client would be able to actively participate and appreciate her own strengths. Recommendations for follow up To have another case session to set up an agreed intervention plan with the client and to encourage the client do the assignments. Assessment on the school environment regarding the bulling issues might help Discussion with the family and the school to engage in the helping process Part II Self Evaluation The worker had applied different types of communication and helping skills during the interview session with the client. The skills used and the effectiveness: Warm greeting before starting the interview Engaging with the client/rapport building It is a way to let the client feel comfortable with the interview session. The client was more willing to talk freely after engaging with some general conversation at the beginning of the session. Asking the understanding of the client about being referred by the class teacher Confirmation of whether the client is willing to talk to the worker Asking expectation of the client and inform about the interview session Explaining the main purpose of the interview that she would be helped through the process It helped the client see clearly what the worker will be doing with her so that she can feel free to talk to the about her problems. Express understanding towards the clients through basic attending skills such as faced the client squarely, adopted the open posture, leaned towards the client, maintained good eye contact and relaxed while interacting with the client. In these ways of basic attending skills, I expressed empathetic attending, understanding and willingness to help. It helped the client to be willing in expressing her feelings and problems. Using verbal and non-verbal attending skills such as eye contact with the client, facial expression, and minimal encouragers. It encouraged the client to be more willing to talk. It also showed that I was listening to the client carefully. I used follow up questions like open-ended questions to confirm what the client had said so that there would not be any misunderstandings. Clarifying and verifying what the client had told the worker I clarified/verified what the client had told me by using phrases like it appears to me that and questions like oh you want to is that what are saying? It helped to discriminate the misunderstanding and confusion that can occur if I did not clarify or verify what the client had told and if I interpret in my own perception. Paraphrasing and Summarizing It was effective in a sense that I could express my understanding about the client and that I had been listening carefully and finding a way to help the client. Using of open questions and miracle question I used open questions to explore what the client had said for better understanding. Moreover, I also asked the clients perception on problem solving by asking What do you think you can do to stop the bully? Although it did not help the client solve the problem completely, it helped the client think about what she could do to cope with the problem. I also used the questions to explore the clients wants and goals by asking How do you want your classmates to treat you? What kind of situation do you want? and What if ? By asking these questions, the client voiced out what she wants and what she wants to be like which can result in goal setting. Strengths and weaknesses in the intervention During the intervention process, I evaluate the strengths of mine that I had a pretty good engagement with the client applying basic communication and helping skills. The use of appropriate questioning and clarifying worked to identify the problem and in detecting what the client wants and needs. As weaknesses, I needed to improve more on rapport building to gain the trust of the client. More practice on follow up questions and leading questions so as to make the client more articulating to disclose her problems. In reflecting my learning, this practice session helped me a lot to build up my skills needed in social work practice. Moreover, I have learned a lot about the effectiveness of the skills and what more could have been done to boost up my skills to be a good professional. The class discussion and feedback from the classmates made me see myself clearly about the strengths and rooms for improvement.

