Echoes of Heaven Essay Example for Free

Echoes of Heaven Essay The world today seems to be going further and further from Christian Values. Denominations are arising against each other time after time. We no longer hear the proper preaching of the gospel because preachers prepare their sessions to suit the audience and therefore a lot of truth is left uncovered. A Christian who performs and leads a true Christian life seems very outdated. There are rumors of wars everywhere in the world today. People seem to rely on technology much more than on God. I am a born again Christian, I have been a Christian since I was born but there is a huge difference in my life after I accepted Jesus Christ. I have received tangible breakthroughs and therefore when I say so much truth is left uncovered in today’s churches I do it with reference to my personal experience. Sometimes suffering comes our way because God wants to show us our weakness without Him. We must rely on Him and not on our own understanding. I have observed Muslim practices closely and they are more devoted to their religion and believes than Christians! Charles I agree that God’s Love is better than Life Itself and would very much want to know where to get the book.

Conflict Management Plan Essay Example for Free

Conflict Management Plan Essay Competing The strength maybe that one person will see the benefits.The weakness will be that the other person in the issue will not benefit the same or at all at the other person in the situation and does not consider the other in the situations. Collaborating The strength is when both parties involved in the issue propose to solve the problem by discussing the differences rather than by accommodating, therefore they benefit from the results.The weakness maybe if both parties agree to re solve the issue but cannot discuss the differences in their issues. Avoiding The strength is when the parties try to move on from the issue and not cause a big deal over it.The weakness maybe that by dismissing the issue; it will never get resolved. Accommodating The strength is when one party involve is willing to be the bigger person and let the other party involve win the situation, in order to keep the peace.The weakness maybe that the person who is willing to let the other win the issue. They will never resolve the issue between them and it is possible that it can be brought up in another situation. Compromising The strength can be that the issue will be solved and both parties neither win nor lose.The weakness maybe that both parties have to give up something in order for the issue to be resolved. Also, both parties to the issue will have incomplete satisfaction. 2.Which of the available conflict management strategies is most appropriate for the current situation with David and James? Provide your rationale, including what factors you considered in making your selection. Your response should be at least 100 words. In James and David situation, the most appropriate conflict management strategy will be the Collaborating and Compromising strategy. According to Robbins and Judge (2011), collaborating is when both individuals involved are in the agreement to solve the conflict in order to make each individual involved happy. It is believed that David and James should talk about the issue and try get to the bottom of where the issue or conflict began. Therefore, when James and David come to an agreement to collaborate and solve the issue, both can be happy with the outcome because not one or the other made the choice alone; it was a team effort. In addition, using the compromising strategy has some similar effects to the collaborating strategy, however, in this case there is no win or lose situation. Both James and David will have to compromise in making a decision in which will not benefit them both, but it will solve the issue. 3. If the selected strategy is not successful, what is your alternate strategy? Provide your rationale for this selection. Your response should be at least 100 words. In James and David situation if the first strategies do not work, the second appropriate conflict management strategy would be to use the accommodating strategy. Robbins and Judge (2011) states that, accommodating is when individual involved in the conflict put the best interest of the other party before themselves. This strategy may be tricky because in order for this to work, David or James will have to make a choice to put the other person in front of themselves. As a result, this strategy can strengthen James and David friendship because they will see that no matter what, one of them is willing to accommodate the other in order to keep the peace. 4.What potential road blocks might be encountered in resolving the conflict? How would you address these? Your response should be at least 100 words. 5. In James and David Situation the potential road blocks that might be encountered are communication, structure and personal variable. Robbins and Judge (2011) states that, communication, structure and personal variables my not directly lead to conflict however they are necessary in order for conflict to arise. When there is not communication between to individuals problems will arise. Moreover, I would address the issue by using one of the conflict resolution strategies such as the collaborating. I would set James and David to communicate with each other and discuss the issue and try to resolve it amongst each other. Hope the outcomes between both individual is to resolve the conflict. Reference Robbins, S. P., Judge, T. A. (2011). Organizational behavior (14th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall. University of Phoenix. (2012). University of Phoenix Material: Conflict Management Plan Plan. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, MGT/311 ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT website. University of Phoenix. (2012). Riordan Manufacturing Virtual Organization [Multimedia]. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, MGT/311 Organizational Development website.

