Monday, July 20, 2020

5 Nonfiction Bricks Worth Adding to Your Personal Collection

5 Nonfiction Bricks Worth Adding to Your Personal Collection In the interest of getting more bang for your buck and saving yourself the hassle of hunting down multiple, smaller books, compilations should always be welcome releases. This applies to anything marketed as “Collected” or “Complete”; say, The Poetry of Robert Frost or The Stories of John Cheever. But in this post I write of nonfiction bricks: collections of essays, reviews, articles, columns, etc. that surpass or at least approach 1,000 pages. Its no surprise that books this long have a way of spanning time and covering more intangible ground. When well presented, they feel like portraits of not just their subjects, and not just their authors, but their times. Here are a few such titles. For more essay collection recommendations, check out Book Riots list of 100 must-read essay collections. Hot Seat  by Frank Rich A wearer of many journalistic hats over the years, Frank Rich has left his biggest mark as The New York Times’s chief theater critic, where he earned the nickname “The Butcher of Broadway” for his power to make or break a play’s success. Hot Seat offers not just all his reviews and but also brand-new commentary and essays on his time in the position. The book is long out of print, but used copies are readily available online. United States by Gore Vidal Gore Vidal struck a balance between fame seeker, for his frequent television appearances (the most famous of which pitted him against rivals William F. Buckley and Norman Mailer), and recognition earner, for his novels, which ranged from autobiographical (his debut Williwaw) to historical (Burr, Lincoln). What looms over all his written work are his impossibly well-read, reliably witty essays, many of which are collected in the mammoth 1993 volume United States. “It’s the heaviest book of the year,” Vidal said in an interview. Indeed, calling it an essay collection is like calling Lake Superior a really big pond. My Seditious Heart by Arundhati Roy Between the publications of her two novels, the Booker-winning The God of Small Things and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, Arundhati Roy devoted herself to political activism, not just in her native India but around the world. The essays that resulted from this work filled more than a dozen collections but remain mostly unknown to Western readers. My Seditious Heart, which collects many of these essays, is Haymarket Books’s attempt at changing that. Make sure you have a good grounding in Indian politics in general first, though. We Tell Ourselves Stories in Order to Live by Joan Didion Its the memoirs that won her awards and a massive audience, and the novels like Play It As It Lays that drew her a cult following, but Joan Didion will likely go down as one of the great essayists of the 20th century’s latter half, and this Everymans Library hardcover gives you all five of her collections in one. Of particular interest are Slouching Toward Bethlehem (is there a book besides The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test more synonymous with the 1960s counterculture?) and The White Album, the legendary first line of which gives the compilation its title. The Collected Essays of Ralph Ellison I hope general readers are past the point of deeming Ralph Ellison a one-novel wonder for his universally renowned debut Invisible Man. Some know of Juneteenth, a novel cobbled together from his writing after his 1994 death, but following Invisible Man, Ellison’s bread and butter were his essays, some of which were originally released in books like Shadow and Act  and Going to the Territory, and most of which fill the enormous Collected Essays of Ralph Ellison, released the year after his death. Also check out Living with Music, a much shorter gathering of his writings on jazz.

