Alex Sanders Hbr Case

Team Assignment: Alex Sanders Memo To: Mr. Sam Glass From: Team 8 Date: March 2nd, 2013 Subject: Alex Sanders In response to your inquiry regarding Alex Sanders and performance management, we urge you to consider the following recommendations. Your perception of Alex as a go-getter is absolutely accurate; he has the intellect, drive, and ambition to accomplish goals with great success. In fact, much of the group’s success is correlated with Alex’s involvement.We realize that his personal motivators are compensation, mastery of new tasks, and being spotlighted for his successes. In contrast, your firm is hoping to extract value through increased teamwork, mentorship, and facilitating a more comfortable workplace. Through this juxtaposition, we believe that Landon Care Products should tie a portion of Alex’s compensation and future project designations to his ability to improve in the following metrics: overall team incorporation on projects and formal mentoring pr ocess to direct reports.This alteration will incentivize Alex to delegate work effectively and trust his team members, while ensuring that they are continuously coached and can extract value from his expertise. We realize that Alex may not be entirely welcoming of this change initially, but if you raise his achievable compensation level and designate a future promotion – both of which are contingent upon his improvement – Alex will create positive new habits. In terms of performance management processes, we believe that the 360-degree method not a worthwhile means of performance feedback.The data is often flawed because it is not an objective measure: employees subconsciously evaluate their associates’ performance in relation to the benchmark set by their own performance. As such, the data can be inherently flawed. We recommend that Landon Care Products use a balanced scorecard system to capitalize on the multi-dimensional performance measurement. This will give Alex and his colleague evaluation from multiple perspectives while mitigating the inherent biases of evaluating one’s peers and superiors. Alex Sanders Hbr Case Team Assignment: Alex Sanders Memo To: Mr. Sam Glass From: Team 8 Date: March 2nd, 2013 Subject: Alex Sanders In response to your inquiry regarding Alex Sanders and performance management, we urge you to consider the following recommendations. Your perception of Alex as a go-getter is absolutely accurate; he has the intellect, drive, and ambition to accomplish goals with great success. In fact, much of the group’s success is correlated with Alex’s involvement.We realize that his personal motivators are compensation, mastery of new tasks, and being spotlighted for his successes. In contrast, your firm is hoping to extract value through increased teamwork, mentorship, and facilitating a more comfortable workplace. Through this juxtaposition, we believe that Landon Care Products should tie a portion of Alex’s compensation and future project designations to his ability to improve in the following metrics: overall team incorporation on projects and formal mentoring pr ocess to direct reports.This alteration will incentivize Alex to delegate work effectively and trust his team members, while ensuring that they are continuously coached and can extract value from his expertise. We realize that Alex may not be entirely welcoming of this change initially, but if you raise his achievable compensation level and designate a future promotion – both of which are contingent upon his improvement – Alex will create positive new habits. In terms of performance management processes, we believe that the 360-degree method not a worthwhile means of performance feedback.The data is often flawed because it is not an objective measure: employees subconsciously evaluate their associates’ performance in relation to the benchmark set by their own performance. As such, the data can be inherently flawed. We recommend that Landon Care Products use a balanced scorecard system to capitalize on the multi-dimensional performance measurement. This will give Alex and his colleague evaluation from multiple perspectives while mitigating the inherent biases of evaluating one’s peers and superiors.

