Meaning of Life and Thanksgiving Essay Example for Free

Meaning of Life and Thanksgiving Essay As the first pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock and had a feast with the Indians, they shared a moment of thanks together. They gave thanks for all their blessings, thus, creating our lovely day of Thanksgiving. When Thanksgiving is thought of, the first thing that comes to mind is turkey and a plentiful amount of food. Thanksgiving to me, is the time to be together with the ones you care about. Coming together for a day to just be with each other and to catch up is what Thanksgiving means to me. Family should be with each other to share memories and to realize the plentiful amount of blessings they have been given. Thanksgiving is not only a day for gorging on food or falling into a food coma, but talking with each other and just being glad to be with one another. Having family during Thanksgiving is a crucial part in my life. Having all of my relatives in one place for one day to talk and have fun with them makes Thanksgiving extra special for me. It is one of the few days of the year that I get to see everybody. The turkey, yams, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes is just the icing on the cake. Everybody in my family loves the food. We eat and eat until we cant eat anymore. My family has a tradition of playing soccer afterwards but that goes only so far due to our full stomachs. My cousins and I play a friendly game of poker, afterwards our failed attempts for soccer, for first dibs on dessert. After a good game of poker, my cousins and I look for ways to entertain ourselves meanwhile the adults talk about their lives and brag about their kids. Society today makes Thanksgiving look like a day just to eat. As society advances the meaning of Thanksgiving deteriorates into a secular holiday. The meaning of Thanksgiving seems obsolete. I truly believe that Thanksgiving should be refreshed in its meaning and should be celebrated with family and love. As people come together to share a special day in our history, this should be a day which people will not take for granted.

Hindu Astrology and Free Will :: essays research papers

Friends when we talk about astrology, we mess up in rajyogas, duryogas, auspicious incidents, inauspicious happenings and so on. I don't think we ever proceed to search out 'seriously' beyond that. Then comes out the most controversial and debated subject what we call 'free will'. If everything has been pre-destined, what the hell we are striving for? Is there any devil writing our fates all the time and having fun? A big No, all the saints say that nobody else, but we alone are responsible for our plight. Vivekananda says "Stand upon your feet and take the responsibility of your present prevailing circumstances instead of being a coward escapist passing all the blames upon Almighty." Our Seers were not mere astrologers or fortune tellers, but they were inventors. Without the help of any external aid they located so much just by going deep inside. They located the laws of nature and their influence upon human beings. If we just make a go with different yogas, then astrology seems to be mere fatalism unable to extend any aid to come out of the vicious circle what we term as destiny. In this case astrology seems to have lost its ground. The predestination of fate leaves astrology meaningless. Simply because the past has already passed, the present has been decided and the future has already been written. I started astrology in the year 1998. Till the end of 2003 I was an incurable fatalist. During these 5 years I read almost all the literature of Vivekananda and Yogananda, the famous kriya yogi who left his human body in the year 1950. In those books I read a lot about the so called free will of human beings but with little conviction. Since as an Astrologer I was witnessing almost regularly that destiny couldn’t be altered. But the last two years changed my whole perception. I understood well what those great saints meant to say. When they talked about the free will, they were not concerned merely about the human body made of five tatvas of Nature namely water, air, earth, fire and ether. In all actuality they were talking about the free will of the spirit, which inhabits one and all. The body and mind are bounded in the Nature's laws, and therefore, enjoy very little freedom. When you go by the commands of mind, you gradually nullify yourself by being the slave of senses.

