Balancing Family & Work Life Essay Example for Free

Balancing Family Work Life Essay I. Introduction A. Thesis Statement Attending school as an adult, and maintaining a source of employment can be a daunting task, as many adults who had to delay their college education must know. One of the most challenging aspects of adult life consists of learning how to adjust accordingly to the rigors of life at home as well as the workplace. Failure to do so can lead to a life of complete disarray, stress, illness and exhaustion. II. Body Paragraph #1 – Topic Sentence #1 Traditionally the typical age group for freshmen in college was between 18 to 19 years of age. That reality has slowly changed as more young adults are finding their way back in the classroom, while holding down a job. The information I found in P.14 of the ebrary book: Families and Work: New Directions in the Twenty-First Century, by Fredriksen-Goldsen, Karen I. states: â€Å"Of the more than 69 million American parents with children under the age of 18 (Famighetti, 1998), almost 90 percent are employed (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1998).† At the same time, there are working professionals attempting to achieve a college education in order to refine their skills, or to gain new ones. Among those working adults, young couples typically tend to have a harder time with managing the broad aspects of life, especially those who are in the early stages of their relationship, which has the potential to result in a lot of growing pains. A. Supporting evidence The information found in an article from the following website; http://pods.dasnr.okstate.edu/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-2421/T-2233web.pdf states: â€Å"Family and work settings have a built-in potential for conflict. Adults may get overwhelmed with the excessive demands that are required of them from either end of the spectrum, leaving them with the feeling of having very little time to accomplish those tasks.† Finding a balance between work and home involves finding ways of accomplishing the tasks at home as well as duties at work. Those responsibilities are often shared among couples in a healthy relationship. The equality of the shared house  chores, however, is up or debate. It has long been stated that the task of maintaining the home primarily fell on the woman’s shoulders, while the man focuses mainly on duties in the workplace. For some married couples, trying to get their husband to help with the housework typically led to domestic disputes. In recent years however, men have been getting more involved with parenting than ever before. A passage from (Giraffe 2011) states: â€Å"The recession of 2008 contributed to this arrangement because increased unemployment left more fathers available to care for their children and the reduced family income made outside childcare services unaffordable.† The traditional view of the American household should change because of an increase in the number of two-parent families entering the labor force. One of the primary services built around that change in society is the daycare system. Many of those two-parent families, as well as single parents may not have direct support from their families to take care of the children while they’re away at work. While some of the household work, such as childcare and housekeeping, has transitioned to outside providers, many working mothers cannot afford to employ these services (Giraffe, 2011). Unfortunately a big portion of their income goes to high daycare fees. III. Body Paragraph #2 – Topic Sentence #2 When the constants demands of life are far too much to bear, employees tend to feel the need to escape, and seek an alternate reality. We must look at the adverse effects that those long work hours have on the human body. Overworked individuals can suffer from work related illnesses as a result of excessive stress. Work related stress can result from extended hours due to mandatory overtime in some case. An employer’s rigid work hours which can prevent employees from tending to occasional issues at home can also be blamed for stress on the job. Employees suffering the effects of stress in the workplace tend to have bouts of absenteeism. A. Supporting evidence Absenteeism in the workplace is a major issue, with tangible and intangible costs. Although the absentee loses wages in the process, the major loss is at the expense of the employer. The ebrary book by Lynn  Tylczak, (Attacking absenteeism 1990), describes the intangible costs of absenteeism as follows: â€Å"Absentee costs are difficult to quantify. Experts estimate direct wage loses of more than $30 billion per year, and that’s just the beginning. Employers also need to consider the costs of supplementary or replacement workers. These costs include: Regular wages, overtime wages, and company benefits Supplementary benefits, such as Social Security, worker’s compensation, and unemployment compensation Administration of recruitment, selection orientation, and training Penalty costs resulting from delays.† The author (Lynn T. 1990) also gives the following explanation from the tangible cost of absenteeism: â€Å"It forces managers to deal with problems of morale, discipline, job dissatisfaction, job stress, team spirit, productivity, turnover, production quality, additional administration and overhead.