Book Review of Slovenia 1945 Memories of Death and Survival after World

Slovenia 1945 is a well-crafted blend of personal memories, historiography, and eyewitness accounts. The result is moving narrative that avoids the turgidity and dryness historical studies may fall prey to, as well as the indulgent emotionalism of some memoirs. The starting point for the volume was the letters written by John Corsellis, a conscientious objector working in the Friends Ambulance Unit in Austrian Carinthia from 1945 to 1947. This material was fleshed out with several dozen interviews, a diary by camp survivor France Perni?ek, and the journalist Marcus Ferrar. Although Corsellis is a central participant in the story, his presence in the book is subtle and unobtrusive. Structurally, the book is attractive to both casual readers and serious researchers. In addition to the main text, there are fifteen photos, three maps, an outline of the chief characters, a four-page catalogue of other persons, a tightly packed six-page bibliography, and a five-page index of people, subjects, and places. A striking feature of the book is its impartiality?a goal that the authors explicitly state in the prologue (p. 2). Negative sides of all participants are depicted: Germans (slave labor, attacks on civilians, book burning), Italians (the Rab concentration camp, the myth of kind and romantic soldiers), Partisans (theft, murder, rape), Catholics (the Black Hand death squads), the western Allies (shooting at civilians, looting), and the Village Guards (burning prisoners to death). However, the book is much more than a catalogue of crimes; it also relates the human sides of all involved: individual acts of kindness by combatants and civilians on all sides. The narrative is replete with religious imagery?priests, ... ...jana: Modrian. Markovski, Venko. 1984. Goli Otok: The Island of Death. Boulder: Social Science Monographs. Mila?, Metod. 2002. Resistance, Imprisonment & Forced Labor. A Slovene Student in World War II [= Studies in Modern European History 47]. New York: Peter Lang. Reindl, Donald F. 2001. Mass Graves from the Communist Past Haunt Slovenia?s Present, RFE/RL Newsline 5.225 (29 November), available at http://www.rferl.org/ newsline/2001/11/5-not/not- 291101.asp Sirc, Ljubo. 1989. Between Hitler and Tito: Nazi Occupation and Communist Oppression. London: Andre Deutsch. Tolstoy, Nikolai. 1986. The Minister and the Massacres. London: Century Hutchinson. John Corsellis & Marcus Ferrar. Slovenia 1945: Memories of Death and Survival after World War II. London: I. B. Tauris & Co., 2005. xi + 276 pp., ï ¿ ½24.50 ($47.97) (cloth). ISBN: 1-85043-840-0.

At the time of McCarthyism, Arthur Miller had a close friend who had :: English Literature

At the time of McCarthyism, Arthur Miller had a close friend who had been accused and was willing to name THE CRUCIBLE In 1692, puritan Massachusetts was a difficult place to live. The Puritans were people who had left England to live a pure and holy life in America. They obeyed the laws of the bible and were a very superstitious group of people. They believed that any behaviour that opposed the bible, even the tiniest thing, was of the devil and his witches. In 1950’s America there was a Senator called Joseph McCarthy who led the Un-American Activities committee. This meant that he was in charge of ridding the continent of anything that was deemed Un-American. It had not been long since the Second World War and all Americans were very paranoid about the rise of communism in some of the eastern European countries. Joseph McCarthy was not at all interested in putting people in jail but ‘naming names’- he wanted to know the names of those who were involved in communism. This process was soon to be known as McCarthyism. At the time of McCarthyism, Arthur Miller had a close friend who had been accused and was willing to ‘name names’- Miller was angry and began to write the crucible. The crucible is known as what is called an Allegory. This means that it is written to subliminally show something about one thing when it is being described as another. The crucible describes the Salem which trials in 1692 but is meant to show the complete similarities between it and 1950’s McCarthyism. Two of the main characters in The Crucible are John and Elizabeth Proctor. We learn at the beginning of the play that John and Elizabeth have a very difficult marriage. There is growth in the mistrust between them as we grow to learn that John has had an affair with the reverend’s niece: Abigail. After numerous events John and Elizabeth are sent to prison on the charges of witchcraft. Near the end of the play they meet for one last time to discuss their course of action. Faced with a difficult decision, John must choose between life and truth. This decision is difficult because he wishes to live and see his children grow up but he dare not lie about committing a crime he is not guilty of. He will do only what his wife wishes. But what is her wish? When her and John first meet in the prison she says to him â€Å"The children are well. Rebecca Samuels keeps them† she says this with the intent that John will feel a loss on the behalf of his children.