FDRs New Deal essays

FDR's New Deal essays Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal did indeed represent a radical departure from previous American traditions in government and political economy. The New Deal marked the end, at least for that time and up to the present, of the dedication to laissez-faire government which, to varying degrees, had been held by Americans ever since the Revolution put an end to the British government's meddling in the American economy. Numerous examples of programs and agencies could be cited to illustrate this fact. Three will suffice: the Agricultural Adjustment Act, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the Social Security system. The Agricultural Adjustment Act essentially took farmers out of the free market and made the federal government responsible for determining what prices they received for what quantities of what crops. In order to raise prices the government sought to reduce supply by paying farmers not to plant. Where that was deemed an inadequate measure, ripe cotton was plowed under in exchange for government payments, and millions of pigs were bought, slaughtered, and wasted in order to curtail supplies still more. Later, the government undertook to buy and store commodities deemed to be surplus in order to keep the farmers' income up while keeping the commodities off the market and thus keeping the price up. This amounted to a subsidy to farmers paid by the nation's taxpayers. Never before had Americans accepted the idea that through the government one group within society should be subsidized by the rest of society. The Tennessee Valley Authority represented government ownership of the means of production - in this case power generating plants - and government competition with private enterprise in the sale of the product, electricity. A decade earlier the TVA would have been labeled "socialism," and so, by the textbook definition, it was. Yet the American people gradually came to accept it as a part of the role of government in soci ...

Walls of Jericho Essays

Walls of Jericho Essays Walls of Jericho Paper Walls of Jericho Paper The walls of Jericho For Christians, the Bible is the infallible word of God. For others, the Bible is a document written by men with many basic truths. For some, it is just a book of fairy tales to explain away unsolved mysteries. This paper will briefly describe the Bibles account of the battle of Jericho. It will then discuss four major pieces of archeological evidence found at the site of Jericho that accurately corroborates the Bible’s account of the Israelite siege that destroyed the city. Many archeological discoveries have brought increased recognition to the events described in the Bible. The evidence found at the site of Jericho supports the Bible as a credible source of History. In the Bible’s account of the fall of Jericho, Joshua, who had been chosen to succeed Moses, sent two spies into Jericho. These spies were helped by a prostitute named Rahab whose house was built against one of the outer walls. Before the spies left Jericho they promised Rahab that her family would be spared when the city was destroyed. When the spies returned to camp they informed Joshua of the fear the people inside the city walls were expressing and explained of the promise they made to Rahab for her aid. The Israelites are then commanded to march around Jericho once each day for six days and seven times on the seventh day. On the last day after the seventh march they were to shout at the walls and then the walls would just fall. God instructed them not to take anything from the city other than precious metals to be kept in the treasury for the lord. The Israelites obeyed their commandments and conquered Jericho Joshua 6:1-27 (New Living Translation). According to the Bible â€Å"The harvest had just been taken† Joshua 3:15 (New living translation). The site at Jericho has had three major excavations. Carl Watzinger and Ernest Sellin led the first excavation from 1907 to 1911. The second excavation was led by John Garstang from 1930 to1936 and the third by Kathleen Kenyan from 1952 to 1958. The site also had a small one month-long excavation led by two Italian archeologists Lorenzo Negro and Nicol Marchetti in 1997. The first piece of evidence that must be discussed is the collapse of the outer walls. In 1907 the first excavation found fallen red brick at the base of the city. In 1950 Kathleen Kenyon determined these bricks were from the walls that collapsed when the city was destroyed (Wood Byer, 2002). Second, according to Joshua (6:24) the Israelites, burned the city with fire, and all that was in it. Excavations revealed a layer of burned ash and debris about three-feet thick. â€Å"The destruction was complete. † According to Kathleen Kenyon â€Å"Walls and floors were blackened or reddened by fire, and every room was filled with fallen bricks, timbers, and household utensils; in most rooms the fallen debris was heavily burnt† (Wood Byer, 2002). The third piece of evidence found that corroborates the Bible is the full jars of grain found in the lower storage rooms in the homes of the city. Grain was valuable not only as a source of food but was also used as a commodity for sale or trade. The presence of these grains still in the destroyed city is entirely consistent with the biblical account, Dr. Wood wrote . The city did not fall as a result of a starvation siege, as was so common in ancient times. Instead, the Bible tells us Jericho was destroyed after but seven days (Wilford, 2010). The Israelites were ordered not to take anything except precious metals, which would explain why the grain wasn’t taken. The last piece of evidence is the promise made to Rahab that her family would be spared. Rahab’s home was built against the outer wall. On the