Self- Reflection Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Self- Reflection - Personal Statement Example eating timetables was a habit that developed in me that was similar to building castles in the air; so much so that my timetables would sometimes have time set aside for the creation of more timetables in the future. The fact that I would make more than one (quite a few in fact) timetables meant that one could easily be changed for the other and I would not need to put in the effort that would be required so as to adhere to a particular timetable. The timetables that I created with the decreasing amount of time at my disposal started to become more and more impractical and thus made me increasingly desperate. This made a certain kind of desperation set into my mental makeup and I started thinking that I would never be able to do well in my studies. This points to another flaw in the strategy that I had drawn up during the last semester. The setting of impractical goals led me to the same point that impractical schedules did. A feeling started to set in my mind that made me feel that I would never be able to achieve my goals. With the passing of time, this feeling started to get worse and paradoxically, my schedules started to get even more hectic and unmanageable. Laziness is probably the root of much of the failure that I encountered this semester. To rectify this problem in most aspects of my life shall be an aim that I adopt beginning with this semester. To cultivate a work ethic that makes me accountable to myself would be one of the things that I would attempt to do this semester. As a result of this, I believe my grades would improve and I would also be able to understand how results are achieved and hence value labor as it should be. This would also prevent me from taking goals and targets lightly. I would be able to become aware of the fact that a victory is achieved through slow and steady hard work. Attempts at finding shorter routes to success cost me last semester and I would advise anybody who is a student to not attempt to find a substitute for hard

Management Skills Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Management Skills - Personal Statement Example Promotion. Promotional activities include advertising, direct marketing or personal selling, sales promotion, public relations. Based on my personal strengths as well as interests, I am planning to take up a role of junior manager, advertising. Advertising is a mean through which the goods and services produced by an organization are promoted to the target market of the organization. (Petley, 2003). As such advertisement therefore, encompass many activities which combine together to form an effective promotional message therefore, considering its strategic nature and my personal strengths and ambitions, I would aim at becoming the junior manager-advertising in an organization of high repute. Based on the research conducted, following job description is outlined for a Junior Manager- Advertising: (job-descriptions.org, 2008) I am attracted to this job because I am currently pursuing a degree in business education besides I consider myself as an easy going person who can easily communicate with others. I consider myself as a person who likes to meet people and exchange ideas and have the ability to understand the perceptions held by different people in different contexts. Further, this job is also attractive to me because I am creative and have developed an aesthetic sense of appreciating different ideas and works of art. My immedi My immediate concern therefore would be to learn the tricks of the trade under the guidance of those who have already achieved a certain stature in the field. This job therefore will provide me an opportunity to do what I love to do most as I shall be engaged not only with the creative work but also grow myself as a successful manager and a leader over the period of time. Apart from this, I also visualize myself grow to a position where I may develop myself as one of the most creative and successful advertising guru of all

Explaining The Iraqi Invasion Of Kuwait Politics Essay

Explaining The Iraqi Invasion Of Kuwait Politics Essay Baram (1994) explains that Iraqs claim to invade Kuwait is based on the argumentation that Kuwait was a district governed by Basra under Ottoman rule and, thus, Iraqi leaders have seen it as historically belonging to Iraq (p.5). Baram goes on to explain that this claim is wrong because Kuwait has long before been under autonomous rule by the Sabah family. Furthermore, she states that Iraqs aspiration to bring Kuwait under its control is partly due to Iraqs need to strengthen and stabilize its regimes legitimacy by uniting the different religious and ethnic minorities of Iraq under Iraqi patriotism (p.5). Iraq opposed the British-drawn borderline between Iraq and Kuwait because it left Iraq with only a short Gulf coastline and gave Kuwait control over the entrance and exit of Iraqs only port (p.6). Even though Iraq accepted Kuwait as a sovereign state in 1963, it did not accept the exact borderline. Iraq was supported by the Soviet Union and because the latter would not support an ann