Thursday, May 21, 2020

Discrimination Essay Online For Free - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 702 Downloads: 10 Date added: 2017/09/11 Category Sociology Essay Type Narrative essay Tags: Segregation Essay Did you like this example? Affirmative Action Introduction Affirmative action is policies that institutions engage actively in for them to improve on the opportunities for groups that have been historically excluded in the society. In the recent past, educational institutions have been under pressure to eliminate or reduce any form of discriminatory actions (Carolyn, 2000). In most cases, affirmative action policies have been employed to comply with the requirements of the law. However, research shows that the affirmative actions have not completely neutralized the acts of discrimination. Globally, the supreme courts have crowned lengthy legal campaigns to eliminate educational institutions segregation. However, most educational institutions are, today, committed to offering equal opportunities to all persons in the institutions irrespective of color, race, nationality, religion, age, sex and educational orientation. Affirmative action is the product of 1960s civil rights movement that was int ended to permit equal opportunities in institutions for the disabled community. Affirmative Action Debate Affirmative action is a debate process than a policy admission. Recently, universities and colleges have reached out to unrepresented groups and sought their applications. As a result of affirmative action, the universities and colleges have doubled their admission of the representatives of minority persons. Studies show by Datcher Garman (1993) indicated that institutions that abolished affirmative action policies have seen a decline of 61% of disabled student representation in the educational institutions. They insist that affirmative action is instrumental for socioeconomic educational developments. Moreover, students who benefited from affirmative action policies have reported positive lifestyle. Honestly, they have received better jobs with pleasant incentives. For this reason, they have sustained a better life because of the opportunity they were offered. Diversit y in the educational institutions permits learning advantages for every student inclusive of their intellectual and personal developments. People exist in the global society with multiple cultures, therefore, for everyone to be prosperous; the educational stakeholders must effectively work together with a diverse society surrounding them. The affirmative action policies are instrumental for compensation of the economic, racial and social harassments. Normally, the persons who enjoy high social and economic status receive numerous opportunities than the people from lower economic and social backgrounds. The supports of the affirmative action are of the opinion that certain ethnic or racial groups have limitations in access of education. Ideally, this might be because they are in the brackets of lower income and hence not exposed to resources navigating on the educational institutions than their counterparts from higher social and economic class. Globally, affirmative action adv ocates are in support of the competition between the students based on their merit. However, they argue that the affirmative action is crucial for the compensation of the economic disparities. Although some opponents of affirmative action points out that the policy has led to division of the society along ethnic, economic, gender and nationality lines, the supports coherently argue that affirmative action incites the tensions that results from racism because the policy raises racial consciousness Conclusion The controversy surrounding the policy of affirmative action in the educational sectors are related to the perceptions of the public. Evidently, there is a lack of proper execution of the policy navigating on affirmative action (Hwok, 2012). This has led to variations in its actualization and an inadequate uniformity resulting in ideological clashes on the affirmative action nature. Additionally, the implementation of the policy has been downplayed by many critics of affirm ative action. These argument clashes have resulted into contention against and for affirmative action. In a nutshell, affirmative action policies should be supported in educational institutions for the students to receive better equal chances irrespective of their socioeconomic significances. References Managing multiculturalism and diversity in the library: Principles and issues for administrators [Special topic]. (January 01, 1999). Journal of Library Administration, 27. Datcher, L., Garman, D. (January 01, 1993). Affirmative action in higher education. The American Economic Review (evanston), 83, 2, 99-103. Carolyn, N., Jane, M. (January 01, 2000). The impact of affirmative action legislation on women working in higher education in Australia: progress or procrastination?. Women in Management Review, 15, 8, 404-414. Hwok-Aun, L. (January 01, 2012). Affirmative action in Malaysia: Education and emplyment outcomes since the 1990s. Journal of Contemporary Asia, 42, 2 , 230-254. Archibong, U., Adejumo, O. (May 01, 2013). Affirmative Action in South Africa: Are We Creating New Casualties?. Journal of Psychological Issues in Organizational Culture, 3, 14-27. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Discrimination Essay Online For Free" essay for you Create order

