Personal Narrative Essay Assignment

2010/10/24

Sophomore ELP “Dynamic You”

131203 Haruna Komiya

Professor Ken

Personal Narrative Essay Assignment

   When I was a student in the 2^nd year at junior high school, one day, my older sister taught me one Internet Site. I forgot the name of site, but the contents of it was really shocking and impressive to me. The site had the power to change the rest of my life totally. This encounter shaped current my big identity. Without the knowledge about the topic of the site, I do not know how I can decide what I should do and want to do at every situation in my life.

This site was about animal welfare.

  When my sister taught me the site at the first time, she said, ”The contents of this site are really shocking. But I think we should know about it, so I will give it you”. First of all, I did not have an interest toward it, so for several days I had not been checked it out. I had already heard that this site is about animals by my sister, but I did not expect anything to this site.

   However, when at last I read this site, I lost my words. The feeling was beyond expression. I did not know at all how cruelly animals are treated by humans in the field of animal testing, far industry, and slaughterhouses and so on until then. I was 14 years old at the time. Children around this age tend to be so sensitive. I guess that lots of too emotional expressions ought to be used in this site by the writer to make the readers feel sympathy toward animals and boycott meat or cosmetics which need animal testing. But I could not read the site critically. So, I was easily influenced by it a lot. My heart was strongly hurted.

    After knowing the facts about animals, for several days I had been crying. Even if a little bit, when I think about it, I could not stop crying. My heart was wrunged stringly, I did not know such big sorrow, anger and grief until then. Gradually, such strong feeling made my current identity and dream. By being influenced, I decided to live to improve animals’ positions. But practically, I could not put anything into action. Until becoming high school student, what I did for my faith was just reading books about it and crying.

   However, when I became a high school student, I became a vegetarian. I noticed that only reading books and thinking that ”Treat animals fairly!” is not enough. I wanted to do something by myself as an action. So, I made the first action for my belief at that time.

 I think eating is one of the most important factors in our life. But I changed the habit totally by my strong will. My life was totally changed by encountering the site my sister gave me at that day.

 

   This my identity which is being vegetarian and believing the importance of animal welfare strongly gives me lots of power, and I love it and myself who believe it so much. But on the other hand, I think sometimes I am not good curious person about many things for my identity. Relying on my identity is necessary, but at the same time I need to pay attention not to rely on it too much and try to get broader outlook .

When I make a decision about something, for example what I eat or what topic I write an essay about, I always decide by making animal welfare the basis. This is really comfortable for me because I do not have to be irresolute any time. Animal welfare always gives me the way. I think this is good for me, however, unfortunately this thinking way narrows my outlook.

   Many of my friends have many varieties of interests. Sometimes they have an interest about political issues, so they write an essay about the issue but at the different opportunity, they are curious about human rights, so they participate in some events about it and get knowledge. I think having interest toward many kinds of things is necessary to become a better critical thinker and to have broader outlook. Yet I have already had too strong interest toward animal welfare, so hardly I have strong interest toward other topics. That is problem.

   I was lucky so that I could find a belief toward which I can say is the most important for me. But at the same time, I am losing so many opportunities to have broader outlook toward this world.

   

In the current world, it is too hard to find a job about animal welfare, so while preserving the interests toward it, I should have different strong interest toward different area, and find a suitable job for my characteristics. I need to have more attitudes to try to experience many kinds of things toward which even if I can not have so strong interests, as possible as I can, learn a lot of things and get broader outlook. I

(852 words)

Assighnment #6

My Conflict Management Strategy

1: Compromising/ 31
2: Problem Solving/ 25
3: Withdrowing/ 24
4: Smoothing/ 23
5: Forcing/ 19

I think probably this result apply to me.
I tend to compromise many things, they are almost all small, though. For example, when we stay at hotel, we must decide which course, for example French or Japanese, we want to eat as dinner at the hotel. At the time, even if I thought I want to eat Japanese one, if my accompany choose French, I tend to give up Japanese easily. And instead of giving up Japanese, I ask her to buy and eat Osenbei which is Japanese snack, in our room.
If I take more time to make better choice about deciding dinner menu, we might have it. For example if we ask, we might know different options, like viking, or not eating at this hotel and find a different restaurante.
 But I tend to not take long time to solve comflict. This is because I tend to avoid to do so  for sth which is unsure that whether I can have good solution about it or not. If I know that taking long time to make problem-solving always makes better results, I will take.
I need to take more time to make better solution for everyone, even if it is uncerten whether it is really made.
If I can do it, I think I can become better conflict dealer.