exation of Kuwait by Iraq, Iraq did not act earlier (p.6). Moreover, Iraq received aid from Kuwait during the Iran-Iraq war. Following this war, due to bad economic policies, Iraqi economy stagnated and as a result, Iraq could not demobilize its army which amounted to over 1 million at the end of the 1980s. The reason for this was that Saddam could not risk a high number of unemployed men which might result in social unrest (p.7). However, in order to keep such a high number of soldiers in the standing army, Saddam needed a good reason. Therefore, he started to revitalise the American and Zionist enemy (p.7). Iraq kept on spending on military expenditures which had the intention to turn Iraq into the Gulfs hegemonic power as Iraqs weapons could be used against Israeli offenses which, additionally, would make Iraq the Arabs protector (p.7). The downfall of the Soviet Union was disastrous for Iraq as it lost its biggest supporter in the face of the US. Furthermore, Iraq was alarmed by the Eastern European democratic revolutions bringing the totalitarian regimes down which were equally designed as Saddams Iraq (p.7). Another reason for Iraqi worries in the late 1980s was Iraqs failure to force the Syrian army to leave Lebanon and which was tolerated by the US and other Arab states (p.9). This became, according to Baram, an example for Iraq which saw the possibility to invade Kuwait and which then would be treated by external players like the Lebanon case (ibid.). After the end of the Iran-Iraq war, Iraq invoked the Kuwait crisis two years later by bringing up several issues, such as the border dispute with Kuwait, the Israeli-Palestinian problem, Americas presence in the Gulf, the issue of oil production quotas and Iraqs demand for financial aid (p.9). In order to solve all these issues, Iraq increasingly started to see an invasion of Kuwait as the best solution (ibid.). In 1990, Iraq for the first time publicly offered to take up the role of the Soviet Union as protector for the Arabs (p.10). Additionally, Iraq started to threat Israel in case it would attack any Arab state. These manoeuvres had the purpose to avert the public from increasing economic hardship, as well as the happenings in Eastern Europe and the regimes failure in the Lebanon case (p.11). Iraqs increasing public threats and announcements opened up the danger of Saddam being sucked into a war by his own rhetoric (p.14). Furthermore, this approach showed that Iraq was more and more diverting from a path of domestic policies to external ones in order to solve Iraqs problems (ibid.). Saddam by including the Israeli-Palestinian rhetoric and pan-Arab security, diverted the Arab world with Libya, the PLO, and Jordan being its closes supporters, but also Egypts Mubarak in the beginning supported Iraqs approach towards Arab security by believing in Iraqs good intentions (p.16). After receiving support from at least a fraction of the Arab states for its Arab security approach, Iraq started to accuse Kuwait of stealing oil from Iraq and thus, two strategically important islands in the Gulf should be given to Iraq (ibid.). Iraqi-Kuwait relations further deteriorated when oil prices fell and the OPEC quota was not fully supported by Kuwait (p.17). This in turn led to Iraq starting to mobilise troops and station them at the Kuwaiti border. Iraq shifted its demands whenever it fitted best from economic reasons to territorial claims (p.19). Egypts Mubarak in this period publicly proclaimed that Saddam promised to him that he would not attack Kuwait. The USAs reaction to the build up of the crisis was to send their ambassador Glaspie to talk to Saddam. The ambassador misjudged the situation which had the outcome that diverting and ambiguous signals were sent to Saddam and Washington (p.20). Glaspie did not put pressure on Iraq, instead she followed the approach to ally with it and improve US-Iraq relations (p.20). Glaspie, being in line with the State Departments pos ition, told Saddam that the US does not interfere in inter-Arab affairs such as the Iraq-Kuwait border dispute (ibid.). Seen in this context, the American diplomatic approach was not helpful because it sent the wrong signal to Saddam, namely that America would not use force in inter-Arab disputes (ibid.). Furthermore, in July 1990, the State Department spokesperson announced that the US has no special defence or security commitments to Kuwait (p.21). This made Saddam believe that he could invade Kuwait without US involvement and that it would not make a difference if he took only parts or the entire area of Kuwait (p.21). Taking this risk of invading all of Kuwait was based on the assumption to solve the economic problems of Iraq and to put Iraq into a power position in the Arab region and by doing so mobilise domestic support (p.25). A further explanation of why Iraq invaded all of Kuwait was, according to Baram, Saddams personality treats. Advisors could not interfere in any decis ions already made by Saddam because of his personality. He saw himself as invincible warrior and empire-builder (p.26). Barams text about the reasons of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait is very comprehensive and