Educational Goals and Philosophy Essay -- Education Teaching Teachers

Educational Goals and Philosophy As a child, playing â€Å"school† occupied most of my time. My younger sister and I taught a bedroom full of stuffed animals and filled in imaginary names in our old school books. From the bad bears and loud bunnies to the good puppies and smart kittens, each stuffed animal possessed his or her own personality. The thought of teaching never entered into my mind when I was asked, â€Å"What do you want to be when you grow up?† Uncertain about the career field that I desired to pursue, my decisions depended upon the topics that held my interest at the time. Paleontology was the first career I decided on, then marine biology. In high school, it was mandatory that I select a career cluster in which to expand my knowledge; I chose architecture and interior design. Up until my senior year of high school, my educational goal for the future consisted of attending an architecture program at a college or university, but my mind was changed again when I developed a senior research paper and project. The topic of my paper and project was â€Å"ministry,† giving me the opportunity to teach the youth group at church and help with the younger kids during a worship service. My youth minister taught me a few teaching techniques and strategies that also broadened my interest i n teaching. Numerous experiences have influenced my decision to become a teacher. One summer I was privileged to get to go to Myrtle Beach and lead a backyard bible school for Pre-K and K aged kids at a family campground. Crating unique ways of teaching kindergarten kids with short attention spans challenges the teacher, forcing me to use my imagination. In search of opening up a Canadian child who... ...the future students are different from earlier ones. In today's classroom, kids can operate a computer while their teachers cannot, thus limiting computer access learning for students. Although they are unfamiliar with computers, many teachers are learning from their students, and are using online services to expand the learning process in the classroom. Another article explained that many of today's schools are requiring computer certification for their teachers. If teachers cannot keep up with the technology that kids are "playing" with, they will not be able to effectively teach the children of tomorrow's generation. Teaching is not just about Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic; it is the desire to make a difference in at least one child's life. By giving a child a chance at life, a teacher is giving the world a chance to become a better place.

Problems why Students fail? Essay

Do you know the problems students face during their college? Does it affect every inch of you when it comes to different aspects of being in student’s college life? Have you ever notice these problems and what do you do in order to cope up with it? Can you give the problems college students’ face? Are you already aware of it or not? Starting college is a difficult decision to be made. But after finishing it, all of the problems we faced will worth it. Being in college can bring much anxiety in the heart of a new college student because of all the unknowns and hidden things behind. â€Å"What should my major and course be? Will I meet good friends of mine? How will I find time in all of my lessons? What are the things I should be aware with?† College life is a practice to those students who wants to be successful in their lives in the future. Academics and extra-curricular activities should be managed well. That is why students should be shaped and taught about being aware of opportunities. There are lots of challenges a college student might face but in order to survive, he must first learn to sacrifice. There are problems we may encounter during these years tat is why we should embrace all the things that may arise. Students must be brave and strong enough to face those challenges that will come ahead. This book focuses on The Different Problems of College Students. It contains ten (10) chapters which are presented on the table of contents. Being a college student is a stepping stone in reaching and getting what you want in life afterwards. If we compare our Pre-school, Kindergarten, Primary and Secondary levels of studying. It is the Tertiary level or the college level that plays very important, amazing and hardworking tasks in accomplishing our goals. Acknowledgement This book gives information to all college students who experience different problems in their study. The authors of this book are also a student that is why it became easier for them to write a book like this. But not all the credit is for the authors, there are people behind the success of this book. The authors of this research would like to thank different people who had been part of this book. First of all, the authors would like to thank Mrs. Evangeline Leonardo who encourage the researchers to make it finish despite of difficulties in preparing it, different problems happened while starting this book, but Mrs. Leonardo became an inspiration to the researcher she said â€Å"When you start something make sure that you will finish it†, this message from her became the motivator to the researcher to finish this book. Secondly, the authors would like to thank their parents for always  understanding that writing a book like this is a difficult one, their parents became more supportive to them. Having supportive parents became an advantage to finish this book. To BSA-102, authors would like to acknowledge their section Bachelor of Science in Accountancy, 102 who became an inspiration to them to make recognition for their course and to make their section be