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Family Story - 1544 Words

The story of Aiden and Jayla is a long and eventful one. They are an interracial couple who worked hard in life for themselves and each other. They had many problems in their lives and relationship yet they always managed to come out of the chaos unscathed. Jayla had a difficult childhood that kept her busy. She was an African American girl living with a working class family. She had problems with her family which even increased when her parents refused to buy her vegetarian meals. She just didn’t like the taste of meat. She had a child at 16 and was forced to raise the child on her own. It was an untimely pregnancy like 88% of teen births in the US. When she was 14, she thought she had found the love of her life in a classmate of hers†¦show more content†¦They got married two and a half years after they started dating. This early marriage is quite rare nowadays. Their gender roles in the family skewed some from traditional views. Both of them helped raised the childr en, worked for a living, and took care of the trailer. The fact that both of the parents worked made it unlike a monolithic family. Jayla wanted to extend the family early because she wanted to have children while she had healthy eggs and have more energy to keep up with them. Her fertility was better because she was a vegetarian so it increased by eating proteins from plants and not animals. Eleven months after they were married Jayla gave birth to her second child, a baby boy named Kyle. Their relationship didn’t come without its share of problems. A while into their relationship they noticed people border patrolling against them. People were treating them like they were abnormal just because they were an interracial couple. Their relationship seemed even more abnormal because it was a white man with a black woman. Later on, Aiden was arrested for assault on Jayla’s supervisor for sexually harassing her. Her supervisor was not charged with anything because harassment is in the eye of the beholder and co-workers saw no harm in what the supervisor was doing. They just believed that Aiden was overreacting. Even worse, he lost his job as a researcher at a local university because of that. Fortunately, Jayla had completed her GED aShow MoreRelatedThe Story Of My Family1452 Words   |  6 PagesThe story of my family is one that I do not tell often. Although my entire family may not be in agreement at all ties, I know that there is a purpose for every single person in my family; there is a reason that I have the ties I do. Each person and each event builds on the continuous story of my life. Each new day is another chance to embark upon a journey that has the potential to change my life forever. Every time I see my parents, I tell them that I love them. Life itself is so fragile, and weRead MoreMy Family Story708 Words   |  3 Pages The stories from our parents and grandparents always hold a special place in our hearts, for just an instance we get to see what the world was like from a more mature individual’s perspective, we get to live the days they did through the stories they share. My grandma, or what she is to me; my meme, has shared a variety of stories from her childhood that has allowed me to see some of the challenges and opportunities she had faced growing up. My favorite story she has shared with me would be aboutRead MoreThe Story Of The Moore Family1248 Words   |  5 PagesThe Moore family lived in Villisca, Io wa. Villisca is seated in Montgomery County. At 508 East 2nd Street eight awful murders took place. Of the eight six of them were a family. Josiah B. Moore, who was forty-three years old, Sarah Montgomery Moore, thirty-nine years old, Herman Moore, eleven years old, Katherine Moore, ten years old, Boyd Moore, seven years old, and Paul Moore, five years old (Ewing). The other two children were Lena Stillinger, twelve years old, and Ina Stillinger, eight