Studies in Professionalism in Education Training Free Essays

I am as of now utilized in the post 16 preparing area as a mentor on the ‘entry to employment’ program (e2e). The e2e program is intended to be adaptable and individual, with the point of outfitting youngsters with the vital aptitudes to get autonomous; self-spurred; educated and engaged to assume responsibility for their own lives. Students move in the direction of reasonable yet testing focuses on that lead to movement onto appropriate preparing or work openings. We will compose a custom article test on Studies in Professionalism in Education Training or on the other hand any comparative theme just for you Request Now There are 3 essential strands to the e2e program; fundamental and key aptitudes (proficiency, numeracy, correspondence etc†¦); individual and social turn of events and professional turn of events. The program is custom fitted to suit the individual needs of an assortment of youngsters who are locked in on it. All students are matured somewhere in the range of 16 and 18 years and are not taking part in any type of post 16 learning, or in any type of business. The program itself isn't capability driven. Be that as it may, open doors for the accomplishment of declarations are accessible all through the course. There is no set time limit for the e2e program guaranteeing that students can work at a pace fit to their aptitudes, needs and conditions †students can spend as meager or as long (sensibly speaking) on the program so as to effectively accomplish their objectives. The strand I instruct is professional turn of events. This consolidates instructional meetings, for example, CV building; talk with strategies; work looking and supporting business. Learning is individualized, in this way addressing the requirements over a scope old enough and capacity. Demonstrable skill to me is surpassing the principles as set by different government workplaces and guaranteeing that the administration youngsters access at my association is a quality one. Further instruction has gotten a lot of analysis throughout the only remaining century and this has been reflected in the pay rates of the coaches in this segment instead of those in the necessary training part. To me being an expert is about mentality, conduct, self introduction and having a guarantee to progress. How we act in our jobs is principal to gaining the regard and valuation for our kindred specialists, administrators and in fact the individuals getting to the administrations we offer. The students that get to our administration are normally low level (beneath section 1) and many need inspiration to learn. As the National Foundation for Educational Research directed examination on members partaking in e2e, â€Å"Around 33% of youngsters met announced negative school encounters. These identified with issues with different understudies, negative associations with instructors, absence of accomplishment and the apparent superfluity of what they were educated. Many had been removed from school or had avoided themselves. † (http://www. nfer. air conditioning. uk/research-zones/pims-information/synopses/eet-section to-business. cfm This gives some sign of the challenges confronting mentors in this part and it is my conviction that leading a program that reflects school will just serve to demoralize students from getting to this course. Accordingly, in spite of the fact that we should be proficient, we should likewise offer something other than what's expected to the educational plan offered in mandatory training. In this way it is essential to consider Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Basic Human Needs. The central matters being; physical solace, wellbeing and haven, love and having a place, confidence prompting self-actualisation. Further instruction in the UK has seen numerous progressions during the most recent 10 years. Concerns were raised by the legislature that Further Education was not creating a talented enough workforce in accordance with universal gauges, affecting upon Britain’s practical suitability. Other EU nations supposedly was delivering an a lot higher talented and prepared workforce. The conviction was that a reason for this was an absence of appropriately qualified school personnel in FE. This moved the idea that all educating and preparing staff working in the FE division ought to be able to the standard set by standard schools. It was felt that by doing this, gauges of the UK workforce would be raised. In 1999 FENTO (Further Education National Training Organization) was propelled. They were answerable for distinguishing needs inside the FE area. In 2000 FENTO proposed a lot of measures, which tended to more extensive issues of expert turn of events and considered another instructing capabilities arrange. These gauges comprised of three principle components: Professional information and getting, abilities and properties and key regions of instructing. In 2005 Lifelong Learning UK (LLUK) was shaped to deal with the change of instructor preparing. All FE instructors presently need to enlist with the Institute for Learning (IfL) which is a piece of LLUK, and screens preparing and records area preparing needs. Since beginning changes, instructing norms in FE have additionally evolved and advanced. In March 2006 the White Paper ‘Further Education: Raising Skills, Improving Life Chances’ featured further needs to build up a considerably more profoundly gifted workforce. It states, â€Å"This is a colossal test, on the grounds that