comprehensible and it looks at the issue in detail and from different perspectives. What was especially interesting was the detailed description of the US diplomatic approach and how a misjudgement can lead to such far-reaching outcomes. Furthermore, Barams text looks in detail at Saddam as leader and how his decisions were very logical and calculating even though they were based on false assumptions and miscalculations. Therefore, Barams text shows that Saddam did not in any way act irrationally or injudiciously. However, it could be looked at in more detail in how far Saddam became able to act in this way after the fall of the Soviet Union, its main supporter. Baram mentions that the Soviet Union would not support an invasion of Kuwait, but she does not go into more detail concerning the timing of the invasion of Kuwait and the downfall of the Soviet Union. I think the question could have been e xplored in more detail in how far that was also a part of the reason for Saddams invasion at that time or Saddams possibility for invasion since the Soviet Union no longer kept Iraq from invasion. Mark Heller (1994) discusses Iraqs army power and Western perception of the strengths of the Iraqi army. His claim is that the Gulf war was a result of Western misperception of Iraqs army strength and capabilities (p.37). According to him, a Western threat to use military force would have been enough in 1990 after the invasion to persuade Saddam to leave, however, the debate in the Western public undercut this option and made it impossible (ibid.). It was argued that a war with Iraq would result in high numbers of casualties and thus, the message that was send to Saddam was that a military US intervention was very unlikely and withdrawal was not necessary (ibid.). Heller argues that the debate about Iraqi army strength completely ignored the armys performances in the past, which had not been able to perform well in wars against foreign powers even if its weapons were plenty and effective (p.38). The reason for this is that due to Iraqs regime type, it had to give more priority to the preservation of the regime than to the military (p.47). This is due to the fragmentation of the Iraqi population and the lack of legitimacy as well as national identity which makes the regime vulnerable and the army less effective (ibid.). For this reason, Saddam had acquired weapons which could be operated by a highly centralised small elite of soldiers in order not to have to rely on the rest of the army which was rather ineffective (p.48). Heller argues that a war might have not been prevented but at least American response could have been more effective diplomacy-wise if the military capabilities of Iraq had not been overestimated by the public (p.38). Thus, Iraq would have withdrawn if the diplomatic messages and pressure would have been more evident. This article shows a very interesting view point which is not taken up by most other texts which deal with the topic. It shows a completely different angle by looking at US diplomatic shortcomings and where these were rooted in. Even though this article is rather short and more detailed evidence should be given about the public debate in the West, this article tries to give a plausible explanation for US behaviour and why the US did not put more diplomatic pressure on Iraq. However, a little flaw that occurs to me in this text is that even tough the military strength of the standing army overall were more limited, the weapons that could be used by a small elitist group could still be as disastrous concerning casualties as a high number of soldiers. Therefore, in my opinion the argument that the public overestimated the military capabilities loses a little bit of its ground. Nevertheless, the end argument still works because Saddam could have been deterred if the US had used more dipl omatic pressure but this was halted due to public discourse. Clawson (1994) discusses Iraqs economic situation prior to the war and the effects of economic sanctions on Iraq. Clawson establishes that Iraq has all the good preconditions for a well-working economy and a prosperous population. This includes that Iraq has the second largest oil reserves in the world, Iraq has vast and rich agricultural areas and a, to a certain extent, well-trained manpower is available; nevertheless, Iraq has economic problems and the people liver under economic hardship (p.69). According to Clawson, the Iraqi economy has a lot of potential; however, successive Iraqi regimes have put ideology before economic stability and the well-being of the Iraqi population (ibid.). Due to damaging policies, especially the oil and the agricultural sector have been harmed (ibid.). Iraq pursued a confrontational policy towards the oil industry by making claims to Kuwaiti oil fields and it did not pursue closer relations with other oil states as well as developed countries in ord er to profit from efficient technology for oil production. Furthermore, the Baath party completely controlled the economy which halted economic growth (p.70). The government, especially under Saddam, wasted its resources for large-scale projects and investments which did not serve any