Strategies For The Tourism Industry Of Spain Tourism Essay

Strategies For The Tourism Industry Of Spain Tourism Essay Tourism is of strategic importance to country as an export commodity to generate foreign currency earnings and a potential generator of taxes for local authorities. Government investment and development of tourism infrastructure benefits all sectors of tourism industry, foreign and domestic tourists, as well as the local in habitants in a tourism destination area. (Jamal, T. and Robinson, M., 2009) Well conceived development of a critical mass of attractions by the combined efforts of private and public interest directly benefits to all the industry sectors involved in the tourism system, which improves the attractiveness and competitiveness of the destination. For a country to have a successful tourism it is highly essential to maintain the sustainability of its tourist destination. Tourist destination is a place that a traveller chooses to visit for a stay of at least a night in order to experience some feature or characteristic of a place perceived as a satisfying leisure time experience. (Jamal, T. and Robinson, M., 2009) Destinations are regarded as a popular aspect of tourism as they encourage visitors by delivering valuable experience through various locations, resources and service. On the contrary they even attract disasters caused by natural hazards or by human activities. Disaster is stated as a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society causing widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources. (Ritchie, Brent W., 2009) Natural disasters is the result of caprices of nature which includes earthquakes, floods, volcanic eruptions, etc where as manmade disasters are a cause of terrorism, war or industrial action. After comparing these disasters it can observed that, both have immediate threat, danger and the potential for ongoing disruption but manmade disasters to some extent can be preventable and controllable. (McDonald, R., 2003) This paper will illustrate the effects of Man-made disasters resembling Terrorist attacks and Hotel collapse in Spain, including the marketing strategies that could be adopted to mitigate these disasters for retention of tourism in the destination (Word Count 2) Spain is the package holiday capital of Europe and second most popular tourist destination globally, for specialising and maintaining the countrys image of sun, sand and sangria. In terms of tourism Spain has gained marvellous victory being one of the worlds top five destinations which offers over a million bed spaces in serviced accommodation sector .As per latest research Spain is the second European country after France which holds a market share of 11.4% in terms of international arrivals (UNWTO, 2010). Being famous for its summer holidays, it attracts most of the tourists from countries such as United Kingdom, France, Germany and Scandinavia. (Spain Travel Guide, 2011) The Spanish economy has generated one and a half million jobs supported by tourism, contributing to one-third of the countrys export earnings and which accounts for 12 percent of GDP. However this achievement has been earned at the cost of society and the environment. The result of this has led to massive expansion through development of apartments and holiday villas as well hotels near the coastline. (Boniface Brian, G. and Cooper, C., 2005). Similarly by gaining popularity, the destination has created huge traffic jams and has the highest amount of cars as compared to Europe. (TV Choice, 2000) But the major disaster to be considered in Spain is of Majorca which faced Series of Bomb Explosion that occurred in 2009 by Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) terrorist organisation (BBC News,2009) and the hotel collapse in 2008(Expatica, 2008) which created severe havoc in the region by affecting the life of the tourists. The blast had affected the itinerary of thousands of visitors as most of the flights were either turned back or diverted for safety. The Spanish economy is highly reliable on tourist for its source of income and tourism trade; but this attack has frightened the localities and has challenge the travellers and tourists security beliefs, enabling them to give a second thought of whether to fly back to the destination. On the Contrary, the incident of hotel collapse which occurred due to negligence of the construction has taken lives of many construction workers. After all these disasters occurred the first priority of the Spanish government was to cut down further repetition of the crises for which the government had implemented certain Counter Terrorism Strategies. The government started providing appropriate training to local police and actors in the civil society for identifying signs of terrorism in the vicinity, by ensuring efficient collaboration between the relevant bodies and front line staff and developing regular contact with local communities. A software named as Check the Web (CTW) was introduced to monitor regular activities of the militant Islamic websites of Europe to avoid future threats. Various information systems such as Schengen Information System and the Visa Information Systems were developed for protection of citizens and infrastructure by ensuring an area of freedom, security and justice. The Spanish Presidency adopted an Action Plan to combat Cyber Crime foreseeing the short-, mid- and long-term threats on European network and information