there are some profound situated and long-standing shortcomings in our national abilities. We have set up significant change programs for 14-multi year olds and grown-up aptitudes, sponsored by generous venture. Those changes are realizing genuine advancement. Be that as it may, there is far to go to raise abilities and capability levels for youngsters and grown-ups to world standards† (White Paper ‘Further Education: Raising Skills, Improving Life Chances’, 2006). It likewise proceeds to state that FE foundations are key to accomplishing world norms in the UK workforce, however are right now not understanding their maximum capacity in being the main impetus behind aptitudes. The paper paints a bleak picture regarding abilities levels of the UK in contrast with other created nations, and with the Leitch report featuring the aptitudes requirement for 2020, plainly change is vital for the UK to contend in the worldwide monetary market. The monetary strategic at the center of the proposition, with the focal point of the FE area to be preparing youngsters and grown-ups with the aptitudes and abilities that address the issues of bosses. The recommendations spread out in this white paper were executed in the Further Education and Training Act 2007. Changes, for example, the above resoundingly affect associations, for example, mine. We need to guarantee that the government’s vision and focuses for what's to come are grasped and taken forward in the best conceivable manner, in this manner requesting that we, as FE representatives, are proficient in all parts of our work. So how would we as an association guarantee the responsibility and nature of administration that is normal by our legislature? Right off the bat it is basic that we have frameworks set up that adequately transmit data to staff. Precise and significant data and correspondence are crucial so as to transmit and successfully execute plans that will maintain the government’s wishes in respects proposition for FE. My association has a quality improvement division which consistently screens the presentation of the organization against gauges set out by offices, for example, the Office for Standards in Education (ofsted), Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and some more. FE foundations are currently dependent upon review by ofsted of which their point is toâ€Å"inspect and direct to accomplish greatness being taken care of by youngsters and youngsters, and in instruction and aptitudes for students of all ages† (www. ofsted. gov. uk). This division is pivotal for the continuation of upgrades inside instructive settings. Despite the fact that misjudged by numerous individuals as ‘harrowing’ and ‘stressful’, the investigation procedure that this organization conducts is the stage for which FE suppliers need to assemble their arrangement. Ofsted assessments are intended to help improvement in administrations, raise goals and aid the accomplishment of better expectations inside instructive settings. The quality improvement group in my association follow the Common Inspection Framework as directed by ofsted. This guarantees we are offering the types of assistance and satisfying the guidelines set by the legislature. So as to discover that training staff are in accordance with this system, ordinary exercise perceptions occur by skillful staff. Via doing these perceptions, staff can utilize the criticism to persistently improve their training. It is additionally expected of instructing staff to self assess and ponder each exercise they educate. This is a key piece of polished methodology inside educating. I will examine in more detail later in this paper the qualities and significance of reflection. The quality improvement group are additionally liable for authentic documentation utilized by all staff. These are routinely inspected and refreshed and imparted to all staff. This guarantees all staff are utilizing similar records and makes consistent procedures that are trailed by all. Just as ofsted there are numerous different organizations that direct the conveyance of FE in the UK. One of these is the QCA. As a supplier that conveys capabilities in an assortment of subjects the QCA is a significant wellspring of data. The QCA keep up and build up the National Curriculum and authorize capabilities to suitable levels so as to address the issues of students, bosses and the economy. As we convey certify capabilities it is pivotal that we follow the rules set out by the QCA to guarantee we are showing the right information and abilities that students need to accomplish the norms set. We additionally need to cling to granting bodies, for example, Edexcel and City Guilds who give the capabilities which we convey. Just as authoritative p

HISTORY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