proud of what they had done in this book. And lastly, the Lord and God who gave this group especially the leader the strength and guidance in order to be successful on this project. About the Authors Balmores, Donabelle – is a 17 year-old girl who graduated at Taà ±ong High school. She was born on February 15, 1996. She lives in Industrial Valley Complex, Marikina City. She wants to be a professional Accountant and Architect someday. She is kind, loving, understanding, serious, funny and awesome. She loves to travel a lot with the ones she love. She has many dreams but she plans it to be one step at a time. Her parents are Leonora Japson and Jefferson Japson. Padua, Julie Ann L. – is a 16 year-old girl who graduated at Antipolo National Highschool who wants to be a Fashion designer someday. She is small but intelligent, industrious, jolly and friendly, transparent, cute and thoughtful. She was born on July 4, 1996. Her parents are Gracia Padua and Louie Padua. Cruz, Jenny Ann C. – is a 17 year-old girl from Malanday, Marikina City. She was born on November 29, 1995 and graduated at Malanday National High school. She wants to be a CPA someday. She is a simple person, talkative and prayerful. Before she closed her eyes, she always prays to God to give him strength and guidance. Her parents are Jennifer Cruz and Efren Cruz. Edillor, Monna V. – is a 16 year-old girl who graduated at Silangan National High school. She lives in Tierra Monte, Silangan San Mateo. She wants to have a better future and to be a CPA someday. She was born on June 20, 1996. She is a simple girl, sometimes naughty, caring, loves to eat footlong and spaghetti. She is also a very jealous person and quick tempered. Her parents are Rosie Edillor and Ramon Edillor. Eroles, Melanie R. – is an 18 year-old girl from Ampid I, San Mateo Rizal born on January 21, 1995. She finished 1st year-3rd year high school at Sta. Cruz Institute, Marinduque. She graduated at St. Mary Integrated Learning School. She wants to achieve her goals and to be a CPA someday. She is simple, serious, and funny at times, quick tempered, loves playing and eating burger. Garcia, Beverly O. – is a 16 year-old girl who graduated at Fortune High school. She wants to be a programmer and encoder. She loves being polite and obedient. She was born on May 8, 1996. Her parents are Cherry Garcia and Pedro Garcia. Letada, Jessa Lynel N.- is a 17 year-old girl from Farmers 2 Tumana, Marikina City. She graduated at Central for Positive Futures and wants to be happy and successful enough according to my goals. She is tall, serious and happy person.Her parents are Lilibeth Letada and Arnel Letada. Macaraeg,Ara Mia Julian C. – is a 17 year-old girl born on December 5,1995 who graduated at Taà ±ong Highschool and lives in Taà ±ong, Marikina City. He wants to be a CPA someday. She is serious, moody, sometimes funny, simple and kind. She doesn’t care about what people might tell her but it doesn’t mean she has nothing to say in return. Her parents are Almira Macaraeg and Aaron Macaraeg. Medina,Jr., Maximino F. – a 16 year-old boy who is studying in Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Marikina. He was born on May 13, 1996. She is a typical college students who is not smart but can absorb ehat the proctor teaches. He is sometimes a lazy student. His parents are Maximino Medina Sr. and Ma. Corazon F. Medina. Boredom in school has different causes that make a student do badly in their learning habit. Its causes could be a simple disinterest. Its effects would either make their school life not so good or their career not so productive. However, this study topic about boredom might not be too interesting to some students. But this would let them know that simple things like boredom could affect their lives. CAUSES OF BOREDOM There are many causes of boredom that a student acquires. There are also such simple factors of becoming bored because of little bit complicated causes that are not popularly known. It is important to have knowledge of a cause of a specific matter. That knowledge would give an idea on how to prevent being bored. Less enjoyable things and topics Topics or lack of challenge can cause boredom. Students become bored if they already know the topic being covered in class. Gifted student, for example grasp concepts easily and quickly and exhibit skill proficiency beyond their grade level. Boredom in school is also caused by lack of application of knowledge and some students might think that subjects or topics they are learning are not relevant to their lives and future careers. Atmosphere and weather The atmosphere and weather are also factors of being bored. For example, for the month of March, students could feel the summer heat; therefore, they cannot focus more on the topic in their class. Thus, it makes them bored once they’ve realized that they cannot cope up with the lessons. Impaired ability of a student to actively focus One more cause of boredom is the impaired ability of a student. Some examples are: Non verbal Learning Disorder (NLD) that impairs a person’s ability to solve problems, think critically or creatively, form concepts and reasons. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) are similar diseases that rob students of the ability to pay attention in class and complete assignments. DISADVANTAGES OF GETTING BORED Effects of boredom would never have any advantages. Unless being on a fantasy-like situation. Boredom makes students do things that is unnecessary for a student to do. Boredom also redirects the students’ attention or focus away from the lectures. Low test scores Boredom may lead students to fail in class by having low test scores. Low test score may be the effect of not being interested in class or not paying attention at all. Poor stability and retention of material Poor retention of materials used in lectures is also a factor of having low grades. Understanding a book or any materials that is used in lectures is important. Those who are too lazy to read the material or cannot cope up with the topic in the book would surely feel bored. Of course, listening to the teacher while reading cannot help you to follow on the discussions properly. Drop-outs Drop-outs may occur if the students are not willing to participate or focus on their learning. However, dissatisfaction with the variety of classes offered, lack of application of knowledge, and disinterest in classes were more common among those who drops their school. EFFECTS TO STUDENTS Most of the students would normally care less about the reason of being bored. However, they are pretty much aware of the effects of it to them. Declination to contribute in country’s productivity Effects of boredom may come to the point that in the future after they graduate, they would not be contributing to the productivity of their country. Failure to reveal skills to succeed in work place Boredom also prevents them to acquire the skills they need to advance in their work that causes poor job performance. Without the skills they need, their workplace, school works, or anything that requires focus will make it hard for the students to finish it without mistakes. Failure to apply themselves in class However, being a student or an employee, boredom surely causes them to fail to apply themselves in their class or workplace. For a student, being so much bored that they are not focusing on the lessons because they are no more interested in it, they cannot participate in recitations and activities. POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS TO HELP STUDENTS Possible solutions that students does to avoid boredom are: reading books unrelated to class, do homework for other class or subject, and chat with their peers. Some could just grab a book; do productive things that could at least satisfy their being bored state. Read books unrelated to class to satisfy yourself Reading is a hobby for many because people lose themselves in an imaginary world as they read. Reading is a good discipline. Reading books that catches your interest surely gets rid of your boredom. Do home works for other classes Home work relieves boredom because it exercises brain capacity and keeps you busy. Doing homework when bored is a good thing to do. Create an artwork Try painting and other recreations to be entertained. Make a collage of your photos or cut-outs from magazines. Draw a sketch. Use watercolors or crayons for your masterpiece. It’s your time to get creative. CHAPTER 9: LACK OF SELF-CONFIDENCE Lack of Self Confidence is having an overall negative view of you, judging oneself or placing a negative value on oneself as a person. A student’s self confidence has a revealing in everything that she/he does. Because of the lack of self confidence, a student can’t have a good academic performance and there’s a possibility that it can lessen a student’s passion to learn and their ability to focus and their willingness to take a risks. A student can have a low self confidence if she/he experience different problems. For example, Accommodations unnecessarily on negative occasions such as failures and disappointments, instead of using the event as a learning experience she/ he choose to think the negative side and also the fear of failure. There are many reasons why a student can’t develop their self confidence. CAUSES OF LACK OF SELF-CONFIDENCE There are many reasons why students lack self confidence. They are based on the experiences you’ve had in life, and the messages that these experiences have given you is the kind of person you are. If your experiences have been negative, your beliefs about yourself are likely to be negative too. These three causes that are prepared is one of those reason why the students has a low self esteem. Setting of unrealistic goal Some students think of the thing which doesn’t really exist or happened. Sometimes they just came up on realizing that it is just an imagination and untruthful. For example, you are the student ad you have your final examination tomorrow but unfortunately you don’t want to review your notes and you’re trying to expect you would pass your exam. As we can see, this can’t be happened unless you are a genius student who doesn’t need any materials because of your stocked knowledge. Another example is when your goal is to become a CEO of a company but you have no experience yet, this goal is not realistic because before you became a CEO you need to have lot of experiences first. Lost of a family member Secondly is the lost of family member, maybe experiencing very traumatic incident may cause decrease in self esteem. For example, after witnessing the death of a mother knowing that they are very close can lead to a feeling of being alone. This can cause hard feelings to a child because she felt like everybody can’t understand her feelings so as a result, her motivation to studies does not go strong. Past experience of failure Third and last is Past experience of failure in a exam, if a student experience that, it can cause a low self esteem. For example, every time that he takes an exam he always gets a failed grade and because of that his confidence is goes down. This is the common reason why students get tired in their studies. This is also can cause a lack of confidence because of the reason that he encounters especially during taking of exams. We all feel afraid some times or the other. At times, because of fear of failure, we do not master courage to try out new things. People generally