security. (Council Of The European Union, 2010) After the car bombings that occurred in 2009 in Majorca the government took additional securities in all the modes of transport including passenger and air cargo for prioritising the safety of the tourist. For reducing the terrorism threat it is very essential that public and private sector work hand in hand, for data exchange and information sharing relating to Passenger Name Records, processing and transfer of Financial Messaging Data and the information distributed within the local area. The concept Marketing Strategy refers to an organisational function and a set of process for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationship in ways that benefit the organisation and its stakeholders. (Ferrell, O.C. and Hartline Michael, D., 2008). The problems faced by Spain in terms of tourism requires a market led response for which certain marketing strategies if adopted by the Spanish government, can facilitate in times of considerable unease and market turbulence to maintain its tourism. Firstly the Spanish government has encouraged the Australian tourists visiting Madrid in 2011 for World Youth Day to register at their website, in order to take advantage of insurance facilities and accommodation benefits along with preventing cautions and monitor developments. (Smart Traveller, 2011) Being the initial country outside Italy to promote this event for the second time it can facilitate better promotions by offering discounts on attraction, restaurants and theatres. The event being conducted on a wider scale in the capital state, it essential that the government should form an alliance with the Airlines, hoteliers, wholesale tour operators and other sources for effective marketing management. (Beirman, D. 2003) This event will last for a week (Catholic Pilgrim Office, 2011) which if managed properly, can generate income for the country from sources such as additional usage of public transport in that period, expenditure by visitors in tourism and leisure area. Being an island in the Mediterranean it is essential that Spain develops new holiday styles to reduce seasonality, encourage higher spending visitors and to spread tourism more evenly throughout the country. Madrid being the political and financial capital of Spain serves as the principal transportation hub including centre of technological education, training and development and as a cultural and business centre. Additionally the city is renowned for conducting venues in recent years for international conferences and being the headquarters of World Tourism Organisation (WTO). (Perret, S. and Bijaoui, P., 2006) In order to promote the destination Spain and its most recognised football club Real Madrid have signed a pioneer agreement. This agreement will promote and enhance the tourism brands of the destination globally using its slogan Visit Spain, Visit Madrid. However the capital city has effectively developed its public- private collaboration through the citys marketing agency Promocion Madrid and has pioneered its network of strategic alliances with various tourist destinations, including New York, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Mexico and Tokyo. (Andaluz, 2011) These international alliances will foster the culture and attractions of the destination to the rest of the world. Thus Sports Tourism signifies a great platform for the Region of Madrid to encourage international travellers. This strategy of intensive marketing will feature temporary discounts or incentives as tactics that can be applied to recover losses incurred by the destination due to disasters occurred earlier. Similarly establishment and maintenance of effective media coverage and public relations will play a major role in driving the tourist back to the destination. Furthermore, the Madrid region is given the opportunity to host the 2018 Ryder Cup. This will create an excellent platform for encouraging Golf tourism at a global level which in return will generate a high business volume for the region due to vast arrival of spectators. In order to maintain sustainability in the Sports Tourism the Government of Spain has signed a Treaty with sports bodies such as Spanish Royal Football Federation and Real Madrid in order to boost the brand image of the destination in international countries. (The Guardian, 2010). Secondly, Spanish National Tourist Organisations (NTO) has started various promotional campaigns such as Passion for Life and Spain Marks, for promoting the brand image of Spain. The campaign highlights the appeal of the Spanish Lifestyles and the cultural heritage, emphasising on the different regions. (Boniface Brian, G. and Cooper, C., 2005) Spain Marks describes the various attractions and activities available to tourists in different parts of the country, additionally positioning the destination in terms of lifestyles and attractions. Turespaà ±a, the Spanish National Tourism Authority reveals that buying patterns in major markets are changing and leisure visitors are becoming more independent, preferring self tailored holidays to packaged tours. The changes are fuelled by low cost and changing preferences of activities. Today the Spanish major islands provide low fare services and independent beaches/islands are growing. Spain Marks is intended to show the countrys flexibility to adapt to this changing market. Hence both its branding and marketing strategy are intended to respond to