north side a short stretch of the lower city wall did not fall as everywhere else. A portion of that mud brick wall was still standing. What is more, there were houses built against the wall. In conclusion, the evidence found at the site of Jericho is consistent with the Bibles account of the city’s destruction. . The walls fell outwards as the Bible describes. The city was burned as the Bible describes and the homes built against the only section of wall that did not fall suggest that Rahabs promise was kept. The archeological evidence found at the site of Jericho gives further proof of the historic accuracy of the Bible. References Wilford, J. N. (1990, February22,). Believers score in Battle over the Battle of Jericho. The New York Times. Retrieved from www. nytimes. com/1990/02/22/world/believers-score-in-battle-over-the-battle-of-jericho Wood, B. , Byer, G. (2002). Is the Bible accurate concerning the destruction of walls of Jericho []. Retrieved from

Information Communication Technology in Agriculture Essay

Information Communication Technology in Agriculture - Essay Example In spite of using current existing technology production is coming out poor, which means there are some critical factors that are affecting it. In this paper various approaches will be taken to sort out the key points of this issue. Farmers will be interviewed directly or indirectly in order to get their viewpoints about whether they are receiving proper information and knowledge or not; or the information given to them is sufficient and understandable or not. After proper survey Information Communication Technology (ICT) will be used to rectify them. This paper mostly concentrates on different scopes of ICT in the field of agriculture. Urbanization which directly affects the agricultural land. Before urbanization proper knowledge of land management is necessary. Suppose one land that can accommodate 100 persons adequately but due to improper land management only 50 peoples are getting placed. It results into increase in urban area unnecessarily. This problem can be solved using information technology where, people's habits, tastes and lifestyles are studied and according to that optimum residential area can be defined. Climatic changes like flood drought, weather changes also have impacts on foods1. Today's technology that can be used for sophisticated statistical calculation in order to get idea of climatic change and based on that, steps are taken. The most important factor is lacking ... The most important factor is lacking of proper knowledge among the public regarding the better using of resources. Here Information Communication Technology (ICT) plays one vital role. ICT is the best tool for sharing knowledge among farmers. Establishing rural network will enhance farmers' idea exchanging capability. Apart from that using remote farm consulting system through camera and wireless, adequate information can be delivered. Research Questions Research proposal starts with research question or hypothesis. For this study research questions are: 1. What are the basic problems that agriculture industry is facing today 2. Will Information Communication Technology (ICT) work better for these cases 3. If yes to question 2 then till what extent it will serve our purpose Objectives The main purpose of this research is to see how information communication technology will be used for better agricultural purposes. This research will address the problems related to farmers' awareness and usage of ICT to overcome the issues. The direction of this work will have two three major phases as research questions. First one is going through existing literatures and tools to point out the core problems, the basic variables which are responsible for that degradation and also the extent they are affecting. Second phase will be checking whether ICT can make any improvement over the existing ones. Sampling and survey will be done in this stage. After researcher is confident enough with ICT approach finally, several methodologies will be proposed to implement the idea and then execution of these solutions will be done. Rationale The above figures are examples illustrating the utilization of land

Antient Ages in Anthropology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Antient Ages in Anthropology - Essay Example Asian and European people were among the first to use the metal technology. Due to this, and the constant interaction between men, the technology had o spread through other parts of the world even though at a very slow rate. Some of the tools that came with the invention of metals include; spears, swords, arrow heads knife, and farming implements like hoes ploughs etc. These tools were stronger than stone tools and made work much easier to complete. For example when people went to war, spears and arrows were used against the enemies who was some distance off. Knifes were used for cutting meat as well as trimming grass and other thorny areas not to forget that they acted as digging instruments to dig out weeds (Maret, 39).After the metal age, came the METAL BRONZE AGE. This type of technology was mainly used by Asians and Africans around 3rd BC. It was used to make chariots, tablets for writing on as well as housing materials. At this moment of time, copper was invented. Copper later became the most valuable metal due to its ability to conduct electricity.Bronze was used in palaces to make cups, trays, statues of kings, plates, table’s kilns pots, floors and armor for the soldiers who went to battle (Wolf, 89). Anthropology is all about man’s existence all through times to the present day. It describes the technological trends that man has been able to go through to be in his present position. The ages can be described as the STONE AGE 2nd BC from Ethopia to Egypt in Africa .