useful purpose for economic growth. Clawson attributes this to Saddams Nebuchadnezzar complex which means that Saddam wants to build glorious buildings in order to underline his magnificence as a leader (ibid.). In the time prior to the war, Iraq claimed that its financial situation leads it to take action. Iraq, furthermore, claimed that Kuwait is to be blamed for part of its economic situation, which was used in order to distract the Iraqi public from the fact that it was Saddams disastrous economic policies which are responsible for the peoples hardship (p.71). According to Clawson, Iraqs economic situation in 1990 was actually better than it had been the years 1986 to 1989, which could be seen in I raqs ability to repay more debts in 1990 (ibid.). Therefore, Iraqs economic problems are long-term and not due to an allegedly short-term crisis with Kuwait. Saddam was unwilling to cut back on his grand projects for his own glorification and thus, was unable to meet the peoples expectation that after the Iran-Iraq war the economic situation of the population would improve (p.72). Saddams quest for more and more grand projects could only be continued if more money would flow in. At the same time, the argument that many economically important sites have been irreversibly destroyed during the Iran-Iraq war is also not true (p.77). Rather the damage was minor or at least easily reparable and not all economically important places have been destroyed if they were not associated with military sites (ibid.). Therefore, the main obstacle to economic growth for Iraq is Saddams anti-growth policies and the claim that Kuwait is responsible for it or that Iraq would recover with more money floa ting in is wrong. Clawsons article gives a good insight into Iraqs economic situation prior to the war and what the reasons for Iraqs miserable economic situation are. The article invalidates the claim that Iraqs invasion can be justified by short-term economic problems. Rather it is the regimes attempt to divert the attention from its own bad economic policies. Even though this article shows a different perspective on the underlying problems of Iraqs bad economic situation and it does invalidate the claim that Kuwait is in any way involved in Iraqs financial problems, this does not give a satisfactorily explanation why Iraq acted as it did towards Kuwait. The author indeed states that Saddam wanted to disguise the fact that it is his long-term policies that are damaging the economy. However, Saddam could have done that by different means. Therefore, this article should be treated as a one-sighted argument in the context of other arguments. Otherwise, the question could arise why Saddam did not simply spend a little more fraction of the money on the population in order to avoid unrests in the future, or why Saddam did not try to get closer to other states, Western and Arab, in order to receive more aid etc? Thus, overall the articles gives an interesting insight in the domestic economic situation of Iraq but it falls short of giving a complete and satisfactory explanation on why Iraq invaded Kuwait and why not another state or why it did not use other tools to counteract to the economic problems. Halliday (1994) does not approach the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in terms of the reasons for Iraqs decision; rather he describes the invasion and its impact on International Relations theories. Halliday states that the Gulf war in 1990 was one of the most significant international crises of the post-1945 epoch (p.109). Not only was a very high number of soldiers involved but also a high number of international diplomats and diplomacy attempts from various countries. According to Halliday, not enough attention was given to historical events. According to him, the crisis began with the death of Khomeini in 1989 (p.115). Saddam was not able to gain any influence in Iran because it remained stable after the death and therefore, Iraq turned to Kuwait (ibid.). Moreover, Halliday states that the ideology of the Baath party was not taken into account and thus, the outcome was wrongly predicted. Baathism represents the ideal for an Arab nation, a glorification of war and the strong man who figh ts for the Arab nation (p.115). Furthermore, the reason why all the diplomatic efforts that were actually undertaken failed was that Saddam believed that the US would not intervene militarily (p.116). Additionally, Saddam was only expecting sanctions which would have not meant an irreconcilable for him and Iraq (ibid.). According to Halliday, realists see the Gulf war as an interstate-conflict. For transnationalists the economic dimension was most important and the preservation of economic, i.e. oil, interests on all sides (p.120). For Marxists and structuralists, in turn, the war was one of a dominant and a subordinated power and which was justified by Western materialist interests, i.e. oil and which reinforced hegemonic power in the Middle East (ibid.). However, all these theories fail to explain the entirety of the Gulf war. Realists cannot properly explain why Iraq invaded all of Kuwait if it was not seen as one of the biggest miscalculation and