these trends. (Lennon John, J.et al, 2006) Such promotional campaign will reduce the barrier of threat created by terrorism in the minds of tourists visiting Spain due to the following criteria. It will help to maintain its reputation of the topmost tourist destination within the target markets. Generate more revenue to the countrys tourism business as a direct result of the campaign activity by retaining and increasing the number of domestic and international tourists visiting the destination. Similarly the campaign will assist in identifying the key consumer insights for domestic and major European markets. Finally it will even improve the relationships with non tourists sectors. All the above criteria state that the capital is open for business through assortment of events to provide the countrys tastes and fashions. (Ladkin, A. et al., 2007) However Spain can even encourage the third age tourism where Spanish senior citizens can reside in resort hotels at reduced rates outside the peak season (Boniface Brian, G. and Cooper, C., 2005) Lastly for designing the hotels, the Spanish government can adopt a value chain strategy from coordinating and programming of architecture, towards site security design and risk assessment by maintaining a sustainable collaboration between public and private sector in order to increase local contribution. (Luman Ronald, J., 2011) The Spanish hotel market can promote itself by being more focus towards leisure oriented than commercially oriented. This can be possible by encouraging the local commercial market and increasing the number of high spending European weekend break visitors. In order to make this strategy successful the local government will have to incur high spending on its infrastructure investments and beaches. As the hotel sector becomes more internationally reputed it will be an attractive target for international investors, developers, banks and operators to expand their representation in the destination. Additionally, development of boutique hotels and extended stay products will generate revenue for the economy. (Perret, S. and Bijaoui, P., 2006) Eventually more approaches towards conferences, golf tourism, winter sports facility and activity holidays will increase the brand value of the destination. After analysing and implementing the concerned marketing strategies, we will now glance at the pros and cons of these strategies. Firstly, Madrid being the capital has become the major hub of various events and thus acts as a brand ambassador for the destination. Various short, mid and long term marketing strategies for promoting tourism, has been implemented in the respect to Sports, conferences, public welfares and attractions. This generates a huge income for the economy and promotes the brand image of the country. But after applying such strategy, the threat it will attract is the unpredictable terrorist attacks which create a sense of fear in the environment and in the mind of tourists. Similarly there are chances that huge involvement of media in such events might work in favour or against the situation in case of sudden calamity. As Spain is highly bound to face terrorist attacks in future, it needs to take precautions over expansion of its promotional campaigns which unite all the international tourists together at a specific location. The fear of such disaster reduces the profit margin of the economy finally leading to a decline in the expected annual budget. Secondly, the next strategy of promoting various campaigns such as Spain Marks have been quite effective in promoting the countrys brand image as similar strategies have been proved effective in promoting London where Total London Month (TLM) and Total London Tour (TLT) was structured in encouraging the Londoners for using tourism facilities by offering discounts on attraction, restaurant and theatres.( Ladkin, A. et al., 2007)The only side effect of this is that where on one side it generates more revenue for the country on the side it increases traffic jams and pollutes the environment due to increasing arrivals of tourists. Finally the rapid development of hotels on the island attracts the involvement of international companies to invest in the destination which imports more international currency and builds a strong economy. However this will affect the environment as it reduces the land for plantation, affecting the ozone layer. After analysing the above strategies, the best approaches that will work in favour of Spain is of the high interest shown in the field of sports, conferences, public welfares, unexplored attractions along with promotion of various campaigns. This is essential as the current trend demands experiences, fulfilment and rejuvenation rather than promotion of destinations and commodities.If these targets are implemented successfully then Spain stands an excellent chance of being the top most tourist destination in future. To make a final conclusion for this paper it is recommended that the various stakeholders engaged in the tourism sector, need to maintain effective collaboration between public and private organisation as tourism being their basic economic activity and consider additional prevention measures against the problems created from the external environment. Similarly there is a need to reinvent various strategies for attracting tourist due to the changing revolution. Hence there is a need to practice and remember the saying Prevention is better than cure.