challenge their own potential to avoid facing any larger failure in life. Failure is generally synonymous with lack of confidence in your own abilities. A lot of people go through this feeling of fear of failure. CLUES TO KNOW IF YOU LACK SELF-CONFIDENCE Self-confidence is the specific drive that brings students in greater heights. People, who are not blessed with those skills, are able to get to the top because they feel and believe that they can do it. Self-confidence is an invisible motivational drive that will make things happen and turn the impossible into a possibility. Self-confidence empowers people beyond their expectations, and if you lack self-confidence, then you are taking away your chance to go the distance. People see you as defensive Some student is become defensive if there’s a thing questioning to them. It can cause a bad or a good reason depending on the answers. Being defensive is also a reason why the self esteem of a student is goes down because sometimes being defensive is not good characteristic to achieve your self esteem. Sometimes student use the defensive way to cover something what is real and too much of being defensive is not good unless things are not real. You give reason for your action unnecessarily You can do other way, you can use explanation and this is a good example. If you think your action is good and others think it is bad try to explain to them to understand it. Explanations are better than being defensive. WAYS TO HELP YOU ENHANCE YOUR SELF-CONFIDENCE To develop the self confidence of a student, you need to focus on the things that can help to improve your self confidence. Improving your self confidence increases your confidence and it is a first step towards finding happiness and a better life. Look at your strength and not your weaknesses Look at your strength and not your weaknesses every time you encounter different problems. Think positively about yourself to counteract it and do the things that give you a good and inspirational feeling. Focus on the positive way not the negative to achieve your goals and dreams in life. Make the decision carefully and do it right. Start thinking positively about yourself Start thinking positively about yourself and make a list of all your positive traits that can help to you develop yourself. You can also ask your friends about your positive traits and this will be helpful to you because it gives to you more idea on what to do and it will help you gain confidence. And you’ll be positively surprised at how many good traits that you have. Act as if you’re confident Don’t be harsh to your decision because being harsh is a wrong move and it gives to you a stress feeling. You can also ask your friend for a suggestion about yourself and to be a more confident student you can express your feelings to others, study your lesson, having fun, and try to become friendly to others. Always think that every trials and hindrances came there has a solution. Like others say, problem is exists because they have a solution. NATURAL REMEDIES Life coaching Life coaching is one of the best tools to improve your self confidence and your set realistic goals. Life coaching is best for the students who have a low self confidence why? Because life coaching helps you to become more proud to your self and it gives to you different ideas to resolve your problems. It is also different from consulting, mentoring, advice, and therapy or counseling. The coaching is a process addresses to a specific personal projects, studies successes, general conditions and transitions in the student life, relationship or profession by examining what is going on right now, discovering what your obstacle or challenges might be and choosing a course of action to make your life be what you want it be. CHAPTER 10: LACK OF MOTIVATION One of the most common problems students face in college includes lack of motivation. As we all know, college life is different from high school and elementary levels. In here, students are free to do what they want. They can get away from their parents, live in dormitories, drink freely and hang out with friends. But aside from that, college students can also experience different frustrations and pressures in studies. There are times when they also feel so bored, tired and weak. This is due to lack of motivation. Motivation is the internal and external factors that stimulate desire and energy in people to be continually interested and committed to a job, role or subject, or to make an effort to attain a goal. CAUSES OF LACK OF MOTIVATION Because of the different factors that affect students in focusing in their studies they continuously undergo to lack of motivation. Sometimes due to their friends, they are being influenced not to make their tasks. Among the causes of lack of motivations are depression, fear of failure, low self-esteem, lack of interest, and stress. Depression Depression is a medical illness that causes a constant feeling of sadness and lack of interest. It affects how the person feels, behaves and thinks. Usually it is being experienced by college students especially when they are far away from home. They tend to feel alone and homesick. Others get depressed because of financial problems, relationships and studies. People with depression find it hard to go about their day-to-day activities. Sometimes they might also feel that life is not worth living. One of the most common symptoms of depression is called anhedonia, or the lack of interest in activities, especially ones that once used to be pleasurable. Depression can wreak havoc on academic and professional success. Treating the depression generally has a very positive effect on motivation and productivity. Fear of failure Some people have a