misjudgements by Saddam (p.120). Furthermore, Iraqs references to pan-Arabism and Islamic issues cannot be properly explained by realist theory. Transnationalism, in turn, do not have a satisfactorily explanation for the UNs decision outcome which was not based on mutual decisions by various states but rather it was based solely on US ideas (ibid.). Furthermore, Marxists and structuralists theory is not completely applicable either because if the war was of imperial nature then this would mean that Iraq has to display a more progressive level of development in the international arena, which is not the case due to Iraqs Baathist ideology and its brutal regime among other reasons (p.120). As a reason Halliday concludes that such an event as the Gulf war in 1990 means that theoretical approaches have to be revised and thought through again more thoroughly (p.129). However, this does not mean that the existing theories have to be overthrown altogether, rather the war tested the limits of these theories and accordingly they have to be amended and adjusted. Even though this article does not contribute to the answering of the above stated question, it does give an interesting insight into the studies of IR and the reactions of theorists from different strands to this political event. Furthermore, it shows how such an event as the Gulf war can lead to a revision even if of limited degree of the existing theories. The summary of the article above is only a small extract of Hallidays text but it still shows the impact of political events on the studies of IR. The text is well-written and comprehensible, however, one question arises for me and that is how an outcome due to misconceptions and a rational intention are mutually exclusive as stated by Halliday in the context of realist assumptions? Saddam could have had intentions based on rational thinking; however, these rational ideas could have been based on misjudgements. Even tough this point is not clear to me, the overall message of the article, namely that the war presented new realitie s and facts which cannot be satisfactorily explained by existing theories and, therefore, a revision and partial reconsideration has to take place, is still an important conclusion. This shows that IR theories cannot be rigid and that constant improvement is important if they want to be able to explain and discuss political events in a future international arena.

Improving Patient Safety in Stroke Rehabilitation Wards Essay -- Strok

Patient safety is a major issue in health care, especially in the public sector. Studies show that as many as 10 patients get harmed daily as they receive care in stroke rehabilitation wards in hospitals in the United States alone. Patient safety refers to mechanisms for preventing patients from getting harmed as they receive health care services in hospitals. The issue of patient safety is usually associated with factors such as medication errors, wrong-site surgery, health care-acquired infections, falls, diagnostic errors, and readmissions. Patient safety can be improved through strategies such as improving communication within hospitals, increasing patient involvement, reporting adverse events, developing protocols and guidelines, proper management of human resources, educating health-care providers on the need for patient protection, and commitment of the leadership to the task. This paper talks about patient safety and how it can be improved in stroke rehabilitation war ds of both public and private hospitals. Organizational Goal/Objectives for Patient Safety Every hospital is committed to ensuring that their patients in stroke rehabilitation wards and other facilities are safe from any form of harm that may occur as a result of the health care providers’ negligence. Firstly, every hospital integrates quality and safety approaches into its everyday’s operations to promote and enhance the safety and quality of its environment and services respectively (Garban, 2011). This is usually complemented by other strategies meant for enhancing organizational knowledge to improve efficiency and overall productivity. Some hospitals provide further training to their health care personnel to ensure that they efficiently incorpor... ...nurses: How to prevent harmful events and promote patient safety. Philadelphia, PA: F.A. Davis Co. Snell, S., & Bohlander, G. W. (2013). Managing human resources. Andover: Cengage Learning. Spurgeon, P., Burke, R. J., & Cooper, C. L. (2012). The innovation imperative in health care organizations: Critical role of human resource management in the cost, quality, and productivity equation. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. Watcher, R. (2012). Understanding patient safety. New York, NY: McGraw Hill Professional. Williams, M. (2007). Comprehensive hospital medicine. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders. Wu, A. W. (2011). The value of close calls in improving patient safety: Learning how to avoid and mitigate patient harm. Oakbrook Terrace, IL: Joint Commission Resources. Youngberg, B. J. (2013). Patient safety handbook. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Photosynthesis: Light and Plant