yearsRead MoreMy Family Story726 Words   |  3 PagesAs Asalamalakim and I were making our way towards my new, old house I began to think of how much I have changed and how its been years since I last saw my family. Last time I saw my mother, I was on my way to college and leaving this town. Here I am back again, but this time I wanted to be here. Seeing all the traditional things my mother had ,and at the end of the day, I would hopefully be bringing some back with me. Before Asalamalakim could get out of the car, I set out my foot before him.Read MoreParenthood Is The Story Of The Buckman Family1556 Words   |  7 PagesParenthood is the story of the Buckman family and their friends and how they attempt to bring up their children. They suffer and enjoy all the different aspects of life including estranged relatives, the black sheep of the family, the eccentrics, the skeletons in the closet, and the rebellious teenagers. The Buckman family is a typical midwestern family dealing with the basic tribulations of their lives, relatives, raising children, pressures of the job, and learning to be a good parent and spouseRead MoreFamily Story And Origin Of A New Environment1356 Words   |  6 PagesEvery family story and origin is unique to the members of the immediate group, while including the traditions passed from generation to generation. From the scent of their house and clothes, special holidays, vacation spots, memories, what they eat and how it is served; all of these elements of life are distinct to a family. These elements are incorporated into what is viewed as normal life in a way that we don’t see how our lives differ from those around us, until we are faced with a situation whereRead MoreMy Family s Story Of Immigration1966 Words   |  8 Pages While every immigrant story is unique to the places they’ve come from, their personal narratives, and their integration, many share commonalities within the American immigrant experience. My family is no exception to this fact as they highlight many of the theories of migration outlined in sociology. By examining my family’s story of immigration through these different lenses, I hope to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for those who ultimately brought me into America. Around 85 yearsRead MoreMy Family : The Story Of My Parents859 Words   |  4 Pagesthing asto keep their children happy. I could not agree more with that. My parents have made the greatest decisions to keep my brother and I always happy and spoiled. Every parents story starts somewhere, where they choose to start a life of risks and sacrifices for someone else they love. My parents story started in China. My mom was born in a small village, the youngest out of her two older brothers. My grandpa was and still is crippled because he fell down a mine and was paralyzed in oneRead MoreMy Story About My Family1074 Words   |  5 Pagesshe had dark hair like me, which alternated between being styled in massive curls and being straight, and that she wore pink to my nana’s wedding, and that she would pick me up and spin me round and round in circles, but only because my nana and her family told me. I have all this information about my mum despite the fact I barely got to know her when she was alive, and I think that’s how I can miss her without really knowing her. I go to visit my mum at least once a month; we’ll put flowers downRead More Importance of Family in the Short Story, Cakes Essay996 Words   |  4 Pagesmajority of people across the world deem family as the uttermost important aspect of their life. Family is something that often teaches us moral values, and helps shape the individuals we become later in our lives. In the short story, â€Å"Cakes† Salvatore La Puma conveys the prominence of family in Italian-American immigrant culture in the 1940’s industrial era. La Puma utilizes the first paragraph as mini-ethnography to portray the unity of the Vitale family. The introduction states, That summer