robert frost :: essays research papers fc

Moraru Teodora-Bianca IIIrd year, German-English gr. I. The Psychological Origins and the Effects of the Hobbyhorse in Laurence Sterne’s â€Å"Tristram Shandy† Defying Dr. Samuel Johnson’s statement that â€Å"Nothing odd will do long†, Laurence Sterne’s eccentric masterpiece, â€Å"The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman†, an extended act of meditation upon story-telling based on John Locke’s philosophical theory of the association of ideas, became a notable forerunner of the modern English novel, celebrating the infinite possibilities of the art of fiction. Undoubtedly, one of the most crucial philosophical literary works of the 18th century was John Locke’s â€Å"Essay Concerning Human Understanding†, which had a tremendous influence on the writers of his time and also on the worldwide approach to terms such as â€Å"the nature of thought† and â€Å"human consciousness†. In his â€Å"Essay†, Locke stated important theories about the sequence of ideas and their interrelation, which profoundly influenced Sterne and became the basis of much of the seemingly arbitrary structure of his comic metanovel, â€Å"Tristram Shandy†. Sterne adopted in particular two of Locke’s concepts. First, the association of ideas, by which certain ideas, either by accident or because they have some particular significance, become so closely linked in a man’s mind that he cannot think of any of them without inevitably calling up all the others as well, in the same order in which he had prieviously experienced them. Secondly, the train of ideas, which is a more general concept of the mind as being constantly in motion, with the result that one idea automatically suggests another in some way similar to it, which in turn leads on to something else. Sterne uses this latter concept as an explanation for much of the seemingly eccentric behaviour of his characters and as a basis for many of the dazzling transitions of time and space which take place in the novel. John Locke considered the ideas as being the fundamental building blocks of all human thought, also stating the fact that â€Å"all our knowledge and ideas arise from experience† and that there are no innate ideas. He viewed the human mind as a â€Å"tabula rasa†, a â€Å"white paper, void of all characters, without any Ideas†. This empty room of the mind is gradually furnished with ideas of two sorts: first we obtain ideas of things we suppose to exist outside us in the physical world by sensation, and secondly we come to ideas of our own mental operations by reflection.