ESS Internal Assessment: Lab Report Aim: The aim is to measure the rate of photosynthesis of an aquatic plant (Cabomba species) at different light intensities. Hypothesis: If the distance between the lamp and the plant increases the rate of photosynthesis decreases because the plant requires light for photosynthesis to occur. Variables: Independent: The independent variable for this experiment is light intensity. In each trial the distance between the plant and the lamp will be increased, from 15 cm in the first trial to 30 cm in the second and then 50 cm in the third.Dependent: In this experiment we will measure the oxygen bubbles the plant releases into the water, per minute, to determine the rate of photosynthesis. Constant: * The species of plant (Cabomba) and the specific plant specimen is going to be kept the soma throughout the experiment because most different species or specimens may photosynthesize at a different rate to others. * The amount of water was also kept constant * The temperature of the water was kept constant at about 25 degrees Celsius (Room Temperature) as nothing was done to alter it throughout the experiment. The time periods were also kept constant as we did three trials of five minutes each and always measured the amount of bubbles per minute. Method: 1. Add Sodium Bicarbonate to the water 2. Put plant in water 3. Put the lamp at 15 cm for the beaker containing the plant specimen. Make sure this is measure accurately 4. Light the lamp at the same time as the timer is started 5. Observe, count and document how many oxygen bubbles were released by the plant Materials: 1. Water 2. Sodium Bicarbonate 3.Lamp 4. Glass Vile 5. Funnel Data Collection: Measure| 15 cm| 30 cm| 50 cm| 1| 4| 3| 4| 2| 5| 5| 2| 3| 5| 5| 2| 4| 3| 4| 3| 5| 6| 1| 4| Average | 4. 6| 3. 6| 3| Discussion: The results show, that on average, the further the lamp was moved away from the plant, the fewer bubbles formed. This is due to the fact that the lamp provides heat and light for the plant, to components that are vital for photosynthesis to occur. The bubbles in the water were oxygen bubbles that are released by the plant as it respires.As the lamp is further away the plant receives less light and therefore slows the rate of photosynthesis. With less photosynthesis the plant begins to release fewer oxygen bubbles. Evaluation: Our experiment went fairly well, however our results were not very accurate for various reasons. Firstly, the lamp we sued was a simple table lamp instead of UV light used to mimic sunlight. Therefore the light used was not an accurate imitation of sunlight. This may not have allowed the plant to increase it’s rate of photosynthesis to the fullest.Therefore the rates may have been lower then they would have been in the plant’s natural environment. The second factor that may have made our experiment less accurate was the fact that the lamp was not the only source of light hitting the plant. There was general ceil ing lighting in the room and a small extent of daylight falling on the plant. This can also have slightly manipulated our results, as we cannot be entirely sure if the rate of photosynthesis was solely influenced by the distance between the lamp and the plant and not by he other light sources in the room. We did not make any measurements of the temperature of the water or discuss the effects this may have had on the rate of photosynthesis. We also knew very little about the natural environment of the Cabomba plant. Therefore our experiment was not an accurate imitation of the plant natural process of photosynthesis, as we had to apply more components such as water temperature, proper lighting etc.We were very successful at measuring the amount of bubbles released per minute as we took turns and worked very successfully as a team, one member taking the time and the other watching and counting the bubbles, therefore we believe that our recorded results are fairly accurate. We also mad e sure that the lamp was always at the aforementioned distance from the plant specimen. Therefore I believe that our results were rather accurate given that they were recorded in a classroom environment. Conclusion:

Why slavery was abolished

There are many things that have created slavery but also many things to abolish it. Historians have identified a number of factors that contributed to the abolition of slavery, but here are the most important ones that I will talk about in this essay; middle class whites, black slaves, working class whites and economics. The white middle class people played a huge part in the abolition of slavery. William Wilberforce was a highly respected MP; he played a huge part in the abolition by forming a group opposing slavery. He campaigned by making lots of speeches and studied the terrible conditions on board the slave ships. Granville Sharp was a surgeon in east London, when he met a slave named Jonathan Strong. Strong had been whipped and badly beaten by his master David Lisle. Sharp took him to hospital where he recovered. Strong was working as a healthy messenger boy when Lisle had him recaptured. When Sharp heard of this, he took Lisle to court to regain Strong his freedom. Sharp won the case and