HISTORY - Essay Example As Lynch calls attention to, one of the letters kept in touch with New Orleans’ Daily Delta from the opportunity development contenders expresses that the hued populace cherishes their home, their property, and their own laves and are prepared to shed their blood for shielding their privileges. The activists got suspicious of the government’s arrangements and methodologies too. The administration had not given any consideration to the inflexible savagery towards the dark extremist; and then again, there was absence of government mediation. These issues caused them go to outfitted self-protection, and much of the time they wound up in gore. All blacks engaged in the development and they required a dark solidarity and patriotism. Similarly, blacks in the northern networks began to draw consideration against the uncontrolled bigotry winning in the state. The staggering issues, for example, the private isolation, provocations from the police and authorities, and the absence of business openings were going about as power for the dark opportunity developments in the eighteenth century. Besides, the self improvement foundations composed the blacks and assumed a significant job in molding the lives of the free dark individuals. As Nuruddin (Ed. Ezra, 2) calls attention to, the development of the generosity affiliations, common guide social orders, autonomous African American denominational houses of worship, and semi free schools added to the opportunity development. The later upsets operating at a profit opportunity occurred after the time of Revolutionary war when the blacks were educated. Renowned noteworthy characters like Richard Allen and Prince Hall established a few foundations, for example, the African Masonic cabins, Church organizations and Free African Society before the finish of 18thâ century. These foundations were later formed into autonomous and separate organizations that encouraged molding the lives of the free

Issues Analysis- Indigenous People Essay Example for Free

Issues Analysis-Indigenous People Essay As the British showed up on the place where there is the native individuals they wanted to assimilate the native individuals into their way of life to work in the new state. The native individuals attempted to keep away from the pioneers yet as the land turned out to be increasingly involved contact got unavoidable. Representative Phillip needed to maintain a strategic distance from any superfluous clash so he treated the native individuals with generosity and requested his officers not to shoot any of them. He caught numerous aboriginals and one of them was Bennelong. He needed them to learn English and go about as interpreters between the Indigenous gatherings and the British. There were conflicts over the land and culture of Aboriginals and the British. Phillip obliviously requested his officers to fire at the Aboriginal individuals as he has just attempted to cultivate them and absorb them into the British culture and society was not filling in as he had trusted. The Aboriginal people groups saw that the British pioneers were setting up wall clearing the land, confining access and presenting various creatures; so they began to feel that the British were attacking, this lead to reprisal from the Aboriginals. By 1797, perspectives and approach toward the Indigenous people groups had changed. No longer did the administration choose to absorb the Indigenous people groups, but instead have another approach and that was to ‘keep them out’. In 1800 Governor King had answered to the British government the quantity of Aboriginal individuals murdered in battling was far more prominent than the quantity of British individuals slaughtered. The normal reaction from the administration to the Aboriginal opposition was to send endeavors of binds to rebuff any gatherings that undermined pioneers and homesteads. These fighters chased and slaughtered gatherings of Indigenous individuals that were thought to have been taking stock, food and by and large bothering the pilgrims. Government directions after 1800 were to fire at all indigenous people groups until they were far away from British settlements. As the British settlement gotten greater, the Indigenous people groups lost increasingly more of their territory and a large number of their relatives. They turned out to be progressively dependent on the British pioneers to give them food, asylum and water. As their customary life was gradually dissolving, numerous Aboriginal individuals began living on the edges of towns or began filling in as hirelings or slaves for the British settlements. The powerlessness for the Aboriginal individuals to prevail in this period it caused an adjustment in the European perspective on the time, that Indigenous people groups were mediocre, and couldn't take care of themselves or the land. Anyway not all contact was rough with the British pilgrims and the Aboriginal individuals. Now and again there was cordial contact and harmony. Some Aboriginal people groups intentionally turned out to be a piece of the British society. There is additionally a lot of proof that gatherings of Indigenous people groups helped Europeans when they were in a tough situation and this was regularly, as life for British pilgrims was very hard in the early long periods of the province. English colonization of Australian began in Sydney in 1788. The quickly happening outcomes inside long stretches of the main homesteaders appearance was a rush of European pandemic ailments, for example, smallpox, chickenpox, flu and measles. These maladies influenced the biggest populace densities where these illnesses could spread simpler. The following outcome of British settlement was water assets and the administration of land. The pilgrims saw Indigenous Australians as Nomads with no cultivated idea of land proprietorship, who could be charged from the land needed for cultivating. The aboriginals would handily move somewhere else. The effect on the aboriginals was lethal as there was loss of conventional terrains, water assets and food sources, as the networks were influenced by European illnesses. The otherworldly and social union and prosperity was influenced in view of the networks being constrained away from the customary