† Many employers have become more cognizant of the disastrous effects of having stressful employees in the workplace. This is not only calculated in monetary losses based on productivity, but also in the valuable asset (the employee) which could potentially offset those losses. IV. Body Paragraph #3 Topic sentence # 3 Those who value their time with their families certainly appreciate the value of being away from work. This is particularly why a lot of us look forward to our vacation time. It us the opportunity to recharge our batteries and gives us the courage to return to our regular lives. Many employers have adapted to the changes in society by implementing new ways for employees to earn vacation time from work. A. Supporting evidence While some of us are comfortable being â€Å"working stiffs†, most people would rather look forward to their time away from work. An ebrary book by ANDERSON, NELS titled Work and Leisure states: â€Å"Although leisure reflects and supplements work, it is also used as a release from work. Some are of the view that unless a man has worked he cannot really enjoy leisure. They hold that while a man is working to earn a wage or salary, he also ‘earns’ leisure.† It is absolutely true that in order to fully enjoy our vacation time, we must work hard for it. That time of leisure can then be considered our reward for achieving the demands required of us in the workplace. Those who properly plan their vacation can benefit from sights  rarely seen in everyday life. Most people find it more beneficial to take their vacation in some exotic location. The topic on how to enjoy a proper vacation will vary from one employee to the next. V. Body Paragraph #4 Topic sentence # 4 Employers have devised lots of ways to keep valuable talent within their workforce, while allowing them time to accomplish their house work. Those arrangements can be profitable to the employer as well as the employee in some cases. Some of the sensible ways employers provide to employees are flextime, teleworking, and employee incentive just to name a few. A. Supporting evidence Flextime is highly valuable to employees because it allows them to have more control over the balancing act of work and home life. It also provides them the option of choosing when to complete their work. Flextime allows employees to handle personal business such as doctor appointments or school functions without having to take sick leave or vacation time. Employers personnel needs are met and they get employees at their best. In highly skilled positions where competition for employees is fierce and employee turnover costly, flexible schedules can also reduce attrition by making employees more content with their jobs (Giraffe, 2011). Teleworking provides some lucky employees the opportunity to work remotely. With this system employees can either work from home or in some shared work spaces. In most cases employees would prefer to work from home because it is the ideal place to work from. This reduces the work commute, and the amount stress to the employee. It takes an especially disciplined employee to work from home, because of the constant distractions from home can cause the employee’s work performance to suffer. Employers must be careful when considering the type of employees they provide that opportunity to. Through teleworking, some employees do get to achieve balance between family and work life.

Personal Narrative - Catapulting Fish :: Personal Narrative Writing

Catapulting Fish I saw fish. We all did. Little silver fish the size of my palm were all lying sideways on the surface of the water. There were just a few at first, but they kept appearing. I saw a little boy point to a fish and ask his father about it. The boy knew the difference between the fake shark and the real dead fish. I entered Amityville from the employee entrance. Just past the break room there is a 7-foot-tall light blue wooden gate door. Even from there, I could smell it. I made my way up the stairs to the crows’ nest, wearing my uniform and nametag, and opened another blue door. There inside was an old couch, stained and saturated with lagoon water and the skippers’ sweat through the years. I swiped in on the time clock and went back down the stairs to the unload dock to learn which rotation I had been placed in, and with whom. In the closet, on the west end of the unload dock there was a dry erase board with the assigned positions for the skippers during their shifts. I do not remember which rotation I had that day, but I do remember how hard it was to breathe. When I bumped into my first rotation of the day, I discovered a little more about the disaster that accompanied the sharp chlorine-like stench. From the front of the boat, I could see months of accumulated hydraulic fluid floating in metallic and neon colored swirls at the surface of the murky brown lagoon water. The water had been murky for as long as I had worked at JAWS, but that day all of the reasons for its usual questionable color and odor rose to the surface. The boat rounded the corner between the unload and load docks, and arrived at the loading dock, where another skipper at a different stage in his rotation counted the passengers and closed the gate of my boat.