Domestic Violence and Human Trafficking in Latin America Research Paper

Domestic Violence and Human Trafficking in Latin America - Research Paper Example â€Å"Latin America and the Caribbean have the highest rates of gender violence of any region of the world excluding fundamentalist Muslim countries, where statistics are not kept and discrimination against women is institutionalized† (â€Å"Half†). This paper will focus primarily on Latin America (namely Colombia and Ecuador) and the human trafficking and domestic violence issues these two countries face, the reasons for the prevalence of these issues in these countries, and what can be and is being done about them. According to Berry, â€Å"domestic violence† refers to â€Å"abuse by one person of another in an intimate relationship† (1). Domestic abuse is not restricted to husband-wife or boyfriend-girlfriend, but can also include sibling abuse, elder abuse, and child abuse; however, for this paper, the focus on violence against women will be discussed. Berry goes on to discuss the lack of boundaries in the issue of domestic violence; she states that â€Å"statistics have proven that abuse knows no boundaries: racial, ethnic, religious, or socioeconomic. It occurs among the very rich and the very poor, the highly educated and the illiterate, in all parts of the world† (9). Domestic abuse not only indicates foundational disintegration within a family unit, but can also be an indicator of the same sort of internal rot at a societal level. â€Å"It emerges as a serious violation of human rights that abrogates the women’s right to dignity, equality, autonomy, and physical and mental well being,† state Mehrotra and Banerjee, observing the issue at the personal level. Nodding at the societal level, Mehrotra and Banerjee go on to say that â€Å"violence is not only a manifestation of unequal, disempowering and unjust power relations, but is also a costly economic phenomenon resulting in significant looses of productive potential† (38). A country cannot move forward and hold itself back at the same time. A land cannot be both full of success

Considering the Detailed Strategies for Goal Attainment Essay Example for Free

Considering the Detailed Strategies for Goal Attainment Essay In the previous step, you thought about the broader personal and social impact of your goals and the consequences of their attainment. Now you will be asked to think, in detail, about how you will achieve your goals. Goals are related to lesser, smaller sub-goals and behaviors, as well as connected to higher-order, more important abstract goals. These sub-goals are easier to achieve, but are still fundamental to reaching our greater aspirations. Sub-goals can thus be thought of as strategies for greater goal achievement. Thinking about what specific things need to be done in order to achieve your goals allows you to create practical strategies for realizing your dreams. Please take some time to write about the concrete daily or weekly things you might do to further your goals. Take as much time as you need, and really consider what particular behaviors each goal is built upon. Do you need to spend more time with your kids? Do you need to discuss household chores with your spouse? Should you spend more time planning at work? Specify when you are going to work on your goals. Specify how often. Specify where. Think hard about how you are going to implement your plans. Make your plans concrete. Step FIVE: Write down those concrete weekly or daily things you might do to further your goals. Please take as much space as you need. Goal 1: In order to graduate from University I will have to do well in my courses. It is not enough to just go to classes and comply with all the requirements in each class. I have to maximize my potentials and the learning that I will acquire from each class. I would only be able to achieve this if I give my whole heart and mind to my classes. This is easier to say than do, for example, I have to prepare and read materials in advance; I have to anticipate assignments and make sure I give all my best to each paper, essay or project. I also have to attain competitive scores in my exams and to reinforce my learning through practical applications both in my life and in how I deal with people. Specifically, this semester, I intend to set a certain amount of time everyday (at least two hours) that I’ll devote to studying. During the time, I cannot plan to do anything else. Instead, I will focus on my classes and study the lessons I take up each day. I know it would take will power and commitment on my part to make this goal a reality. I have read somewhere that reading lecture notes each day would go a long way in retaining information and facilitating learning. In a way it helps me think about my lessons constantly, thus, if I have to work on something that requires information from my lessons, I can readily access it. I also plan to join a discussion group that talks about the specific classes I am taking. For example, if I have introduction