The Role of Power in Obedience Essay -- Political Science Law Politics

To Obey or Disobey: The Role of Power in Obedience People’s decision to obey or disobey the law is based on how much power (in its various forms) they perceive the law to have behind it. The power of coercion is one maintained by every government in human history: the power to punish. The power of legitimacy is a much more subtle power: the power to appear as an authority and let others presume that you know best. While enforcing law, authorities will exercise both these powers. Both powers underscore government and society’s ability to control us and to get us to obey. Why do we obey? Stanley Milgram’s Obedience to Authority, a series of experiments in which subjects were told to administer what they believed to be high-voltage electric shocks to people who they thought were experimental subjects, shows us the disturbing extent of people’s obedience in the face of power. Whereas it was hypothesized that few of the subjects would actually shock their supposed experimental subjects, the actual experiments showed a â€Å"disturbingly high level of compliance with authority figures despite the apparent pain evinced by the false experimental subjects.† (Cover 223) Even when the false experimental subjects (actually just a tape recording of responses) screamed with supposed agony, the vast majority of the subjects, although showing some hesitation and concern for their â€Å"victims†, still nevertheless shocked them again and again at the behest of the authority, even after the â€Å"victims† had gone silent. (Cover 223) The almost blind obedience of these subjects was due to the power of legitimacy and expertise they perceived the authority figures behind the experiment to have. The 2 authorities were able to impose their will ... ...human, we will always retain our freedom of thought and our decision to obey or disobey. 5 Works Cited Cover, Robert M. â€Å"The Violence of Legal Acts.† Before the Law: An Introduction to the Legal Process. Eds. Bonsignore, Katsh, d’Errico, Pipkin, Arons, Rifkin. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002. 223. King, Martin Luther. â€Å"Letter from Birmingham Jail.† Before the Law: An Introduction to the Legal Process. Eds. Bonsignore, Katsh, d’Errico, Pipkin, Arons, Rifkin. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002. 158-162. Kropotkin, Peter. â€Å"Law and Authority.† Before the Law: An Introduction to the Legal Process. Eds. Bonsignore, Katsh, d’Errico, Pipkin, Arons, Rifkin. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002. 158-162. Tyler, Tom. â€Å"Why do People Obey the Law?† Introduction to Legal Studies: A Reader. Ed. Thomas Hilbink. Amherst: Collective Copies. 475-495. The Role of Power in Obedience Essay -- Political Science Law Politics To Obey or Disobey: The Role of Power in Obedience People’s decision to obey or disobey the law is based on how much power (in its various forms) they perceive the law to have behind it. The power of coercion is one maintained by every government in human history: the power to punish. The power of legitimacy is a much more subtle power: the power to appear as an authority and let others presume that you know best. While enforcing law, authorities will exercise both these powers. Both powers underscore government and society’s ability to control us and to get us to obey. Why do we obey? Stanley Milgram’s Obedience to Authority, a series of experiments in which subjects were told to administer what they believed to be high-voltage electric shocks to people who they thought were experimental subjects, shows us the disturbing extent of people’s obedience in the face of power. Whereas it was hypothesized that few of the subjects would actually shock their supposed experimental subjects, the actual experiments showed a â€Å"disturbingly high level of compliance with authority figures despite the apparent pain evinced by the false experimental subjects.† (Cover 223) Even when the false experimental subjects (actually just a tape recording of responses) screamed with supposed agony, the vast majority of the subjects, although showing some hesitation and concern for their â€Å"victims†, still nevertheless shocked them again and again at the behest of the authority, even after the â€Å"victims† had gone silent. (Cover 223) The almost blind obedience of these subjects was due to the power of legitimacy and expertise they perceived the authority figures behind the experiment to have. The 2 authorities were able to impose their will ... ...human, we will always retain our freedom of thought and our decision to obey or disobey. 5 Works Cited Cover, Robert M. â€Å"The Violence of Legal Acts.† Before the Law: An Introduction to the Legal Process. Eds. Bonsignore, Katsh, d’Errico, Pipkin, Arons, Rifkin. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002. 223. King, Martin Luther. â€Å"Letter from Birmingham Jail.† Before the Law: An Introduction to the Legal Process. Eds. Bonsignore, Katsh, d’Errico, Pipkin, Arons, Rifkin. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002. 158-162. Kropotkin, Peter. â€Å"Law and Authority.† Before the Law: An Introduction to the Legal Process. Eds. Bonsignore, Katsh, d’Errico, Pipkin, Arons, Rifkin. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002. 158-162. Tyler, Tom. â€Å"Why do People Obey the Law?† Introduction to Legal Studies: A Reader. Ed. Thomas Hilbink. Amherst: Collective Copies. 475-495.

William Blake :: essays research papers

WILLIAM BLAKE 1757-1827 William Blake was a British poet, painter, visionary mystic, and engraver, who illustrated and printed his own books. Born in 1757 he stayed in London nearly his whole life. He began a life of crafts at the age of ten he was sent to one of the best drawing schools in England, Henry Pars'. At the age of 14, he took up the art of engraving as an apprentice. His artwork was mostly based upon spiritual happenings due to visions he had of religious figures such as the Virgin Mary. In 1783 he married Catherine Boucher, the daughter of a market gardener. The Ghost of Samuel (1800) During his lifetime, Blake’s work received little attention. When his work was read over, most people who read his it decided that Blake was confused or mad. However he is now regarded as a great artist in the fullest sense. Blake's first book of poems, Poetical Sketches, appeared in 1783 and was followed by Songs of Innocence in 1789, and Songs of ExperienceE 1794. His most famous poem "The Tyger", was part of his Songs of Experience. In these works the world is seen from a child's point of view. Blake was always in a state of economic poverty, due to his inability to compete in the highly competitive field of engraving and his expensive invention that enabled him to design illustrations and print words at the same time. However, he was independent throughout his life and Blake left no debts at his death on August 12, 1827. He was buried in an unmarked grave at the public cemetery of Bunhill Fields in England. The Tyger Tyger! Tyger! Tyger! Burning bright In the forests of the night What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry? In what distant deeps or skies Burnt the fire of thine eyes? On what wings dare he aspire? What the hand dare seize the fire? And what shoulder, and what art,