The Opium War

In this descriptive essay the movement for china to prohibit opium and the formation and the devolution of the first opium war from 1839 till 1842 and its aftermaths for china will be shown. The Opium War was one of the most important points of inflexion in the history of china. Before this war, china was an autonomous feudal state that administrates the state without interventions of other states. After the repression of the Qing Dynasty by the British and the signing of the disparate contract of Nanjing in 1842, china converted step by step to a half feudal and half colonial state.Already in the forties of the 19th century, Great Britain was a high developed, capitalistic State. After it has tightened its colonial control about India, their aggressions adjust against china. In this time china was still a self isolated feudal state with a dominant autarkic agricultural economic system. British industrial goods were not liked and couldn’t be sold in china in this time, so that Britain had to pay big amounts of silver to buy Chinese products like silk and tea.To avoid these high costs, Britain starts to bribe Chinese functionaries by opium. It was brought in rising high amounts to china. For example in contrast to 1820 where they brought 4000 cases with 600 kilo of opium for each to china, they transported 40000 cases of that in 1838 to the empire of the middle, which means that a very high amount of silver leaves china in this years. The price of silver was rising high so that the burden of the Farmers gains and the Qing Dynasty get into financial problems consequently.Thereby the number of opium smokers elevates, the feudal functionaries getting more and more corrupt and the fighting power of the Chinese army was enervated. Finally the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty Daoguang (from 1821 till 1850) was frightened of his authority. Because of that he sends the general governor of Hunan and Hubei, Lin Zexu, as a special representative to Guangzhou to eliminate dealing with opium. In Guangzhou he let arrested the dealers, punished corrupt functionaries and ordered the foreign traders to surrender their opium to him.The foreign traders also had to sign a commitment that they never would deliver opium to china again. The counteraction of Charles Elliot, the British inspector for trade in China, attempts to perforate the prohibition and told the foreign traders that they don’t have to sign the commitment and don’t have to surrender their opium to the Chinese governor. He also commands the trade ships which anchor in front of the Pearl River to get away. After those actions Lin Zexu prohibited all trading actions between Chinese and British people and let guard the British residential area by the army.On the 3rd of June in 1839 he gave the order to a public burn down of 1,15 million kilogram of the surrendered opium at the beach of Humen. Thereafter he wanted to go back to the normal trade between china and Britain with a genera l prohibition for opium. After the public burn down, Charles Elliot pressures the British government to start a vengeance war against china. In April of 1840 the British parliament declares a resolution for a war against china on what they started an offense in June. They first attacked the coast of Guangzhou with 40 warships and about 4000 army soldiers.That was the beginning of the opium war. The Chinese army was prepared well for this offense so that they can kickback the attacks in Guangzhou and later also in Xiamen in the province of Fujian. Later they charged Dinghai in the province of Zhejiang and push along to the north where they accomplished the harbor of Tianjing and menace the capital Beijing. The Qing administration was afraid about this development so that they sent Qishan, general governor of Zhili (today called Hebei), to Guangzhou to start negotiations for peace.But during the negotiations in January of 1841, the British army attacks the fort in front of Humen and c aptured it. Because of that Qishan was affected to sign the convention of Chuanbi which declares the abandonment of Hongkong to Great Britain and the payment of reparations for the burned opium. This convention was an affront for the Emperor Daoguang which threatened his authority. Because of that he declared the war against Great Britain. He sent his nephew Yishan to Guangzhou who should direct this military act. But even before he arrived the British army captured Humen that were protected by admiral Guan Tianpei and 400 soldiers.If they also blast to Guangzhou by cannon, Yishan capitulates, asked for peace and signed the convention of Guangzhou which obligates him to pay 6 million silver dollars as reparation for the war. But the Britain government was disaffected with the advantages of the provisional convention of Chuanbi so that they sent again 26 warships with 3500 soldiers to expand the war of aggressions. In august of 1841 they captured Xiamen and later in October Dinghai, Zhenhai and Ningbo in the province of Zhejiang. In June of 1942 they ineffectively attacked Wusong nearby shanghai and