Women Past and Present Free Essays

Women Past and Present During the 20th century, women in general was limited, however women are now in a much better position than before. We, as women, especially those of us who live in liberal parts of the world, often take for granted the rights and benefits, which we have. We forget that in other times, women were not considered to be equal to their male counterparts; they were considered to be helpless subordinates to the men with whom they lived. We will write a custom essay sample on Women Past and Present or any similar topic only for you Order Now Though we do not often consider it, we owe much of these everyday freedoms to women of the past, who struggled and pushed for equal rights and recognition. Their determination helped us gain increased education, economic status, and political rights, among other things. In the colonial times, the Colonial women’s role in the family was the keeper of the home, and that was all she was really allowed. She made the family’s clothes, she provided a home cooked meal, and took care of the children, all of this by herself until the female children were old enough to be of use. She could do nothing for her sons, they were to be submissive on the farther, or be apprenticed out. She was, in fact, her husbands slave. Women were seen as weak human beings. They were not allowed to have other aspirations. She had no say in anything that went on; she could only follow her husband’s commandments. This male dominated society dictates that women be inoffensive and obedient and is financially dependent of the husband. Woman’s role was strictly limited to home and family. As for the question of free time, what free time? If they by chance had any, they usually baked, or got some mending done or make candles. Basically, more tasks. â€Å"Idle hands are the devil’s tools,† is what they were encouraged to believe. During the nineteenth century, women were viewed as homemakers, not able to perform in society with men. They were degraded by men to believe that they were worth almost nothing, only worthy of bearing children. This superfluous male domination lead too many women feeling trapped in their own homes, unable to escape from the confinements placed on them by their husbands. However things did change, women started working outside of their home. Besides farm work, their jobs were mainly in traditional women’s fields such as teaching, nursing, and domestic service. Textile mills and clothing factories are traditional employers of women. They worked in these factories and war-related industries while World War II was being fought, and many of them enjoyed the opportunity to work outside the home. By the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century improvements aided in giving women more rights, and educational and occupational opportunities. The growth of commercial laundries and expanding production of clothing, processed foods, and other household items relieved women of many tasks and created hundreds of jobs for them outside the home. Manufacturing, retail and wholesale trade, banking, and services grew rapidly in the early 20th century. The success of many of these ventures depended on women. Middle-class women had it much easier than lower class women. More opportunities, more advancement, and more respect. When they did accept women the numbers were limited because women lacked the education to be prepared for any type of higher learning. Other women found jobs in rudimentary school teaching, managing clubs for poor youth, poor young women and schools for infants. Women during this time were beginning to see that not only did they belong in the home, but they could also find a role in the workplace. Today, women study subjects of personal interest, they seek degrees that match their talents and aspirations. Once they began to go to college, they began to challenge society’s expectations as well as their personal experiences. The major detonator of the women’s movement was education, changing the woman’s role in society from passive to an active and vital force. Once women began receiving higher education, there was no turning back. Occupations were limited but women began to filter into the male-dominated world. Before this time women were uneducated and not capable to vote. A four-year college education is likewise common as women go to earn their master’s degree and PhD. Yet, for women in the workforce, there are still many cases where barriers exist that may limit their chances of earning that promotion. They still have a hard time with power and they have a harder time keeping power. In the long run, women became activists pushing for the rights and eventually succeeded. They have much more freedom and equality now, thanks to the women who pushed for equal rights, and it was slowly realized that females have the same capabilities to think and have responsibilities as men. Women today are postponing the role of motherhood and are concentrating more on their careers. If there are any needs that needs to be fulfilled in a woman’s life, this is it; well paying job, being on the executive level and prove that we can also be female dominators. Women in today’s society are focused more on independence. How to cite Women Past and Present, Papers