zones. The pilgrims brought explicitly transmitted infections, and indigenous Australians had no resilience and subsequently significantly diminished richness and birth-rates. Pioneers were liable for presenting the liquor, opium and tobacco, and substance misuse has stayed an immense issue for Indigenous people group. The aftereffect of sickness, loss of land and savagery diminished the Aboriginal populace by an expected 90% between 1788 and1900. Smallpox alone murdered over half of the Aboriginal populace. Up to 3000 white individuals were executed by Indigenous Australians in the wilderness brutality. Most Indigenous individuals turned into a critical wellspring of work. The vast majority of the work was unpaid, rather they made due on the apportions that the laborers got, for example, types of food, attire promotion other fundamental necessities. In numerous territories of Australia Christian missions gave food and dress for the indigenous individuals and opened schools and halfway houses for Indigenous kids. In certain spots of Australia frontier governments gave a few assets. In 1914 around 1200 Aboriginal individuals addressed the invitation to battle as the war was frantic for newcomers. Numerous Indigenous individuals guaranteed they were Indian or cook islanders to keep away from the laws of no indigenous individuals being in the protection power. http://en. wikipedia. organization/wiki/History_of_Indigenous_Australians#The_impact_of_British_settlement There are numerous wellbeing advancing systems today, for example, ‘Two Ways Together: NSW Aboriginal Affairs Plan 2003-2012’, ‘COAG Agreement, they set six holes for shutting the impediment hole between the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people’, CEO execution understandings. Resetting the relationship with Indigenous Australians is significant and this organization must be deferential. It takes the two gatherings to have any kind of effect. Ongoing examination by Reconciliation Australia demonstrates that Australians want to more readily comprehend the Indigenous people groups. Recognizing Indigenous drawback is a national duty that will require the commitment of the Australian Community. The legislature has focused on working in association with Indigenous Australians, organizations, state and region governments and network associations. http://www. skwirk. com. au/p-c_s-56_u-415_t-1040_c-4006/english native relations-1788-1820/qld/sose-history/first-australians-and-the-european-appearances/settlement-1788-1850.

Corporate social responsibility in Asia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Corporate social obligation in Asia - Essay Example By starting instruction, condition and social insurance programs, the administration has built up a road that organizations are currently receiving. For instance, in 2009 the Chinese government propelled a sweeping tree planting program and accordingly Chinese based firms set up tree planting as a component of their CSR activities. Another remarkable perspective that causes China to keep up a solid business to business relationship is the help among different associations that work in China. For instance, in view of its push to help little undertakings and ration nature, Wokai profits by the help of Cathay Pacific Airways and Morrison and Foerster that offers money related and legitimate help separately (Chen and Dean, 2007). One of the significant difficulties that confronted China is the prior instances of infringement of human rights that made a negative picture of the nation business environment. Significant cases that made a negative picture for the legislature was the utilizati on of jail work so as to deliver gainful items in the global market. In the region culture, Alan (2003) contends that the legislature has been noted to abuse human rights by mistreatment of people who occupied with exercises that compromised the control of the administration. Be that as it may, in its push to make speculators certainty, the Chinese government has occupied with exchange with remote nations on the issues of human rights. For instance, in the previous 5 years, the administration has welcomed appointments from Britain, France, Australia and France to get to the human right circumstance. The significant nation that has driven in the completion of human rights infringement in China is US. In their investigations on the effect of human rights on business speculators in china,... One of the significant perspectives that make Japan a nation with business openings is the broad utilization of CSR in the Japanese corporate administration. When contrasted with Europe and the US where firms targets achieving momentary returns for their investors, Japanese organizations place high an incentive to all the partners including the clients, representatives, investors and individuals from the network (Waldenberger, 2007). In such manner, greater part of organizations in Japan have set up divisions that manage corporate social duties. Yamaha Company, a Japanese based firm is one of the key organizations that have started a solid CSR office. Through this office, the organization started Yamaha Forest reforestation program in 2010. During the main period of the program that occurred in Sukabumi Regency, Yamaha Motor Company as a team with Yamaha Corporation planted around 115,110 trees. Different associations that are occupied with the ecological preservation in Japan incorp orate Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and University of Kuningan among others.