it got him a lot of good publicity, which Sharp later used, for his further campaigns. William Pitt was a prime minister at the time and he also heavily opposed slavery, he got parliament to make the law that to improve conditions on the plantations in the West Indies but unfortunately this had very little effect. Josiah Wedgwood was the younger son of Thomas Wedgwood. Josiah created a plaque to try and change people's minds about slavery, the plaque was of a black slave in chains and around the sides read: ‘Am I not a man or a brother?' This saying helped abolish slavery because it made people realise that slaves are human beings and are men or brothers not cargo. He also joined with Thomas Clarkson and Granville Sharp to form the society for the abolition of the slave trade. It was not just the middle class whites but also the working class whites too, they signed thousands of petitions to abolish slavery and in 1814 1.5 million people signed a petition. Lots of speeches were made after work outside on the streets. Usually there would be huge groups of workers all gathered round to hear debates. After the law in 1807 abolished the slave trade, middle class whites still kept on protesting until slavery was abolished altogether. Slavery was also abolished because the money that was being made from it was decreasing rapidly. Adam Smith who was an economist said that slaves who are forced to work for free would put very little effort into there work but if they had something to be motivated by like a pay check they would want to work harder for more money, this results in better business because more work is being done. As time went by places apart from the West Indies, started producing sugar. Places like Cuba and Jamaica made their sugar very cheap and did not have slaves to do the work. This forced a lot of the British sugar plantations in the West Indies to close down, which brought a reduction in the demand for slaves. The black slaves themselves also took upon there human rights and helped to abolish slavery. Lots of black slaves who worked in Britain started to demand wages from their owners and to be treated like normal servants. Some slave owners would have taken this badly and the slave would have been beaten. This would have only caused the slave owner more trouble by being taken to court by his slave so the slave could fight for his/her freedom. The slave would do this by getting help from someone like Granville Sharp. In every case the judges made a different decision each time because the judges did not want to seem biased. The black slaves who worked in the sugar plantations in the West Indies, did not have the chance to go to court so they rebelled! One of the biggest rebellions was at the British plantation of St Domingue; the slaves killed their owners and set fire to all the sugar canes. British troops were sent out to stop them but the slaves defeated them. This made the British see how badly the slaves wanted freedom. Olaudah Equiano probably had the biggest impact on the abolition of slavery. He was a slave who brought his own freedom and wrote his autobiography on his past experiences as a slave. This turned many people against slavery and Olaudah soon found he working with the likes of Wilberforce. He also helped slaves gain their freedom and brought cases like the zong to the public's attention. Some people like Elizabeth Heyrick only played a small part in the abolition but they still got something done. In 1824 Elizabeth Heyrick published her pamphlet immediate not gradual abolition. In her pamphlet Heyrick argued in favour of the immediate freedom of the slaves in the British colonies. This was different from the official policy of the anti slavery society that believed in gradual abolition. The leadership of the organisation attempted to stop information about the existence of this pamphlet and William Wilberforce gave out instructions for leaders of the movement not to speak at women's anti-slavery societies. At the conference in May 1830, the anti slavery society agreed to drop the words â€Å"gradual abolition† from its title. It also agreed to support Elizabeth heyrick's plan for a new campaign to bring about immediate abolition. The following year the anti slavery society presented a petition to the House of Commons calling for the â€Å"immediate freeing of newborn children of slaves†. As you can see slavery was abolished for so many reasons but what I think the most significant are a combination of the middle class whites and Olaudah Equiano. These were what I think the most important factors where because firstly the middle class whites like Wilberforce where very highly respected people and were the sort not to be ignored at parliament. I think especially Wilberforce because him being an MP meant that parliament would listen to what he had to say which they would not do with a working class white for example. Olaudah Equiano played a big part because he spoke about slavery from a personal experience and when something as bad as the horrific tales of slavery has come straight from a person who has experienced it has a greater effect rather then if it came from a MP who had not experienced it.