Mainstreaming: Special Education and Regular Classroom Essay

Mainstreaming is an important issue and realism that has a direct impact on all parties involved, including educators, students and parents. Mainstreaming is a matter that has become very controversial and therefore it requires important awareness and understanding from all peoples involved. One essential way of gaining this understanding and awareness is by reviewing what mainstreaming really is, as well as the positive and negative aspects that may arise from it. Defining the Issue: Mainstreaming. Mainstreaming, now more commonly referred to as inclusion, is thought of as the integration of exceptional students into regular educational settings, in which emphasis is placed on participation rather than placement (Perry, Winne & Woolfolk, 2000 p. 136). A classroom that is mainstreamed, is one which includes many different types of learners; in other words, mainstreaming is a classroom that accommodates students with disabilities and those without, as well as those students who are thought of as being gifted with an IQ score of above average. Disabled children in a mainstreamed classroom may vary greatly in the types of disability they might have. For example, children may have one or more of the following disabilities: physical, behavioral, mental or learning disability. It is evident then, that a classroom that is mainstreamed will indeed present a number of challenges for the teacher, since he or she must accommodate to so many different needs of the students. The main purpose of mainstreaming is to â€Å"equally support and promote a typical classroom experience for all students† (Lyness, 2001, p.3). However, this does not exclude the usage of outside support services such as teachers’ assistance or resource rooms. Therefore, the basic idea of mainstreaming is for students to receive assistance, while also benefiting from a regular classroom atmosphere. Positive Viewpoints of Mainstreaming There are a number of interesting points that support the idea of mainstreaming. For example, in a mainstreamed classroom all special education students must have an Individual Education Program (IEP). An IEP is an â€Å"annually revised program detailing present achievement level, goals and strategies, drawn up by teachers, parents, specialist and if possible the student† (Perry, Winne, & Woolfolk, 2000, p. 138). The use of the IEP is geared to meet the needs of the special education student. This is an issue that should be further educated and explained to the parties involved, most importantly the parents, since most of them feel that their child may not be receiving the support that they need in order to perform adequately in a regular classroom. As mentioned previously, students in a mainstreamed classroom receive support services such as teachers’ aids and access to resource rooms. Resource rooms are generally equipped with materials that are designed to meet the needs of the special educational student. A student may spent as much time as they need in the resource room with a special education teacher in order to receive the extra help they need. Another point that supports the idea of manstreaming is the fact that it seems to be beneficial for all students, both disabled and non-disabled. For example, placing special education students in a regular classroom reduces the risk of the student as being labeled or stigmatized. This point stands out clearly in the statement by Perry, Winne & Woolfolk (2000) that Segregation away from the mainstream in special classes robs disabled students of the opportunity to learn to participate fully in society, robs non-disables students of the opportunity to develop understanding and acceptance of the disabled, and increases the likelihood that the individual will be stigmatized (p. 139). Also, a classroom that includes and involves different types of learners is one that will be more accepting of the differences present amongst the students. According to studies by Lyness (2001), research has shown that students without disabilities who are in a mainstreamed classroom accept and value the differences in their classmates, have enhanced self esteem, and a genuine capacity for friendship. It is important for students to respect the differences of their peers, which is what a mainstreamed classroom helps to accomplish. Negative Viewpoints of Mainstreaming Along with the good points of mainstreaming come a number of interesting points that do not support the idea of mainstreaming. For example, in a mainstreamed classroom a child may not feel a sense of belonging from other children. This may been displayed in the form of teasing or ridicule, in which the special education students self esteem is greatly affected. Feelings of inadequacy to keep up with non-disabled students may also arise amongst special education students. Perry, Winne & Woolfolk (2000), state that â€Å"disabled students can be just as socially isolated in a regular class as they would in a special education class, across the hall across the country† (p. 139). Another pessimistic viewpoint of mainstreaming is the great demand that is places on the teachers. With so few teachers available and the large amount of students in need of assistance, it is impossible for teachers to focus special attention on individual students with special educational needs. This creates a problem for both the teacher, whose job becomes absolutely over whelming and stressful, as well as the special education student who lacks the vital support and attention that he or she may need. Mainstreaming may also place pressure on special education students. For example, a special education student may feel that he or she may have to perform at the same level as his or her fellow classmates even though the disability they possess prevents them from doing so. Fracine McNamara states how â€Å"mainstreaming is very difficult for special needs children ?and it is hard enough for a regular education child to keep up with the curriculum and the world, it is even harder for a children with road blocks† (Pantazis, 2000, p. 11). My Opinion As this paper demonstrates, I also agree that there are positive and negative aspects that are associated with mainstreaming. I do agree that children should have individual programs that support their needs, as they would receive in a special education program; if these needs can be met within a regular classroom, all the better. I also believe that by placing special education students in a regular classroom, this can increase their motivation to perform well in school. Often, when children are placed in special education classrooms, they do not perform to the best of their ability because they are stigmatized into thinking they can not do better. I also believe another advantage of mainstreaming is the fact that special needs children may begin to model the positive behaviors of regular students  such as completion of homework, improved social skills and age appropriate behaviors. This is especially important for children with behavior problems, since they often may need a positive role model in order to perform to the best of their ability. I also believe that in some cases exceptional students are very good in non-academic areas such as sports, drawing and mainstreaming allows these students to share their skills with regular students. This, in turn, is beneficial for both parties. However, I also believe that in some cases mainstreaming is not the best option for all special needs children. Some children’s needs go far beyond what a regular classroom can offer. Self-contained programs are necessary for these types of children, programs that teach children skills that will be useful to the in the real world, and also prepare them for community living. These life skills may include personal hygiene, money managing, basic household chores and safety. Also, severely handicapped children need to be in contact with other students who share a common affliction. This is not likely to happen in a mainstreamed classroom since regular students outnumber special education students. By taking a closer look at the definition of mainstreaming as well as the positive and negative aspects associated with it, one can perhaps acquire better understanding and awareness of the issue. As this paper has demonstrated, there are both positive and negative viewpoints of mainstreaming, which in turn, cause large amounts of controversy. However, the most important issue, which must not be forgotten, is it is vital to help all students obtain the best education possible. References Lyness, D. (2001). http://www. kidsheath. org Pantazis, S. (2000). http://www. epinions. com Perry, N. , Winne, P. , Woolfolk, A. (2000). Educational Psychology. Scarborough: Allyn and Bacon Canada.