character of being a perfectionist. It means they always want things to be perfect. For them mistakes are failures. This develops an inherent fear of failure, which is presented by avoiding work. Instead, people who are afraid of failing avoid the goal feels safer than trying and not succeeding. This attitude must be change because it will lead to taking things for granted. Students feel the pressure when there are tasks assign to them. They feel nervous whenever the deadline comes. Because of fear to fail in their fields they just simply make things easily in a sense that they do it quickly. This results to unsightly work. Furthermore, there are also students that because of fear to fail did not want to engage in any works. They don’t want to try before quit. Therefore they inclined to lost interest and also lost motivation. Low self-esteem Another cause of lack of motivation is self-esteem. People who have low self-esteem tend to believe that they are not capable of succeeding and often self-sabotage. They will miss deadlines, procrastinate, double-book or put in minimal effort so that the project or task is not perfectly complete, there is something else to blame. Aside from that, low self-esteem decreases a person’s self-confidence. Deflecting personal responsibility helps preserve a delicate sense of self that comes with low self-esteem. Lack of interest Some tasks are uninteresting and that makes them difficult to engage in. Students require frequent rewards and if the school subject or project is not interesting enough, it is natural to not participate in it. This becomes especially problematic when students are involved in major, class or career that is uninteresting. Their attention will be diverted elsewhere, resulting in poor grades or low performance at work. Stress Stress takes up a significant amount of cognitive and emotional bandwidth. Some people cope with stress and feeling overwhelmed by avoiding deadlines or finding triggers to engage in substance use again. Lack of sleep due to stress or overwhelm can also make it difficult to feel motivated. While a person is stress they cannot focus on their works and lose a chance to do their task properly. Students mostly college students are prone to this kind of problem. This is because they are busy in their studies, projects, home works and other activities that can generate stress. In fact, students who are stress-out might also be depressed due to frustration. To avoid being stress you need to give yourself some time to rest and have enough sleep everyday. TECHNIQUES TO HELP YOURSELF GAIN MOTIVATION From our previous lessons we discussed about the different causes why students lack on motivation. For us to overcome this problem we must follow some techniques to help you gain motivation. Develop a primary goal It is important for a student to build or set up a primary goal. This will help them to get motivated and develop themselves. The most common mistake that we make is that we try to take on too many goals at once. One example of this is my experience. At times I always set up too many goals to achieve. I always say to myself that I can do all of this but later I find myself stuck up and finish nothing. I realized that I cannot maintain energy and focus in the goals that I want to accomplish. So it is really necessary for us especially to students to choose one goal and concentrate on it. This will help you to make things always on the line and help you do other goals. Meditation Based on my experience it is really hard to change your habits. It requires great effort in order to get motivated. As students we should always keep our mind fresh for us to have a good outlook in life. Meditation can be a great way to relax and de-stress, as well as to create emotional and spiritual well being. If you’re a person who loves studying or workaholic, you probably don’t have much energy left to feel motivated. If that’s the case, you need to slow yourself down and let your mind relaxes so you can rejuvenate and reenergize your body. Meditation helps you do both of these things. It gives you the opportunity to let your stress and anxiety seep out of your body and allows you to decompress and find the energy to reach the goals you have set for yourself. So, take a few minutes and just breathe. Let out the negative and let in the positive. If you want to stay motivated, you have to work at it. And if you follow this activity, your mind will make motivational thinking a habit. Before you know it, your dreams will be a reality. Fortunately, meditation may help you overcome these same scarcity conversations in your head. Now if you could just start meditating you will also be able to find inner peace. Be physically fit Even though students are busy in their studies and other activities, they should not forget to take care of themselves. They must stay strong, healthy and physically fit. A person who is physically has much higher energy than those who does not engage in physical activities. Exercising is a good example of making your body glowing. It is not just about aerobic capacity and muscle size. Surely, exercise improves your health but it has even greater benefits for your energy, mood, and brain power. In addition, eating plenty of vegetables and drinking 8-10 glasses of water will contribute to your body’s growth and development. This will help you gets motivated in every action that you obtain. Conclusion Every student should acquire or should know the proper applying of decision making in able for them to assess their expected outcomes. Decision making can make your life easier and full of happiness if you just practice controlling and managing your decisions wisely. Every problem in college life has its own solution, the only thing we need to do is to know and find it. The tips and advices in this book can help you to your problem as a college student but the only one who can really solve your problem is your own self. Money Management is a very effective way to make your budget last up to last day of the month. Although it is difficult to achieve, you’ll start making hard decisions, cannot go to all of your barkada’s hang-outs, but like all other things, we just need practice and be mindful of wherever our money goes. Money Management is very useful especially for students if they only know how to use it appropriately and it can help them to become smart in handling financial figures. It is only a problem when there is a shortage of money and an inappropriate use of allowances. The recommended tips on this book can help students to be guided in managing money. If it can’t really solve money shortage immediately, it can still become a basis for a college student in their first step in keeping their money in the right place. Our wallets may not have a stomach but it is always better if it is full. When we think on the positive side of pressure on studies, we  can definitely tell that it helps us to be matured and take the challenges we faced by encouraging yourself not to give up easily. Remember that when there is a problem there will always answer for that. Just take time and not decide urgent because when you decide when you’re under pressure you can think for the consequences of your decisions that you made. When you’re under pressure, take that as challenge for you to grow up. Pressure helps you to work hard on your work so be thankful. We can attain the things that we want to if we just strive hard. But also remember when there is positive, there is negative Peer pressure can be good or bad but it depends on the person that thinks about it. He can use it for the betterment of his future career or future life. It really plays a very big factor when it comes to the development stage mostly of the teenagers. Peer pressure is a part of every teenager’s life, this is where they find themselves and discover what kind of personality they have. Being a college student, having a relationship or falling in love to the opposite sex is an unavoidable thing. Relationship is good in the fact that this gives you a better determination in studying, somehow makes you feel better to school every day and to impress during class the one you love. But fails to know their limits lead to a very complicated situation which somehow leads to the destruction of your dreams. So it is always good to think a hundred times before engaging to those activities which is not yet ready or not yet allowed for both of you to engage with. Remember that when reality fails, nothing you could do in order to correct those wrongs you have done. Relationships are good, but sometimes it can be a problem. There are times in every relationship where a couple will have a disagreement or an issue. Disagreements between couples can distract students from their school work and add to already high stress levels. Break-ups can drive some students even further into depression. Depression is a distressing experience but there are many kinds of help available. Sadly, you may not always get the help you need, sometimes because you may feel too hopeless about your situation to ask. It can change lots of things in one’s personality, especially colleges. I think students should know their limits to handle the things that made them stress. Depression doesn’t have any positive outcome to us but sometimes we need to take the problems seriously, and treat them as a nature of every man. Think on the positive ways to solve it. Being bored is a choice that you make when the first thing or second you think of to do is unavailable to you. You’re left with things that you considered less enjoyable, and thus you’re bored. When I was in this situation, the solution to that problem was easy. I opened new doors. I looked for new things to do. Lack of Self confidence is one of the biggest problems of a student because being some students possesses and acquires this. There are many reason why students self confidence goes down. But in order to boost and develop your self esteem, you need the help of this book. Students need to develop their selves in acquiring confidence to achieve good grades and a better life in future. Everyone holds opinions about the type of person they are but keep in mind that these opinions are at the heart of self-esteem and it will affect how you feel about and value yourself. Self-esteem fixed your beliefs about yourself and it can change throughout your life as a result of circumstance and experience. If you have low self-esteem, these beliefs will often be negative. You may not focus on what you feel to your weaknesses and mistakes that you have made but to those strengths. Learned that Self-confidence is extremely important in almost every aspect of our lives, yet so many people struggle to find it. Sadly, this can be a vicious circle: People who lack self-confidence can find it difficult to become successful. Lack of motivation is the last topic that is discussed in this book. We know that we cannot avoid being lazy or having lack of interest in our works at times. It is normal, but making this a habit is not good. As a student we always have to be motivated in every action we do so that we can come up to a great work. Behind every goal that we desire to achieve motivation has been the influence behind it. Motivation is the force of life, and the drive of all actions. In order to succeed we have to push ourselves and take a lot of effort to motivate ourselves. 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