Sunday, April 26, 2020

Mexican Relations Essays - Geography Of The United States

Mexican Relations Militarization of the U.S. Mexico Border By Joan J. Jaimes June 22, 2000 ?Corranle, all? viene la migra!, translated into English, this means Run, there comes immigration! This is what illegal immigrants shout everyday when they are about to cross the Rio Grande in search for better lives. Unfortunately, not many get through alive because of the militarization that has developed on the U.S. border with Mexico. Operation Rio Grande continues a process put in motion over a century ago by the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. It tries to erase the reality of a social geographical order that defies neat national divisions and impose a narrow notion of citizenship on people on both sides of the international boundary. In the process, the U.S., like all countries to varying degrees, elevates national citizenship to a position of primacy and lessens the inherent humanity of those on the wrong side of the social and territorial boundaries. Operation Rio Grande, launched in August 1997, in Browns ville, Texas, was a special multi-year operation designed to gain and maintain control of specific border areas through a combination of new technology and additional staffing. At the start of the operation, 69 Border Patrol agents were detailed to Brownsville to intensify existing enforcement effort. In September of that same year, the Border Patrol deployed special response teams to those ports-of-entry where increased numbers of fraudulent entry was expected. In the Fiscal Year of 1998, 260 new Border Patrol agents were added to the McAllen Sector and 205 to the Laredo Sector. An important feature of Operation Rio Grande has been the integration of a broad range of INS enforcement operations. Studies show that the crime rate in Brownsville alone dropped by more than 20% in 1998. (U.S. INS) The origins of the U.S. Mexico boundary are to be found in the imperial competition between Spain, France, and Britain for possessions in North America. Lack of agreement between the three impe rial powers over the location of the boundaries separating their territories in North America led to disagreement between Mexico and an expansionist U.S. After Mexico gained its independence in 1821, many U.S. leaders argued for taking part or all of Mexicos territory. Numerous prominent U.S. politicians, driven by the ideology of Manifest Destiny, considered taking Mexico a divine right. (Acuna, 1988) As tensions mounted between the U.S. and Mexico over Texas, the U.S. deliberately provoked Mexico by sending troops into territory claimed by Mexico in early 1846. Battles between U.S. and Mexican troops ensued, quickly resulting in full-scale war. The war raged on for two years, largely in favor of the U.S., and ended with the U.S. taking over Mexico City. On February 2, 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo was signed, and Mexico was forced to cede half of its territory to the U.S. Under the treatys terms, the U.S. annexed a territory equivalent in size to that of Western Europe, an d absorbed 100,000 Mexican citizens and 200,000 Native Americans living in the territory. (Herzog, 1990) The decades following the imposition of the new U.S. Mexico boundary saw widespread violence as U.S. authorities and non-State actors established their dominance. The Mexican Revolution and the accompanying socio-political turmoil between 1910, and 1920, caused great concern for U.S. authorities. Tension along the boundary with Mexico quickly subsided thereafter. (Griswold, 1990) Pacification did not mean control by the U.S. Migration between the U.S. and Mexico long preceded the imposition of the modern day boundary. Mexican migration to the U.S. was not really significant in scale or in geographical extent until the 20th Century. In 1942, the Bracero (Bra-zeh-roh) Program was implemented. It was a contract labor program in response to labor shortages brought about by the U.S. entry into World War II. (The Bracero Program, 1996) Furthermore, the INS practice of legalizing unaut horized migrants and turning them into braceros, or drying out the wetbacks, increased unauthorized immigration from Mexico as the news spread that the easiest manner to obtain a bracero contract was to enter the U.S. illegally. When the U.S. Congress officially ended the program in 1964, the previously legal migratory flow simply went underground. As the 1970s approached, calls to enhance enforcement along the U.S. and Mexico boundary