Essay on Causes of Unemployment - 881 Words

The unemployment rate slowly started getting worse and it may have hit all time lows. With unemployment rates soaring the causes of this are from aging, teenagers, and outsourcing even though some refute with saying it is self inflicted. One of the things that cause unemployment to keep increasing is the age of people. Seeing as there is almost no family not affected by this great recession, there must have been a cause. â€Å"You are aging as you are not employed, and nobody is looking to hire somebody who is old,† (Aaronson, pg. 6). When older people are laid off they keep aging and there are young kids coming out of college looking for the same job. Every single year more and more kids are graduating from college with degrees and the†¦show more content†¦Since, they are in school; it is very hard to have a job with the amount of credit hours that kids will be taking. These kids also don’t have a degree just yet and they are trying to compete for the same jobs as adults that have experience in the field and also have a degree from college already. â€Å"Youth unemployment may have hit bottom and could increase in coming months and years,† (Miller, 4th paragraph). The reason that the yo uth unemployment could be going up in the future is because the old adult percentage of people working is going down and they are starting to hire more teens and young adults. This is helpful to help hire more of the younger population but, this does not solve overall unemployment. The reason that there is a high unemployment rate is because some of the work is leaving the country. This is the act that is called outsourcing. â€Å"China is expanding,† (Long terms, pg. 10). With China expanding it gives the U.S. more of a chance that they give their work to China or a different country. The reason that we give our work away to other countries is because other countries such as China can complete the work for almost half of the cost and sometimes even cheaper than that. â€Å"Overall economy is shrinking,† (Aaronson, pg. 3). This is what happens when outsourcing is happening. As long as outsourcing is happening our U.S. economy only has one thing to do and that is to shrink. The reason that it is shrinking is because businesses large and small areShow MoreRelatedCauses of Unemployment1070 Words   |  5 PagesCauses of Unemployment In Malaysia, the unemployment rate is considered low compared to the early years such as 1986 where the unemployment rate reached as high as 7.6%. Today the unemployment rate is still affected by many factors and in order to make sure it doesn’t reach as high as before, we need to find out the causes of unemployment so that we can provide a solution to the cause of it. 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