5 Strategies for Private School Admissions Test Prep

5 Strategies for Private School Admissions Test Prep Most private schools require applicants to take a standardized test as part of the admission process. Essentially what the schools are trying to determine is how prepared you are for the academic work that they want you to be able to do. The most commonly used tests in independent schools are the SSAT and the ISEE, but ther are others that you may encounter. For example, Catholic schools use HSPTs and COOPs which are similar in content and purpose. If you think of the SSAT and ISEE like the college level SAT or its preparatory test, the PSAT, then you get the idea. The tests are organized in several sections, each designed to assess a specific skill set and knowledge level. Here are several tips to help you best prepare for this important exam. 1. Start Test Prep Early Begin final preparation for your admissions test in the spring for testing in the following fall. While these standardized tests measure what you have learned over the course of many years, you should begin working some practice tests in the spring and summer before you actually take the real thing in the late fall. There are several test prep books that you can consult.  Want some study tips? Check out this blog for some SSAT test prep strategies. 2. Dont Cram Last minute cramming is not going to be very productive when it comes to learning material you should have been learning over several years. The SSAT is designed to test what you have learned over time at school. Its not designed so that you have to learn new material, just master the material you have been learning in school. Instead of cramming, you might consider working hard in school and then during the last few weeks before the test, concentrate on three areas: know what is expectedtake practice testsreview subject material 3. Know the Test Format Knowing what is expected when you step through the door to the testing room is just as important as taking practice tests. Memorize the format of the test. Know what material will be covered. Learn all the variations in the way a question can be presented or worded. Think like the examiner. Paying attention to details like how youll take the exam and how it is scored can help you excel overall. Want more test prep strategies? Check out this blog on how to prepare for the SSAT and ISEE. 4. Practice Taking practice tests is critical to your success in these standardized tests. You have a certain number of questions which must be answered within a fixed time. So you must work to beat the clock. The best way to perfect your skills is to actually try to duplicate the test environment. Try to match the test conditions as closely as possible. Set aside a Saturday morning to work a practice test to the clock. Make sure that you do the practice test in a quiet room and have a parent present you the exam, just as if you were in the actual testing room. Imagine yourself in the room with dozens of your classmates taking the same test. No cell phone, snacks, iPod or TV. If you are really serious about honing your timing skills, you should repeat this exercise at least twice. 5. Review Reviewing subject material means exactly that. If you have pursued your studies in an organized manner, that  means pulling out those notes from a year ago and going over them carefully. Note what you didnt understand. Practice what you werent sure of by writing it out. Thats a common test prep strategy, writing things out, because for many people, this strategy will help them remember things better. As you practice and review, make a note of where you excel and where you need assistance, and then get help in the areas where you have deficiencies. If you plan to take the tests next year, understand the material now so that you can nail them. Dont put off thorough test preparation. Remember: you cannot cram for these tests. Article edited by  Stacy Jagodowski