Particular religion Essay Example for Free

Particular religion Essay I do not subscribe to any particular religion, but I believe in the transcendence of the human spirit, and that there is something greater than ourselves out there—an absolute entity that encompasses us all. Many could qualify this absolute being as a God, but the word holds many sociocultural implications such as worship or a personification of that beings attributes that I choose not to call it as such. I believe in the universality of goodness and that the only way one could achieve happiness and fulfillment is by living an good and honest life. My lifes experiences led me to believe in the concept of an absolute being, however, religion is not integral to my beliefs. My beliefs are determined my my experiences and not by religion. I have realized that most religions are man-made, and thus do not have any legitimate claim to the truth. It is all too apparent today that there exist many different religions, sects, churches, and denominations, most of which have conflicting beliefs. I have not encountered any one that works for me. Growing up, I was initiated to the religion of my parents—that is, Christianity. As a youngster, it easy to unquestioningly accept whatever it was that was inculcated in me. However, as I have gotten a better understanding of the world and myself, I have realized that that religion is lacking—for me it does not provide the adequate explanation as to living my life in the fullest sense. Over the years, religion has become irrelevant. For me, religion is a matter of faith—something I have but not to the extent that I accept that everything one religion tells me is true. Being a generally empirical person, that is to say, that I believe that something must be proven for it to be true, the idea of a religion, as we traditionally know it does not hold any weight for me. Having qualified what religion means to me, I can say that my definition does not reduce it to what I, as Frederick Streng says, â€Å"happened to be acquainted with by accident of birth and socialization. † I recognize the existence of a myriad of ultimate realities and pluralities when it comes to reli ¬gion and that having an open mind is the key to understandings what each belief really mean to the people who have them. I would not say that I have an anti-religion view, but having said that I do not subscribe to one may give that impression. My belief does not mean that I eschew every other religion as being false. I believe that religion have redeeming qualities, and that anything that influences a human being to be good and be the best that one can be could not be that bad. I would like to believe that my open attitude towards the concept of religion eliminates any perceptual bias, or reduces in the least. In the same token, my definition encompasses all, since I do not believe in the absoluteness and infallibility of any one. I regard new and emerging religions on the same ground as the old ones. All provide the means to potentially transform an individual. While my definition attempts to encompass all religions, it may not have enough precision to address each and every one of them. Just as beliefs evolve as one matures, so does ones definition of concepts and ideas. Its possible that I still have not experienced enough to qualify a universal definition that applies to every one. However, I believe that the search for the true understanding of religion is an ongoing process, that a closer study of it would make a clearer picture of the religious life emerge.

The University Education Puzzle :: Personal Narrative, Autobiographical Essay

The University Education Puzzle My four years of education at Bemidji State University have been comparable to a huge jigsaw puzzle. When I first began, I needed to find my interest, my field of study. I was shopping for the picture puzzle of my preference. I found that there was no particular field that I was interested in so I just grabbed at something. I bought my puzzle without really caring what the picture would be of. I consulted my catalog and found that you could determine what courses to take without wasting valuable time, by determining which ones were required for the two fields most suitable to me. I chose limiting myself to English and Psychology. I now had an idea of what my puzzle would end up looking like. I compared the required curriculum for both majors and took classes needed for both majors, as well as liberal education classes. I was building the framework for my puzzle by grabbing the outside pieces first. I began to piece it together by what I knew would benefit me the most. In building thi s puzzle, I found that some classes would link with one piece, but would be more difficult to pair with another in order to make this border. Psychology was not working out beyond the intro courses to I stuck to classes offered for liberal education and English. It took my two and a half years to find out what my puzzle would really look like. I had stuck with English classes, mainly out of personal interest, and at that point I was nearly done with the liberal education requirements. My puzzleà ­s border was complete and there were even a few layers building unto it. So after consulting with my catalog frequently, much like a puzzleà ­s box with the complete picture illustrated upon it, I decided to go for filling in the rest of the picture. I worked very hard at eliminating classes down to when they would be offered and if I would have fulfilled any prerequisites or class level guidelines prior to taking it. In other words, I was separating the sky pieces from the landscape ones to determine whereabouts each piece would need to be placed in order to accomplish the puzzle. I found that the recommended guidelines suggested having many courses, most of which I had not yet taken, finished at the end of a freshmen and sophomore level.