to psychology, I will join a group that discusses everything about psychology. I believe that listening to different perspective or opinions would further my learning. At the same time, it also serves as a way of reinforcing what I learn in class. Goal 2: I will start to learn a foreign language if I want to go abroad. It has always been my dream to travel to a foreign land and to experience a different culture and way of life. I am an adventurous person and if I intend to travel to different countries, I would want to do it in my way, which does not include package tours or travel agents. Thus, the necessity to learn the language of the country I want to visit. How else would I be able to converse or find my way in a remote town or place in Greece if I don’t know how to speak Greek, or even Italian. There are a number of courses available for me so I could start learning a foreign language. However, it would take up much of my time and resources at the present time. I think it would be more effective for me to start small, like buy a book or download an individual learning package which I can readily access when I have the time. Moreover, I resolve to devote four hours a week of learning a foreign language. Goal 3: I will speak and try to develop a closer relationship with my classmates because that can help make school work more enjoyable, therefore improving my grades. I must admit that I have not been very close with my classmates or that I have made the effort to befriend them. But now that I have realized that I need to build relationships with the people I see everyday, I resolve to make sure that I approach and initiate conversations so I would get to know them better and hopefully become closer to them. By establishing friendships with my classmates, my classes would become enjoyable, and would be a shared experience as I know that the people I am with everyday are my friends. This would also mean that I would look forward to my classes and being with my friends and classmates and learning together. Goal 4: I will borrow a few books from the library about counseling and read them over regularly. My long term goal is to become a counselor and to be skilled in this field. I know that this career is not easy or that I can be assured of success at the instant I graduate. Counselor work is inspiring and fulfilling, but it takes a certain kind of personality and life skills to become an effective counselor. I know in my heart that I can be a good counselor, that I have the personality and the determination to become a counselor. However, I also know that I still need to learn many things, to acquire skills and knowledge and be competent in this profession. I also know that my classes and major subjects only prepares me for the tasks that counselor have to face, and that I could prepare myself through learning everything I can about counseling through reading books. I hope to read counseling books at least one book per month. Step 6: Identifying Potential Obstacles and their Solutions Thinking about achieving a goal is obviously easier than going out and getting it done. Many things related to the natural environment, the social group and the self might stand in your way. It is useful to anticipate these difficulties, so that you can plan to overcome them. Consider your goals, once again. Write down all the potential obstacles you can think up. Write down ways to overcome these obstacles. How might you interfere with your own plans? How can you ensure this won’t happen? Sometimes change is threatening to people we know and love. Will the people you know help you, or stand in your way? How can you communicate with them, so that they will support you? Think of realistic and worst-case scenarios. What are your options? What are your alternative plans? Step SIX: Potential Obstacles to Goals, and Ways to Overcome Them: take as much space as you need. Goal 1: For graduating University, I could run into some obstacles. Hindrances or obstacles towards attaining my goals will always be a challenge for me, since I would really want to be able to finish university in the best and fastest way I can. My resolution to spend time studying everyday might not leave me with time for myself and my friends. Spending too much time might alienate me from my friends. It would also sadden me and affect my focus and attention if my friends feel that I cannot be with them because I am trying too hard to be a good student. I know that being a good student nowadays is the exception, not the norm and my friends might think I am not good company because I always study. I like being with my friends and I enjoy their company, but I know that I also have to prioritize my studies. Thus, I resolve to explain to my friends why at times I could not join them and to ask them to be more accommodating of my situation. I could also get too lazy and slack off too often. There is also the fear that I might not be able resist my friends’ influence and sacrifice my study time for bonding time. I know I am only