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Reality of stress Professor Ramos Blog

Reality of stress In today’s society, stress is becoming more of a normal thing to always experience. Stress is caused by your body responding to demands. College student are a main focus when it comes to stress. The four main types of stress are Acute Stress, Episodic Acute Stress, Chronic Stress and good stress. Anyone can get stressed, but the most common age group to experience it is between 18-47 years old. Acute stress is typically the more common stress. It is caused by reactive thinking. Negative thoughts are a major influence. An example is if you have any deadlines coming up, or recent arguments. If the stress meets the DSM-5 criteria, the individual will be diagnosed with Acute Stress Disorder. The DSM-5 stands for The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. It is a book of 10 years’ worth of research done by hundreds of international experts who work in different departments of mental health. They put this together in hopes of understanding how these disorders work. Acute Stress usually is temporarily, doesn’t last for too long but it will still cause your body to release the chemical cortisol which has your body shaken up a bit. There are ways for the individual to help their body relieve the stress. This can be done by breathing exercise, cognitive reframing, progressive muscle relaxation, and mini-meditation. But Acute stress can easily turn into Episodic Acute Stress. Acute Disorder and Episodic Acute Stress Disorder mirror each other but one has ongoing suffering and damage. Episodic Acute Stress is when people who are already diagnosed with Acute Stress, start to have a change in their reactions. They become short-tempered, irritable, anxious, tense or have uneasy energy. One can also have frequent triggers of stress. People who often display these emotions are ones who live in chaos or crisis. Most of them are occupied with many responsibilities and cannot stay organized in a timely manner. Their minds are at the brink of a stress overload! Their personal relationships start to become progressively worse and work becomes a place of hell. Many of these symptoms can become a health concern as it creates a challenge for their body in many ways. Heart disease, muscle distress, intestinal issues, head aces, and high blood pressure are the main health issues but there are an additional 30 health concerns. Intensive therapy for several months can help this situation. It takes a while because these daily habits are engraved in their minds and they see nothing wrong with what they do because they are accustomed already. But most patients will not be open to change. While this is a pretty serious disorder, Chronic stress out weights Episodic Acute Stress. Chronic Stress is the most harmful type of stress. It destroys their lives, mind, and body. a lot of the physical and mental damage is irreversible. This stress can most often lead to anxiety and depression as their symptoms are alike. The individual feels like they have no control over their thoughts and emotions. Long term changes can turn into a mental illness. While the mind is working double, the body has no intensions of slowing done either. The body takes a tole as physical issues start to rise. Long term problems for the heart and blood vessel, increasing heart rate, elevated levels of blood pressure and stress hormones are deteriorating the body. chronic stress is the leading cause of sudden death, mostly influenced by heart attacks, arterial disease and a stroke. Exercise and a change in diet would be a big help when trying to get rid of chronic stress. Although these all seem bad there is actually good stress as well. Psychologist refer this Good stress as â€Å"Eustress†. We feel this when we are eager and excited. This stress keeps us feeling alive and well. Some examples for this is when the individual is going on a first date, a roller coaster or Doing things that makes one happy. But too much stress can become bad stress so one must limit their activities to make sure a lot stress isn’t triggered. As a college student one must find a balance between these 4 types of stress. A study was done by The American Psychology Association to see what age group had highest levels of stress. 18-47-year-olds reportedly were the most stressed. But this is combing millennials (ages between 18-33) and Gen Xers (ages between 34-47). On a scale from 1-10, 10 being the highest level of stress, millennials and Gen Xers had a high score of 5.4 compared to the Boomers (ages between 48-66) who had a score of 4.7. it is clear that college age students have the highest stress. 43% of college students suffer from either Acute Stress, Episodic Acute stress, or Chronic Stress. This does not include good stress. As a college student there are ways to help alleviate the stress. According to the American Association of Stress an article written by Dr. Ronald L. Rubenzer has a top ten test taking tips to help college student feel less stressed with their work. TOP TEN TEST-TAKING TIPS (THREE MONTHS PRIOR TO TEST) Left-brain training to become Fact-Smart: 1) Teach Positively: Students learn more when they like the teacher (William James-Harvard, 1899). 2) Teach memory mechanics. The basic rule is repetition, repetition, repetition. 3) Require students to develop their own flashcards and stack the deck with only the memorized facts. 4) Answer the core question, without being tripped up by â€Å"word traps† (irrelevant details) or generalizations (always, never, everywhere). Both-brain training to become Test-Smart: 5) Be Clerically Correct: For the young, when in doubt, check their skills out (attention, handwriting, reading skills). 6) Provide â€Å"Test Rehearsals† (if approved). All great performances start with rehearsal. Right-brain training to become Stress-Smart: 7) Test for Test-Anxiety. â€Å"Stress is sand in the machinery of thought.† All classes will have â€Å"test-anxious.† â€Å"Testanxious† or â€Å"math-anxious† underachieve on tests. As adults they avoid rewarding jobs requiring many tests or using complex math. â€Å"Computerphobics† short-circuit their own growth by just plain refusing to acquire 21st century skills. The â€Å"anxious† resist change. 8) Consume â€Å"Food for thought† just before the test session. Eat fruit, followed by a drink of water. 9) Relax: See your mental health professional on test-anxiety reduction tips. Use humor to relax. See a movie the night before the â€Å"big event.† 10) Learn from those who do Best on-tests. Test-Prep can boost test scores by 10%! (Scruggs Mastropieri, Purdue University, 1992). One won’t be completely alleviated from stress with these tips but it can help. The signs of Acute Stress, Episodic Acute stress, and Chronic stress should not be avoided. Those that are affected should seek help before the mind and body are too damaged and cannot be repaired. Work cited spacioustherapy.com By: Shawna Freshwater January 17, 2018 verywellmind.com By: Elizabeth Scott April 3, 2018 apa.org By: Lyle H. Miller, PhD, Alma Dell Smith, PhD. stress.org By Dr. Ronald L Rubenzer 2008 heartmdinstitute.com By: Stephen T. Sinatra