Assignment #5

  Chapter8 "Lighten up"

     When I encounter bad situations, I always think that I and the all members in the situations need relaxed atomosphera and laughing. In fact, like as the author says, after we can have good mood and laughing, things become going better. Absolutely celebration and laughing at something even if a little bit, are neccesary for succeess for everything, I believe.
     I am belong to PAPOOSE which is a tennis club of ICU. Now, we have a big trouble. From next year, we, the members of 3rd year (13), must lead PAPOOSE. That means we must make all schedules for our practice and club-trips for ourselves, and make better atomosphera in this circle, because 12's members made not so good mood in PAPOOSE in their year. We want to chang it. To renew this PAPOOSE, we all think that we should change many rules and traditions which have been used for a long time. But of course, it is really tough thing to do so. Maybe many members are needed. However, unfortunately, so many 13's my friends quit PASOOSE these days, and now the number of 13 is only 6~7.
     First of all, we became negative, so that we thought  even keeping this organization normal, is hard. But gradually, we became laughing at this situation. We laugh at ourselves like this," How pity we are!!!!hahaha".
We have relaxed atomosphera now. I hope with this atomosphera and nice jokes, PAPOOSE become better club.

Assignment #4

   When I have conflict, I and my organization tend to avoid to talk about it. And also, if the organization has trouble-makers, I tend to try to push them away. I try not to have any relationship with them. I never give any respect to them.
  
    In a  community I belong to, there was a kind of troublemaker-person.  Originally, he is really nice guy. He was so kind to everyone in the community and always considered other people's feeling well. He was loved by everyone.
    But he could not know what he wants to do, and what he should do then. So, for many years he has been suffering and doing almost nothing except for staying home, and finally, these days, he quit the community and now he is always staying at home.
   All members loved him, but he tended to say too negative things. So, gradually we did not listen to his talk so much. We did not give enough attention and respects to him, I think. He thinks negatively, that means he was a kind of troublemaker because we all members wante to think everything positively.
   Now I think  that while he was belong to this community, we should have had discussion with  him about his attitude. My organization did not want to have any conflict with him, so we did not have.
   If we could have discussion, we would have conflict. But the conflict never continue for a long time. He is smart. Like McNeish, he also ought to have changed his mind. And also at that time, my organization also may have changed the attitude toward him. Everything might have gone well. But, he had gone.

  
    Especially, to make troublemakers close to me ought to be really tough and stressful act for me until I get usd to. But I do not want to do the same thing as this mistake.
I learned good ideas from this book, so by using them, I want to deal with conflict and troublemakers better from now on.  

Assignment #3

     To keep my stamina, I always take care of enough and good quality's sleep and nutrition. All days when I do not have my part-time job, I go to bed by 11:30, and get up by 5:30.

     To avoid "summit fever", I think we need enough amount and quality rest by doing our own interest. Sometimes, when we feel strong stress and our mental was strongly exhausted, we need to forget  the new tasks completely. After forgetting something, there is the time when we can try the challeng again, but there is the time also when we cannot try again and should give it up. We always need to pay attention to our bodies' SOS.

    Few days ago, I quit my part-time job, Sukiya so that  the place of work was really terrible. I had known that I feel too strong stress from this place for a long time when I was working at Sukiya, but I could not quit for my future.
    The biggest cause why I feel such big stress was interpersonal relationships. I thought that quiting something easily by the interpersonal problems is bad, because when I start to have a job, I will have so much oppotunity to communicate with people whom I do not get along with. But I need to have good relathinships with them also in the job. Maybe, if I always give everything up easily for the communication problems now,  I cannot have good relationships with anyone in the future also. Therefore, I did not quit Sukiya's job easily for a long time even if I had felt stress for my future's good interpersonal relationships.
    
    However, unfortunately around 1 week ago, my body gave me SOS. My body had an unusual phenomena which I have not ever experienced. I felt fear about it. It was not a fever, but I guess this phenomena was a kind of "summit fever" by my part-time job, because these days I have not felt so big stress except for the job. And also in fact, now I have already quit it, and my condition became better rapidly.
   
     To weaken the stress I felt at this time, I did so many things for Out-put. Exactry, I expressed my negative feeling to my close people and in the diary so many times, and I thought that doing so made my mental relaxed.
However, they could not prevend me from akind of "summit fever". It may be because these out-put was too weak to reduce my stress. But if it was so, I do not know what should I do at the time when is like this time.
  
    When I become depresseed, first of all, I spend so much time alone, listen to not happy songs, write down my negative feeling on my diary, and sometimes cry. By doing so, I can put myself at the most depressed point fo me. After that, I try to become happy. I express my feeling including negative one, to others and laugh and have great time with them. I become positive by doing so rapidly like usual.
  
    So, I think I know howto deal with myself when I feel stress. Yet at this time, this was not useful. It might be because the term between 1st stress I felt in my part-time job and 2nd one was too short. but if  this guess is correct, I need to find another way to reduce my stress.
   
Conclusion: Now I should find great ways to deal with my mental for my good stamina as a leader.        

#2

When I encounter adversity or potential setback, I always say to myself, “Don’t worry, you can do it absolutely. You have so many people who understand and love you. You are really lucky person to have such people. You are always happy and lucky person, so you ought to be lucky at this time, also. Do your best! BUT if you suffer from this new task too much, you can always run away from it! You do not have to overextend!

When I have difficulties, I encourage myself by saying like this. Of course, I know that this thinking may not be so positive, because I assume the situation when I give up and lose. In the Shackleton’s situation, if he thought like me, that means his death. But I believe that my thinking way is not so positive, but so optimistic.

   I think that “optimistic” and “positive” are totally different words from each other. “Optimistic” includes negative-ness, but “positive” never does because this has opposite meaning to “negative”.

Optimistic person almost always thinks that everything around him goes well, but he sometimes thinks negatively. He sometimes gives sth up. By doing so, he can release himself from stressful life, and he believes even if he gives it up, he can have different goals, happiness and so on, soon.

On the other hand, positive person is different. He never thinks about bad situation, like defeat or setback. He always believes that he will absolutely win.

 Therefore, according to my definitions of “positive” and “optimistic”, Shackleton was really “positive” person, because he never thought about his defeat (his death), and I am optimistic person.

 When I took the entrance examination of ICU, I was really optimistic. I thought “even if I fail, that is ok. Failing means that ICU is not suitable school for me. Relax!” Thanks for this thinking, I could enjoy the test, and could enter ICU.

 When I think optimistically, I become really relaxed and happy, even if I am depressed.

My definitions might be wrong, and to think optimistically might be not good. But when I think optimistically, less stress builds up than think positively, I think. Thus, I want to be optimistic person.k

Assignment #1

Long-term Goal

   I would like to find a "New Mark" about animal welfare for my future's career, and with my leadership I want to improve animal's position.

   My interent is animal welfare. If possible, I would like to have a job about it in the future, not just doing a volunteer work to improve animal's position in our society. In short, I want to get wages from work about animal welfare .

   First of all, I will define the term 'animal welfare' in my thought, because it has so many aspects. I think Animal Welfare includes so many kinds of issues to improve animal's position which are oppressed by usually human, for exmple, animal testing, slaughterhouses and vegetarianism, animal furs, pets and health center, etc. Especially in these issues, I am interested in vegetarianism and the laws about animal testing in Japan. So, now in my writing, animal welfare means only these topics.

   Before, I wanted to become a nutritionist for vegetarian, because if I can find  new great benefits to be vegetarians,  give oppotunity to people to think about becoming vegitarians by teaching these new benefits, and some people become vegetarians by my advice or something, even if a little bit, the amount of consumed meat ought to decrease. Such changing affect the business ways in slaughterhouses. Smaller numbers of livestock in one slaughterhouse is desireble. I hoped less livestock suffer in slaughterhouses.

However, these days I noticed that the study about nutrition is not suitable for me, through studying about it. I was really shocked. I lost my dream.

For the person who lost her dream, the shackleton's idea "Find a new mark" is really impressive. I want to find something new thing to do about animal welfare work, I do not know this is about which one, vegetarianism or laws, though. Still, my Egde Goal is improving animals positions by my act which affect people's minds, even if a little bit. I will do my best to find my new mark to achieve my goal.


Short- term Goal

Shackleton claims that "Do something!", so I will do so.
I will meet a woman who is really famous for her significant work about animal welfare in Japan, next week. At the time, I will convince her to work togather with me at her office.
I want to work at her office as a kind of a volunteer worker, because I think I can learn so many things about animal welfare there, and know what I can do by myself for animals as a leader.
I do not know this my short-term goal is related to leadership, but I think the success of this convincing needs my negociation skill, confidential atomosphera, etc. which are required for leaders.
I will make her relaxed by having a nice chat, and give her all reasons why I want to work with her. By doing so, I believe she can know what I hope, and can decide what kind of jobs she will give me easily. This is good for both of us.

I believe my goal is achieved.