human and no matter how good my plan is, I would still have to decide and evaluate my actions as to its consequences. If I become too lazy and focus more on my friends, then I would be a failure and I don’t have anyone to blame but myself. In order to prevent these things, I will try to organize myself in such a way that my friendships won’t suffer and my work is enjoyable and stress-free enough that I won’t find myself slacking. At the same time, my family might also feel that I don’t give enough attention or my time with them because of my studies. I know that I have to make them realize that what I am doing is for my own good and for my family’s future. If I graduate with great grades, it would open doors for me and I would be able to further my training and acquire more skills. I hope and pray that they would understand me and that they would support my goals. Goal 2: Counseling: I will try to reach people that are already working in the field of counseling. Maybe they can give me advice. The obstacle could be that I postpone such meetings or that I don’t give enough attention to what they are sharing with me. IN joining discussion groups, I might find it boring and ineffective and completely turn my back to the group. On the other hand, I could also become so engrossed and enjoyed in the discussion groups that I would give more time and focus to the group than to my classes. I know that the key to everything is balance, and I could maximize my learning both in and out of the classroom by attaining balance. Thus, I would give myself a strict schedule as to the time spent in discussion groups, and if I chance upon a boring or a nonfunctioning group, then I have to find another group to join. Goal 3: Providing for my family: I will try to finish my studies as quickly as possible, without rushing, of course. And I will try to save my money as much as I can upon graduating. I could run into unforeseen obstacles – like losing a job, especially during this recession. The best I can do is to do my job as well as possible and hope for the best, though. Aside from wanting to attain personal growth and achievement, I would also want to have a good job and profession in order to provide for my family. Since I would have to be gainfully employed to be able to provide for my family, I have to make sure that after graduation, I have to look for work. In reality, there is not much available jobs for counselors, but we can always open our own practice. But that would mean applying for accreditation and licensing which is another obstacle that I have to face. But since I really want to be a counselor, there is nothing I could do but comply with the needed requirements. Moreover, one cannot be an effective counselor without continuous education and learning. I might become too committed to my studies that my work suffers. If that is the case, then, I might not be able to provide for my family’s needs. In order to combat this obstacle, I would make it a point to compartmentalize, that is, to think about my studies when I am in school or when I am at home, and to think about my job when I am in my workplace. Goal 4: Given that I have the resources to travel abroad, the obstacles I might have in this area are not having the time for vacation, leaving work and getting sick during my travels or traveling and not being adequately prepared for it both emotionally and physically. For example, if I travel abroad, I have to leave my work for a period of time and I have to be able to arrange that my clients would not need me at that time, also, I have to make sure that I don’t have any prior commitments. Consequently, I might be too caught up with my job and my responsibilities that I would not be able to travel. Since, I want to travel unconventionally, and then it would make sense that I would maybe take a month or more abroad, an obstacle I foresee is do I have the resources to be without an income for a month. Another worst-case scenario is when I would be suddenly taken-ill during my travel. Without a guide or a traveling companion it would be very unfortunate if I get sick at that time. Thus, I have to make sure that I am well prepared both financially and physically before I schedule and plan for my travel. I should also acquaint myself with the culture, geography and customs of the places I am going to visit so I would know what to do when I am confronted with an emergency. Step 7: Monitoring Progress towards Desired Goals We need to know, concretely, whether or not we are progressing towards valued goals. Of course, this is not an easy process. When we want to complete very specific tasks, feedback on our performance is relatively easy to monitor. However, if our goals are less short-term, this becomes a little more difficult. On the next few pages you will be asked to identify personal benchmarks that will allow you to evaluate your own performance. †¢ What sorts of things will you accept as evidence that you are progressing towards your stated goal? †¢ How often are you going to