Municpal solid waste

An open dump is defined as abandoned piles of household garbage, bags of yard waste, appliances, old barrels, used tires, and demolition debris such as lumber, shingles, pipes and asbestos can threaten the health of humans, wildlife, and the environment. (Epa. State. IL. Us, 2014) Open dumps pose the following health, safety, and environmental threats: Fire and explosion Inhalation of toxic gases Injury to children playing on or around the dump site Disease carried by mosquitoes, flies, and rodents Contamination of streams, rivers and lakes Contamination of soil and groundwaterContamination of drinking water Damage to plant and wildlife habitats Decrease In the quality of elite to nearby residents and the local community Open dumps create a public nuisance, divert land from more productive uses, and depress the value of surrounding land. (Epa. State. IL. Us, 2014) Early landfills were made in were made in wetlands, which were thought to be wasteland back then. Early landfills leaked into rivers and lakes and built up gases, like methane. Garbage dumps used to catch fire and even explode, because as garbage rots, it gives off methane, a flammable gas. Experimentation. Rag, 2014) Early landfills have significant problems with the Lactate organization because it was an unconstrained contaminant release, the methane organization did not exist, and incomplete decomposition as well as settle was so high because 8% of waste was secondhand. Modern landfills are carefully designed to contain waste and protect the environmental integrity of the surrounding area – including the air, water and soil. Our landfill incorporates advanced design features, including multi-layer liner construction, gas extraction and lactate removal systems. Multidimensional. M. Com, 2014) This is completely different from early landfill because there was no way to contain the waste. Modern landfills include engineered protective liners, lactate group systems, groundwater nursing and much more. Alton Landfill and Resource Recovery Facility in Livermore, CA has implemented a special program to protect the endangered San Joaquin Kit Fox. The protection program Includes many projects to protect the San Joaquin Kit Fox. Exclusion zones are placed around dens. Limited disturbance of areas adjacent to construction and storage areas must be maintained.

Setting IEP Goals for Reading Comprehension

When a student in your class is the subject of an Individual Education Plan (IEP), you will be called upon to join a team that will write goals for that student. These goals are important, as the students performance will be measured against them for the remainder of the IEP period, and their success can determine the kinds of support the school will provide. Below are guidelines for writing IEP goals that measure reading comprehension.   Writing Positive, Measurable Goals for IEPs For educators, its important to remember that IEP goals should be SMART. That is, they should be Specific, Measurable, use Action words, be Realistic and Time-limited. Goals should also be positive. A common pitfall in todays data-driven educational climate is the creation of goals that lean heavily on quantitative results. For example, a student may have a goal to summarize a passage or story, relating essential components with 70% accuracy. Theres nothing wishy-washy about that figure; it seems like a solid, measurable goal. But whats missing is any sense of where the child stands currently. Does 70% accuracy represent a realistic improvement? By what measure is the 70% to be calculated? SMART Goal Example Heres an example of how to set a SMART goal. Reading comprehension is the goal we are looking to set. Once thats identified, find a tool to measure it. For this example, the Gray Silent Reading Test (GSRT) may suffice. The student should be tested with this tool prior to IEP goal setting so that a reasonable improvement can be written into the plan. The resultant positive goal may read, Given the Gray Silent Reading Test, will score at grade level by March. Strategies to Develop Reading Comprehension Skills To meet the stated IEP goals in reading comprehension, teachers may employ a variety of strategies. Below are some suggestions: Provide engaging and motivating materials to retain the students interest. Be specific by naming the series, resources or books to be used.Highlight and underline key words and ideas.Teach the student about sentence and paragraph construction and how to focus on key points. Again, be very specific so that the goal is measurable.Provide information and clarification about how a text or resource is organized. The child should know the features of a text including the cover, the index, subtitles, bold titles, etc.Provide ample opportunities for the child to discuss written information.Develop summarization skills focusing on the beginning, middle and ending key points.Develop research skills and strategies.Provide opportunities for group learning, especially to respond to written information.Show how pictorial and context clues are used.Encourage the student to ask for clarification if she becomes confused.Provide one-on-one support frequently. Once the IEP is written, it is imperative that the student, to the best of his ability, understands the expectations. Help track their progress, and remember that including students in their IEP goals is a great way to provide a pathway to success.