What I wish Id known, and what Im glad I knew

What I wish I’d known, and what I’m glad I knew At the CPW Womens Leadership Lunch, one of the prefrosh at my table asked me what I wish Id known before I came to MIT. I wish Id known from Day 1 that most of my professors didnt waltz unobstructed from success to success to success from the day they were born (Im pretty sure that a couple did, but thats beside the point.) Many have had their own struggles, academically and professionally, and many know what its like to feel low on self-confidence. Im glad that I learned by the end of Year 1 that a professor can be a mentor and a listening ear and not just an instructor. I hope and think that I never participated in a conversation that involved comparing SAT scores, high school grades, or AP scores. I hear freshmen doing that sometimes, and it makes me sad. I wish I had never worried about how I compared to my fellow incoming MIT students. I wish Id thought of every class block as a precious commodity. I have two semesters left, and there are at least fifteen or twenty classes that I would LOVE to take but wont have room for. Entire departments I wont ever taste. If I had fully appreciated this as an incoming freshman, I would have ASEd out of 18.02 (I definitely could have) and used my 8.01 credit. I held back because I was nervous, and thought it would be better to make sure I had a solid foundation before moving on. Its obvious to me now, though, that I did have a solid foundation: in particular, I had a great vector calculus teacher. I would have been challenged more, certainly, but that would have been a good thing. I will forever rue what turned out to be a decision to not take two additional classes. I wish Id spent more time with my living group (French House) freshman fall. I think I knew that my dorm was supposed to be my home-away-from-home for four years. I think I also knew that this is a pretty big deal; I expected that having a home on campus would be important. But it took me over a semester to understand that it takes physical presence to build a home away from home. You need to be physically present to build meaningful relationships with your college family. This should have been as high a priority for me as trying out eight billion extracurricular activities. I wish I had realized that while these four years dont last very long, they are packed from the beginning with new things and life-changing moments, and that its important from the beginning to become a familiar friendly face among the people with whom you will be sharing many of those moments. I wish Id known that the deadline for certain summer internships, and programs like MISTI, is BEFORE THE END OF FALL SEMESTER. Before the end of fall semester. Also, you need letters of recommendation for these things. Did I mention that the deadline for MISTI-France, to give an example, is BEFORE THE END OF FALL SEMESTER? I wish Id taken the freaking swim test the moment I got off crutches. I am so, so unspeakably glad that I made it a habit from Day 1 to attend talks and ask questions. Freshman year, I was a regular at the Brain and Cognitive Science colloquium; running up to the speaker to ask questions is ultimately how I got my first UROP. Since then, my interests have meandered, and I began regularly attending the Physics and Astrophysics department colloquia. This has been such an important habit, professionally. I have a much broader appreciation for the range of research conducted out there, and have gotten to know speakers as well as other regular attendees by cornering people to ask follow-up questions. Its also been satisfying to track my progress over the years. Freshman year, I could hang onto a talk for an average of probably 5 minutes, if at all. I was lucky if I knew half the words in the title. Sophomore year, it was probably 10-15 minutes, out of an hour. That summer, I worked at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory all summer, and when I came back I could cling onto most astrophysics colloquia for at least 70, 80% of the time. Im glad that I made friends at other universities, and that I left campus to visit them every now and then. I went on a few observing trips with Harvards astronomy club, for example. This year, I found out that BU has an active astronomy club, and I wish that Id thought to look into that my freshman year. Yeah, MIT students are awesome, and yeah, theres a startling amount of diversity in character and interests among MIT students but we all go to MIT. Being in touch with friends with dramatically different college experiences has helped me maintain perspective; I think its important to know that your colleges way of doing things isnt the only way of doing things, and that your peers arent the only awesome college students in the country. Im glad that I didnt spend any time riding an OMG I GOT INTO MIT THAT MUST MEAN IM THE BEST EVER high. I had close friends who didnt get in people I knew were just as deserving as I was. I had (and have) friends at lesser-known schools around the country who I have nothing but the most sincere admiration and respect for. Last summer, I interned with eight other undergraduates, most of whom were from colleges Id never heard of, and all of whom were obviously very smart, talented, hardworking and bound-for-success people, well on track to great things in the astronomy world. I think that coming to MIT with a sense of superiority would have been, well, wrong, in a limiting and destructive way. I wish I acknowledged at an earlier stage of my academic career that lifestyle choices that work for other people doesnt necessarily work for me. For myself, sleep deprivation isnt cool, and staying up late night after night is really dumb and unproductive.  Try as I might to pretend otherwise, I get really unhappy and overemotional when Im sleep-deprived, the same way that I would be really unhappy if I never showered or got zeros on all my homework assignments. How do I prevent getting zeros on all my homework assignments? I do my homework assignments. How do I prevent never showering? I shower. How should I prevent sleep deprivation? I should sleep, obviously. Somehow this didnt click until I took J-Lab, dug my health into a hole, and emerged from the experience so shaken that I now go to bed between midnight and 1 and get up between 8 and 9, very consistently. It has made SUCH. a difference. AND I still get my work done. Exercise and fruit. Exercise and fruit. Exercise and fruit. I wish Id never psetted during lecture, never skipped one class to study for another, never stayed up for hours and hours to squeeze out those extra last points on a problem set. I wish Id never convinced myself that an imminent deadline was so important that I had to drop everything else on my schedule. I can point to maybe one, two instances where that was actually beneficial in the long run, out of a whole bunch my freshman and sophomore years. It was almost always a mistake. Keeping pace with the rest of my life should almost always have been the priority. I wish Id bought my DNA, Mobius strip, and golden ratio earrings sooner.  Theyve earned me much respect over the past few months. Im glad I went on that date with that guy freshman fall; we wandered through Boston at night, climbed some sculptures, sat by a pond. We ended up going our separate ways, and I havent spoken to him in two years, but that adventure will always be a happy college memory. Im glad that I acted on whim. I thank whim for  one of my most life-changing, defining experiences. Im glad that I didnt listen to all the advice I was given. I realize now that there were some mistakes that needed to be made, by myself, in order for those lessons to sink in. except putting off the swim test. Seriously. Take the swim test.

What I wish Id known, and what Im glad I knew

What I wish I’d known, and what I’m glad I knew At the CPW Womens Leadership Lunch, one of the prefrosh at my table asked me what I wish Id known before I came to MIT. I wish Id known from Day 1 that most of my professors didnt waltz unobstructed from success to success to success from the day they were born (Im pretty sure that a couple did, but thats beside the point.) Many have had their own struggles, academically and professionally, and many know what its like to feel low on self-confidence. Im glad that I learned by the end of Year 1 that a professor can be a mentor and a listening ear and not just an instructor. I hope and think that I never participated in a conversation that involved comparing SAT scores, high school grades, or AP scores. I hear freshmen doing that sometimes, and it makes me sad. I wish I had never worried about how I compared to my fellow incoming MIT students. I wish Id thought of every class block as a precious commodity. I have two semesters left, and there are at least fifteen or twenty classes that I would LOVE to take but wont have room for. Entire departments I wont ever taste. If I had fully appreciated this as an incoming freshman, I would have ASEd out of 18.02 (I definitely could have) and used my 8.01 credit. I held back because I was nervous, and thought it would be better to make sure I had a solid foundation before moving on. Its obvious to me now, though, that I did have a solid foundation: in particular, I had a great vector calculus teacher. I would have been challenged more, certainly, but that would have been a good thing. I will forever rue what turned out to be a decision to not take two additional classes. I wish Id spent more time with my living group (French House) freshman fall. I think I knew that my dorm was supposed to be my home-away-from-home for four years. I think I also knew that this is a pretty big deal; I expected that having a home on campus would be important. But it took me over a semester to understand that it takes physical presence to build a home away from home. You need to be physically present to build meaningful relationships with your college family. This should have been as high a priority for me as trying out eight billion extracurricular activities. I wish I had realized that while these four years dont last very long, they are packed from the beginning with new things and life-changing moments, and that its important from the beginning to become a familiar friendly face among the people with whom you will be sharing many of those moments. I wish