captured later shanghai itself and Zhejiang.In August the British warships advanced the Yangtzekiang River to ship to Nanjing. If they arrived at Nanjing the Qing administration sent a diplomatic, called Qiying, to a British ship for negotiate peace. On the 29th of August in 1842 he signed the infamous Chinese – British contract of Nanjing which was the first disparate Contract of the modern Chinese history. The contract, which includes 13 articles, orders China to open Guangzhou, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Ningbo and Shanghai as trade harbors, to assign Hongkong to Great Britain and pay a reparation of 21 million silver dollars.In the following year Great Britain compel the Qing administration to sign the abstract rules for the British – Chinese trade in five free trade harbors and also to sign the contract of Humen as accessory to the contract of Nanjing, which includes that the maximum duty for British goods is constricted on 5%. It also declares that British people are able to build up houses for permanent living. Through the Nanjing contract and other disparate contracts in the following years china lost its political independence.The inflow of foreign goods started to corrode the Chinese feudal economy. Because of that china developed into a half feudal and half colonial society in these years. In my opinion the opium war was a very important and influencing part of the Chinese history. I made the experience that you can find these influences till today. It especially affects Hong Kong which is a part of china again since 1997 but till 2047 declared as a special administrative region with an own currency and own rules. You can make this experience if you know different parts of china.In Hong Kong you can find many European looking buildings, a lot of western food and about 19. 000 Britain’s. It is a very international, intercul tural city and nearly everybody speaks English. But you can also see the differences if you visit some other cities which were colonized before a long time. For example in Shanghai or Qindao. But every region which was colonized is again a part of china today. In the time of international trade and globalization a European people like me can’t imagine that in our days a region of a country is colonized by another country.And I also think that Daoguang, the emperor of the Qing Dynasty in the time of the opium war, reacts completely correct to this situation because no emperor in this world allow another country to make his nation addicted to drugs and cheat to them about the income of the international trade. So that I can say that I think that the events which happened turned into a negative light only because of the arrogance and presumption of the Britain’s, that captured parts of china, despite to the big resistance of China, to acquire things which were not owned b y them and to browbeat a country which is cultural known for harmony till today.

Counseling, Reflection, And Setting Goals - 1317 Words

In my first six sessions, it seemed to me the mindset of the counselor in the session is one of the tantamount elements in dictating the outcome of the client’s experience. The first session I experienced brought on nervousness and uncertainty which led to insecurity. However, the more time I spent listening to my client the more comfortable I became with the role of counselor. Such feelings of comfort brought with it the ability to be more self-aware and client focused in the session. When I was uncomfortable I asked confusing questions, focused too much on how I looked, and lost the ability to attend to my client. I believe I came into these sessions strong in my nonverbal skills and encouragers. Nevertheless, I struggled with focused counseling, reflection of emotions, and setting goals. Intentionality seems to be significant in the growth process; therefore, one of my first actions in response to these reflections will be to create a plan to address my opportunities for gr owth. The discomfort I experienced in my first couple of sessions stemmed from several different issues. Primarily, these feelings came from nerves. I have wanted to be an LPC for years, and being put in the role of actually counseling made me nervous I would not measure up. Moreover, I feared making the situation for my client worse because of something I would say or ask. Because of these feelings, I lacked professionalism at times during my first session. I laughed too often, and in inappropriateShow MoreRelatedReflection On Liberty Godparent Home1640 Words   |  7 PagesWritten Reflection: Family Life Services and Liberty Godparent Home As a student in the Social Work Field Exploration Course, I had the privilege to encounter an array of practice settings and glean wisdom from many social work professionals. Throughout these visits, one practice setting in particular peeked my interest: The Liberty Godparent Home (LGH) and Family Life Services (FLS). Though two distinct ministries, they work in tandem to facilitate the wellbeing of young mothers and adoptionRead MoreReflection Of Group Counseling Process