College Case Essay

As I near the end of my senior year, I reflect on the events of my life that have molded me into the person I am today. In 2005 my parent’s divorced several weeks after their 13 year anniversary. Only 10 years old at the time, I understood that I had the responsibility to set the example as the eldest child of two younger brothers. Although this was a challenging time for my brothers, being so young and confused, the three of us overcame it together. For a year it was tough to grasp the thought of our parent’s divorce, but we managed to make the best of it from then on. I lived primarily with my mother because of the location and convenience of my school. My brothers lived with my father about 45 minutes away. In the beginning of my 8th grade year in 2008, my mother remarried to a man named Chance, who she had only known for two months. Living with her for 3 years prior, I continued to through her new marriage. My bed was now the living room couch, and privacy was no longer an option. My freshman year was great. I had amazing friends and my grades were exceptional. It was during my sophomore year that things slowly seemed to fall apart. My grades declined, school attendance was unsteady, and socially I drifted from friends and teachers. At times my classmates would wonder why I’d miss so much school or why I couldn’t seem to focus during class. â€Å"I’m just tired,† I always said. â€Å"Don’t worry about me.† On the night of February 12, 2011 I received a call from my mother while staying the weekend at my father’s home in south Kona. Her voice shaky, she stuttered to ask the question I dreaded for 3 years. â€Å"Did Chance ever hurt you?† I said no as she repeated the question once again. â€Å"No† I said. She asked again, except this time she asked, â€Å"Do you promise on your sister?† My sister died of turner syndrom e in 1999. â€Å"I can’t do that mom,† I said, anticipating the consequences of my confession. What happened after that phone call was heart breaking. My very own mother refused to believe what I had told her. She even had the audacity to tell my family there was no way her husband could have done such things and refused to divorce him. From that night forward I lived with my father permanently. Three months after the disclosure I met with a detective in Kona, whom would investigate my case closely. My junior year was beginning and school became an obvious challenge. I continued to stay out of contact with my mother and her husband Chance. I received the support of my family, as well as my school counselor, who became well aware of my situation. It was the end of my junior year now and my mother still did not believe me. August 13, 2012 was my trial date at the Kealakekua courthouse. To my surprise, my mother was in the waiting room. I was very nervous, but knew that sticking to the truth of my story was the right thing to do. My family waited as I entered the courthouse. My prosecuting attorney did her best to prepare me for this day, knowing the difficulty of the process. I did what I had to do, and my parents and nana watched wide eyed as I exited the room. They rushed to my attorney and I awaiting an answer, as she said â€Å"we did it, it’s a true bill.† I was overwhelmed with relief, as I looked to my crying mother. She hugged me, and said â€Å"I’m sorry† as we departed. I knew that wouldn’t be the end of it. There would be more upcoming court dates to settle the sentence during my senior year. For about 3 years a household member was silently abusing me, but I finally found the courage to say something. I found strength in sticking to the truth of my story and never letting disbelievers tell me there will be no justice. From that day forward I promised myself that I would continue to pick myself up, never soaking in self-pity, and achieving my goals. I look back on these events with gratitude, knowing that because of what has happened to me, I will be able to help young, victimized girls by reaching out with open arms and guiding them through their hardships. I am humbled by these experiences and know that I have a purpose in this world to provide support throughout the community. I strive to live life through these values, as my perspective on life has brought me to realize the utmost importance of doing what is right. Sexual, physical, verbal, and all other forms of abuse are unacceptable and inhumane; however there can be justice if one is willing to fight for it. I am Leila-Marie Wong, proof that through strength and perseverance all can be endured.