Id known that the deadline for certain summer internships, and programs like MISTI, is BEFORE THE END OF FALL SEMESTER. Before the end of fall semester. Also, you need letters of recommendation for these things. Did I mention that the deadline for MISTI-France, to give an example, is BEFORE THE END OF FALL SEMESTER? I wish Id taken the freaking swim test the moment I got off crutches. I am so, so unspeakably glad that I made it a habit from Day 1 to attend talks and ask questions. Freshman year, I was a regular at the Brain and Cognitive Science colloquium; running up to the speaker to ask questions is ultimately how I got my first UROP. Since then, my interests have meandered, and I began regularly attending the Physics and Astrophysics department colloquia. This has been such an important habit, professionally. I have a much broader appreciation for the range of research conducted out there, and have gotten to know speakers as well as other regular attendees by cornering people to ask follow-up questions. Its also been satisfying to track my progress over the years. Freshman year, I could hang onto a talk for an average of probably 5 minutes, if at all. I was lucky if I knew half the words in the title. Sophomore year, it was probably 10-15 minutes, out of an hour. That summer, I worked at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory all summer, and when I came back I could cling onto most astrophysics colloquia for at least 70, 80% of the time. Im glad that I made friends at other universities, and that I left campus to visit them every now and then. I went on a few observing trips with Harvards astronomy club, for example. This year, I found out that BU has an active astronomy club, and I wish that Id thought to look into that my freshman year. Yeah, MIT students are awesome, and yeah, theres a startling amount of diversity in character and interests among MIT students but we all go to MIT. Being in touch with friends with dramatically different college experiences has helped me maintain perspective; I think its important to know that your colleges way of doing things isnt the only way of doing things, and that your peers arent the only awesome college students in the country. Im glad that I didnt spend any time riding an OMG I GOT INTO MIT THAT MUST MEAN IM THE BEST EVER high. I had close friends who didnt get in people I knew were just as deserving as I was. I had (and have) friends at lesser-known schools around the country who I have nothing but the most sincere admiration and respect for. Last summer, I interned with eight other undergraduates, most of whom were from colleges Id never heard of, and all of whom were obviously very smart, talented, hardworking and bound-for-success people, well on track to great things in the astronomy world. I think that coming to MIT with a sense of superiority would have been, well, wrong, in a limiting and destructive way. I wish I acknowledged at an earlier stage of my academic career that lifestyle choices that work for other people doesnt necessarily work for me. For myself, sleep deprivation isnt cool, and staying up late night after night is really dumb and unproductive.  Try as I might to pretend otherwise, I get really unhappy and overemotional when Im sleep-deprived, the same way that I would be really unhappy if I never showered or got zeros on all my homework assignments. How do I prevent getting zeros on all my homework assignments? I do my homework assignments. How do I prevent never showering? I shower. How should I prevent sleep deprivation? I should sleep, obviously. Somehow this didnt click until I took J-Lab, dug my health into a hole, and emerged from the experience so shaken that I now go to bed between midnight and 1 and get up between 8 and 9, very consistently. It has made SUCH. a difference. AND I still get my work done. Exercise and fruit. Exercise and fruit. Exercise and fruit. I wish Id never psetted during lecture, never skipped one class to study for another, never stayed up for hours and hours to squeeze out those extra last points on a problem set. I wish Id never convinced myself that an imminent deadline was so important that I had to drop everything else on my schedule. I can point to maybe one, two instances where that was actually beneficial in the long run, out of a whole bunch my freshman and sophomore years. It was almost always a mistake. Keeping pace with the rest of my life should almost always have been the priority. I wish Id bought my DNA, Mobius strip, and golden ratio earrings sooner.  Theyve earned me much respect over the past few months. Im glad I went on that date with that guy freshman fall; we wandered through Boston at night, climbed some sculptures, sat by a pond. We ended up going our separate ways, and I havent spoken to him in two years, but that adventure will always be a happy college memory. Im glad that I acted on whim. I thank whim for  one of my most life-changing, defining experiences. Im glad that I didnt listen to all the advice I was given. I realize now that there were some mistakes that needed to be made, by myself, in order for those lessons to sink in. except putting off the swim test. Seriously. Take the swim test.