And Mental Health Group Activities829 Words   |  4 PagesA Reflection of Group Counseling Process and Mental Health Group Activities One might say the best teachers are the ones who go over and beyond the call of duty to assist their children. This idea could especially be proven true given the factors that are affecting the social and academic capabilities of the students we teach on a daily basis. One emerging, yet commonly overlooked factor is mental health. Mental health is one of those issues seen to be taboo in schools but is becoming a widespreadRead MoreCounselling Reflection1203 Words   |  5 PagesRUNNING HEAD: Reflection on counseling 1 Reflection on counseling session recording Chua Ci Jie Introduction to Counselling James Cook University, Singapore Reflection on counseling Reflection on counseling Counseling is interpreted as a therapeutic practice of utilizing dialogue to assist clients in better understand and coping with their individual problems or health issues (Counseling, 2003). The individuality of the counselor has been extensively regarded as a vital tool in the provisionRead MoreCounseling Services For A Counselor1565 Words   |  7 Pagesmight need to decline to provide counseling services to some clients/students who request them. a) In what circumstances might this be appropriate and ethical and how should that process be handled by the counselor? b) When would it be unethical for a counselor to decline to provide services? Support each response with a minimum of 3 relevant ACA and/or ASCA codes and the textbook. a) There are several times that a counselor might need to decline to provide counseling services. If a counselor is notRead MoreToward Intentional Interviewing and Counseling1652 Words   |  7 PagesInterviewing and Counseling INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS THE â€Å"CORRECT† RESPONSE TO OFFER A CLIENT? * There are many potentially useful responses in any interviewing situation. * Reflecting the client’s emotions can be helpful. * Selecting one aspect to focus on can be useful, and then later you can examine other dimensions by asking an open question. * Our tasks: * Respect the client * Use appropriate skills and strategies * Seek to alleviate stress INTERVIEWING, COUNSELING, AND PSYCHOTHERAPYRead MoreFamily Systems Therapy925 Words   |  4 Pagesrepetitive, and having negative interactions based on goals that are unclear (Dreikurs, 1974). These negative interactions and patterns are a reflection of the way our society has changed in their family systems. In most cases the problems of any one family are common to all others in their social and ethnic community. Although much of Adlerian family therapy is conducted in private sessions, it has also been used in different group settings such as schools. Adlerian therapist believes that humanRead MorePersonal Reflection Paper On Counseling979 Words   |  4 PagesPersonal Reflection Paper There are a number of historical theories in counseling, which have been used to assist clients during the counseling process. This week’s readings provided quite a few concepts from counseling theories which emerged around the mid-to-late twentieth century. These concepts come from the Adlerian therapy, reality therapy, and person-centered therapy. Within these therapies there were a few concepts that were valuable and interesting to me. Many coincided with my views onRead MoreTrends Principles Of The Counseling Profession1719 Words   |  7 PagesPrinciples of the Counseling Profession Self-reflection To be honest, before my first counseling session I thought that counseling would be easier that what it was; nonetheless, I learned very quickly otherwise. I believed that because I am an educator and encounter similar situations that may require particular skills such as encouraging, empathy, questioning and observation that I was going to have an advantage over acquiring and applying the rest of the skills needed for a complete counseling sessionRead MorePerson Centered Counseling Promotes Strong Relationships And Enhance Self Awareness Essay1310 Words   |  6 PagesPerson-centered counseling promotes strong relationships and enhance self-awareness. A relationship is created among the counselor and the client by encouraging unconditional positive regard, empathy, acceptance, and mutual respect for each other. The perception of the relationship is crucial because it creates a strong bond and a safe haven for the client. In addition, the client is able to self-explore by being ope n without the fear of judgment. Person-centered counseling teaches clients to selfRead MoreDiscrimination Model of Supervision1386 Words   |  6 Pages25, 2011 School counseling is a complex and demanding component of the counseling profession. With an increase of social and emotional stressors, children and youth of today face numerous challenges. These challenges ultimately affect children in school. With an increase of suicides, drug abuse, gang involvement, and violence amongst youth, a high demand for school counseling supervision is needed (Henderson, 1994). Parents and teachers often