monitor your own behavior? †¢ How will things in your life have to change, measurably, for you to feel satisfied in your progress? †¢ How can you ensure that you are neither pushing yourself too hard, and ensuring failure, or being too easy on yourself, and risking boredom and cynicism? Your benchmarks should be personal indicators of success. It doesn’t matter what others may think defines progress towards your goal. Write down those accomplishments would truly indicate positive movement on your part. Goal 1: My first goal is to do very well in all my courses this semester. That is a necessary condition for me to eventually go on and graduate. The evidences that would indicate that I am achieving this goal is that I would get above average final grades in majority of my courses. I know that I am quite adept at some courses, and in some, I have difficulty with. Thus, I would expect to be able to get excellent grades in the courses I am confident with and to get more than average grades for the difficult courses. Since grades are given for each prelim, midterm and finals in each course, I would monitor my grades after each exam and to track my scores and grades in the different projects and coursework. It would be alright for me to wait for my final grade in all my courses and as long as I give my best, I would be assured that I would have better grades. The most important thing is to enjoy what I am doing, I would know that I am pushing myself too hard if I can’t concentrate in my tasks, and I would know that I ma not doing enough if I make mediocre work. So I resolve to enjoy every assignment and project I have this term and I would make it fun and interesting for my own benefit. Goal 2: My second goal, in order to accomplish the first, is to study more often and organize my time better. Evidences that I am accomplishing this goal are when I would have time to study and do my coursework before the deadline, when I don’t feel rushed and when I don’t have to cram for quizzes. Effective time management would imply that I have time to do everything. I plan to have a â€Å"to do† list on a daily basis and try to schedule my activities for the whole day, as I accomplish each task, I indicate it on the list and in that way I can monitor whether I have reached my target goals for the day or not. Since I would have time to do everything, then consequently I would have time for family, friends and school work. Thus it would be a better improvement in my life than a sacrifice for me. I know the difference between too much and too little, so as I make my to do list, I will make sure that it is balanced in the sense that I have time to do the things I enjoy and that the list is flexible, what I may not finish today I can work on tomorrow and I don’t need to feel that I failed by not doing it today. Goal 3: My third goal is to meet with my TAs and professors more often in order to get a better grasp of the study material. This will help me accomplish the first two goals. In this respect, I think that the best evidence I have for reaching this goal is when I don’t fear or feel uncomfortable interacting with my instructors and Ta’s. I mostly see them regularly, and I guess if I make it a point to initiate conversations or to ask help in some lessons then I would in the long run become more familiar with them. I am not that outgoing or bubbly as a person, so I think it would be a big change in my part to accomplish this goal because it would mean going out of my comfort zone and befriending them. As I have noticed, people tend to be put off when someone is very brash or boisterous, so if I have that effect on people then I am trying too hard. If I am not trying hard enough, then I won’t experience any result and there would be no change in my behavior. Goal 4: In learning a foreign language, I would probably have to be able to understand the foreign language or to be able to speak phrases and words in the foreign language as evidences that I am really learning a new language. If I don’t have much time to learn the language, then I would probably monitor my improvement in a year since I would not be traveling to another country in the near future. Even if I can’t go abroad, I would still have the benefit of learning a new language and that is already an achievement in itself. Being able to speak another language would probably widen my perspective and how I view myself. Goal 5: One benchmark will be the completion of my current year of University studies. In this way I would know that I am achieving my goal once I graduate from the university and be awarded my degree. Since I still have a number of terms to complete before I graduate and a number of courses to complete, it would take me time to reach this goal. In a way, the number of terms I finish would be the means of monitoring my goals. If I graduate, then it would probably change my life forever for the better I hope. I really want to graduate, and no matter what obstacles I come across, I am willing to give my all to beat the odds.