Monday, March 2, 2020

How Much Do AP Tests Cost

How Much Do AP Tests Cost SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Curious about how much it costs to take an AP Test? Learn here how much your AP exams are going to cost you in 2015-16. We’ll also cover how to get financial aid if you need it. So read on for maximum AP test cost saving! AP Exam Cost for 2015-16 The fee for each AP Exam in 2015-16 is $92. This is a slight increase from the $91 fee in 2014-15. In general, the cost for AP exams tends to rise by a dollar or two each year. If you’re curious about the price for future years, you can expect the fee to rise slightly – maybe up to $93 or $94 in the next year or two. Don’t worry about a massive price jump happening anytime soon. Also, international students take note: the fee for exams at schools outside of the United States, U.S. territories and commonwealths, and Canada is $122 per exam. Since College Board is based in the U.S., it costs extra money to handle international testing. In short, AP exams definitely cost quite a bit! But there is finacial aid available. Read on to learn about College Board's fee reduction program. Can I Get Financial Aid for AP Exams? College Board provides a $30 fee reduction for each exam taken by students with demonstrated financial need. That $30 reduction brings down the total cost to $53 per exam ($30 + a $9 rebate from College Board). How the financial need for the fee reduction is determined depends on your state, and whether your district participates in a program called the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP). We’ll get into the nitty-gritty details below. Basically, the darker blue your state is, the bigger chance there is your district participates in CEP. But as we'll discuss below, the easiest way to find out is to talk to your guidance counselor. Map courtesy of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The CEP is a program for schools and districts with high percentages of low-income children to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students. If a district already uses CEP, College Board simply allows students who are eligible for CEP to also qualify for AP fee reduction. If your district does not participate in CEP, then College Board uses the eligibility standards for the federal Free and Reduced Lunch program. We’ll go over exactly what those eligibility requirements look like below. If Your School Participates in CEP The guidelines for qualifying for the AP fee reduction in CEP districts are as follows: Either your family’s income is at or below 185 percent of the poverty level issued annually by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or You qualify as an "identified student" because you are: in foster care or Head Start, or homeless or migrant, or living in households that receive SNAP/Food Stamps, TANF cash assistance, or the Food Distribution on Indian Reservations benefits If Your School Doesn’t Participate in CEP For schools and districts that do not participate in CEP, enrollment in or eligibility to participate in the federal Free or Reduced Lunch program can be used to qualify for AP Fee reduction. The qualifiers for free and reduced lunch are pretty much the same as CEP: Your family’s income is at or below 185 percent of the poverty level issued annually by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or You are directly certified without application for free school meals because you are: in foster care or Head Start, or homeless or migrant, or living in households that receive SNAP/Food Stamps, TANF cash assistance, or the Food Distribution on Indian Reservations benefits You can read more about College Board's fee reduction policies to learn more. But what if you don’t meet those criteria? Or you do meet those criteria, but $53 per exam is still too expensive? Some states have additional funding that may be available for AP exams. This could lower that $53 price even more. Find those guidelines here. In addition, your school or district might have its own fee reduction guidelines or programs. So how do you find out exactly how much financial aid you can get for AP? Actionable There are quite a few channels to getting funding for your AP tests, but those channels vary by where you live. You could get money from College Board, from your state, or even from your school. To find out exactly how much financial aid you qualify for, go to your guidance counseling office and ask about AP Exam fees at your school. The guidance counselors can help determine if you qualify for College Board’s fee reduction, and furthermore, they’ll tell you about any additional funding programs your school or state might have. The guidance counseling office should have experience helping students get funding for AP exams, especially if your school has a pretty wide AP course selection. Is $92 Per Exam Worth It? If you’re anything like I was in high school, you may be getting a case of sticker shock right now. $92 per exam is a lot of money! Even if you qualify for College Board’s fee reduction, you could still be paying $53 per exam. So is the price worth it? Well, that depends on if you pass the exam and how your score translates to college credit and/or admissions competitiveness. If you pass an exam that is eligible for college credit at the school you end up attending, the cost can definitely be worth it – that $92 could pay for a course that runs in the hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Some students are even able to enter college as sophomores and save a whole year of tuition based on their AP credit. In for a penny, out for a pound, as the old saying goes. The $92 fee can also be worth it if you get a good score that helps you get into a selective college, even if that school doesn’t take AP credit. For example, I took nine AP classes over the course of high school. While many of them didn’t end up getting me course credit at Stanford, those classes – and the high scores I got on AP tests – certainly strengthened my application. For my family, the money spent on AP exams ended up being worthwhile, especially since I received a generous financial aid package from Stanford. This means you have to make a judgment call for each AP class and test – does the class add a meaningful challenge to your schedule, or are you just piling on AP classes? You're more likely to pass each AP exam you take if your schedule isn't jammed with them. Think carefully about this. As we’ve said before, don’t feel pressure to load up on AP classes just to have them. Only take the classes you are confident you can do well in and/or have strong personal interest for. Finally, the fee is absolutely not worth it if you fail the exam, because you won’t get college credit and that $92 is essentially wasted. Furthermore, a score of 1 or 2 does not look impressive to colleges, even if you get good grades in the AP class (in fact, that may just signal to the colleges the AP classes at your school are too easy). Again, make sure not to overload on AP classes! What’s Next? Learn even more about AP classes: how colleges use AP credit, the hardest and easiest AP classes, and whether the AP program is doing a good job. Also studying for the SAT/ACT? Learn how to develop a target score for the SAT/ACT based on your dream schools. College applications on the brain? Learn everything you need to know about the college essay and watch out for deadlines you can't miss. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: