Marketing Plan Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Marketing Plan - Research Paper Example Sylva make-up kit will contain the best ingredients that will ensure the make-up does not fade for 15 hours. The product will also contain ingredients that will ensure the face is moist and aerated throughout the day. Sylva make-up kit will also be creatively packaged with a velvet cover that will contain the company logo. The mission of Sylva Company is to develop continually and bring to the market quality cosmetic products at an acceptable price. The company aims at introducing Sylva make-up kit to the market and record high sales and 70% profit margin. Sylva will employ a brand building approach as the rationale for the marketing plan. The company will attain this through a marketing mix that incorporates unique product attributes, suitable distribution and effective promotional mix. The primary marketing objectives are to generate netted revenue from retail sales and obtain new funding sources. The promotional mix will include intense advertising in print, audio-visual and the internet. Sylva will position itself through renowned print media such as the Vogue, Vanity Fair, In Style and Cosmopolitan. Increasing the presence of the product on the internet is anticipated to yield better results. The product will also be marketed through personal relation campaigns and point of sale that will reinforce the product’s message of quality. The United States cosmetics market is saturated with cosmetic companies. The industry has continuously grown. This industry is set to increase in the next five years. As a result, Sylva Company is set to benefit from it. The product has four primary competitors. These include Aveda, Clinique, Essential Elements and Kiehl’s Company. The product hopes to increase its customer base by

Creating and Sustaining an Organisational Learning Culture Essay

Creating and Sustaining an Organisational Learning Culture - Essay Example One such company is the centre of this paper. Look Ahead Housing and Care is a charitable housing association that offers specialist housing, care and support. It was first established in 1973 by Mary Jones and a group of concerned individuals. Jones was a retired senior civil servant from the Department of Health and Social Services. Jones and the group envisioned a company that would provide good quality and cheap accommodations for the needy and most vulnerable in the society. From a humble beginning of its first property acquisition in 1974, Look Ahead is now able to support 5000 people across more than 60 projects. The company owns a several properties that provide different types of accommodations. These include hostels for single homeless people, registered care homes, flats and studio-type accommodations for families with support needs. Customers receive support though guidance regarding benefits, budgeting, training, employment, education and general life skills to equip them live their lives fully and become independent contributors to the society. The annual income of the company is in excess of 29.5 million. Currently, Look Ahead employs around 600 staff providing service and care. In 2008, the company was recognised in the prestigious Sunday Times as part of the "100 Best Companies to Work For." It has made the company proud as an employer of choice. It is an achievement that acknowledges the passion and commitment of the company in delivering first-rate service to the society and to employees. Through the dedication, commitment and hard work of management and staff, Look Ahead Housing and Care has developed to become a leading housing and social care provider to vulnerable people in London and the South East. Strategic Objectives Look Ahead's mission is to enable those with particular needs to live ordinary lives within the community. They aim to become enablers of vulnerable people through positive transformation of their lives, and empowerment of individuals in order for them to become active participants in the community. In order to achieve the organisation's goals, Look Ahead has established several strategic objectives in the whole organisation. As a member of the charity-service sector, their first objective is to promote customer involvement, choice and citizenship. This can be achieved through supporting and enabling customers to participate in a wide range of involvement activities; using feedback mechanisms from customer survey to improve services; and implementation of a social inclusion strategy. As part of the community, their second objective is to build and maintain strong partnership. This can be attained by raising and strengthening the company's relationship with purchasers, funders and the local community. Mapping the stakeholders' relationships with the company across all services is made possible by means of local business plans, specialist forum and borough liaison meetings. As an organisation, their third objective is to achieve growth through excellence. The company aims to meet or exceed targets for new business growth and design innovative services. The company also prioritise seeking opportunities for service expansion while delivering efficiency gains. They also commit to deliver ongoing improvements in service quality and performance. As an employer, the fourth objective of Look Ahead is to enable staff to excel in their roles. The

Corporate Strategy Essay Example for Free

Corporate Strategy Essay In Corporate Strategy, Collis and Montgomery explain there are two kinds of diversification—linked and constrained. Companies using linked diversification enter new businesses when it relates in some way to another business they are already in (it is linked to it), but does not necessarily have any connection to their other businesses. If they are using constrained diversification, however, they only enter a new business if it is based on their core resources or competencies. Companies based on linked diversification have little coherence to their overall corporate strategy, while companies using constrained diversification tend to be more focused. Constrained diversification allows companies to maximize the effect of their resources because they are shared (100). Apple uses constrained diversification. Apple is, inherently, a personal computer company (hardware and software), and their businesses utilize their competencies in developing hardware and software. The Macintosh, iPad, iPhone, iPod and AppleTV are all computers, which allows Apple to share resources between businesses. For example, the Macintosh, iPad, iPhone and AppleTV all run OS X, Apple’s operating system. This creates economies of scope, which, Collis and Montgomery point out, create cost savings for the company because their resources are shared across multiple businesses (72). Rather than just have related businesses, though, each business is a focused platform with no extraneous products or product types. The Macintosh, for example, consists of two kinds—desktop and notebook. These separate product lines each share resources and complement each other. The iMac and MacBook Pro are both primarily constructed from aluminum and glass, so not only do they share the same materials (which reduces costs), but they resemble each other, creating unity between product lines. Each platform, too, complements the other. Apple’s Macintosh computers sync their media and personal data (calendar, contacts, email) seamlessly with the other platforms. Because they work so well together, owning products from each platform benefits users by creating an experience where their devices â€Å"just work.† The platform advantage does not apply just to Apple’s devices. Through iTunes, users can purchase music, movies and television shows that syncs across all of their devices, or even do so from their iPhone or iPad. The App Store allows users to download applications for their iPhones and iPads wherever they are, and now the iBook Store, released in April, will allow them to do the same with books. Because Apple has chosen what businesses to enter carefully, these platforms reinforce the others and make them more powerful. The sum is greater than the parts. This creates a complete package for consumers to choose, and it is difficult for competitors to match. Their platform strategy makes each individual business more valuable than it would be as a separate entity. Their strategy can be improved, however. Currently, MobileMe—a service Apple offers that keeps contacts, calendar, and email in sync across multiple devices over the air—is a premium service that costs $99 per year. This is the wrong approach. Rather than a premium service, MobileMe should be free and integrated into Apple’s platforms. MobileMe should act like the â€Å"glue† that integrates the platforms and as a draw for users. Apple’s goal should be to get as many MobileMe users as possible. Once someone is happily using MobileMe across their various devices, they are less likely to switch to a competitor’s product.

Creating A Database For Student Information System Computer Science Essay

Creating A Database For Student Information System Computer Science Essay A database brings convenient to todays working area such as large business company. The main purpose of a database is just similar to handling and keep large amount of files and documents in a large cabinet. However this method takes a large space and will be complicated to control and organized. This is why a database is introduced to keep these data organized to allow users to access, retrieve, and use of the data without any hassle. DBMS or Database Management System is software that used to set up a database, creating a database requires planning and gets to know what kind of data will be imputed. Creating a database will be easier after a simple table is constructed. In this assignment, a Student Information System is used as an example to keep student information in a database. Moreover Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Access are example software provided by database vendor that used to create a database. Other than Student Information System as stated above, this software allows changes in database such as adding student entity relationship to expand the database. Microsoft Access is used to create Student Information System Entity Relationship(ER) because it has user-friendly interface compared to oracle and yet it is still a powerful tool to create a simple database. Define Question 1 1.0 What is Database and why is it needed? A database is a collection of various types of stored data so it can be used for operation purposes. These data can be organized in different modal such as hierarchical, network and relational models depend which one is suitable for that particular operation. A database plays an important role in many fields such as large companies, colleges as well as super markets we visit daily. Most of databases are being used in large business company which they often record their purchases, sales and keep track with employees information. Database record, store and process data to generate a variety of information for decision-making at the various levels in an organization or business company. However large number of information cannot be handle by just human alone this is why a database is used to complete these tasks accurate, relevant and timely. There are many advantages when database is used because: It helps reduces data redundancy. Has high processing speed to manage data in a very short time. It allows data sharing among different users. Maintain data independence to keep database safe even if one data is corrupted. Have better security because of different levels of access privileges controlled. It avoids data inconsistency. Reduces storage requirements. A database will not run on its own without software. Similar to computer, a computer will be useless without an operating system. This is why DBMS (Database Management System) is required in order running and allows manipulation in database. DBMS is software that uses SQL (Structured Query Language) that is a programming language that manages data in a database. SQL Manager for Oracle 1.1.0 Database of a Student Information System The concept of a database can be easily understood because it is similar if we create a table that stores different kind of information. It is encouraged to plan the database by making a simple table so that it will be easier when creating in DBMS. In this case Student Information System is created to store all students related information such as their index numbers, home addresses, gender and so on. The concept is started with record, which is a collection of related fields of an entity. Each record consists of several data Index Number First Name Last Name Age Gender Address Course Grade S0001 Julia Yasmin 17 F 13 Hibiscus Road BM A Student Information System in a College Index Number First Name Last Name Age Gender Address Course Grade Fee Paid S0001 Julia Yasmin 17 F 13 Hibiscus Road BM A Yes S0002 Nicholas Wong 18 M 24 Metro Street IT A Yes S0003 Niko Bellic 18 M 53 Hove Beach IT B No S0004 David Kim 17 M 4 Lake Garden IT B No S0005 Carl Johnson 18 M 77 Park Lane BM C No S0006 John Kay 17 M 22 Lin Seng Park BM B Yes S0007 Jasmine Stewart 17 F 16 Park Lane BM B Yes S0008 Tony Murphy 19 M 55 Brooker Road IT C Yes S0009 Tina Shaw 18 F 31 Hibiscus Road BM A No S0010 David Ford 18 M 28 Lake Garden IT C No Keyword: BM = Business Management, IT = Information Technology The table above shows that all student information is recorded in detail of a college. Index Number is created to identify each student. All different single line of records are grouped together to form a 10 records table. The table is also known as file, which is a collection of related records and these data will be stored in colleges main database. Primary Key A primary key is similar to Internet search engine (Google), for example when you search for the word food, immediately all food related websites and pictures would display. Each file may need a primary key in a database, which is an important key name for searching a particular record in the file as well as identify each record uniquely within relation. Primary key can be consists of index number or name because they have their unique name or integers. However primary key cannot be address because the name is long. When a database grows larger, these primary keys will be very important to help user to find particular data they needed. 1.2.0 The Relationship between Tables Since the database is related to student information, this table may be shared in several departments such as casher, lecturers, class and students overall examination grade. This relationship is known as Relation Model, which is basically consists of a set of interrelated tables. Data in a relational model are stored in two-dimensional tables. Each department will have different privilege to access different type of data and only display the information they need. Below is the shared information in several departments. 1.2.1 Casher Colleges Casher Index Number Casher Index First Name Last Name Age Gender Course Fee Paid S0001 C101 Julia Yasmin 17 F BM Yes S0002 C102 Nicholas Wong 18 M IT Yes S0003 C103 Niko Bellic 18 M IT No S0004 C104 David Kim 17 M IT No S0005 C105 Carl Johnson 18 M BM No S0006 C106 John Kay 17 M BM Yes S0007 C107 Jasmine Stewart 17 F BM Yes S0008 C108 Tony Murphy 19 M IT Yes S0009 C109 Tina Shaw 18 F BM No S0010 C110 David Ford 18 M IT No Primary Key: Casher Index The table shows that all necessary information required in casher such as fee paid and casher index to track students that are not yet paid their tuition fee. While students addresses and examination grade are hidden to reduce complexity because it is not necessary. This is called as external view because it allows user to have own view of the database. 1.2.2 Student list in a particular course Lecturers will have their own student list depend on which course they in charge. Since in real colleges database may consist over hundred of students, working with a large table can be troublesome and complicated. To make it easy, this large table will be needed to break up into two related table, which are Business Management and Information Technology classes. This concept is called data normalization. Normalization makes data more manageable and allows many data to be shared in just one database. This is because it removes data inconsistency as data is modified in one place as well as reduces storage requirement and data redundancy. Business Management Course (BM) Index Number Examination ID First Name Last Name Age Gender Course S0001 E1001 Julia Yasmin 17 F BM S0005 E1005 Carl Johnson 18 M BM S0006 E1006 John Kay 17 M BM S0007 E1007 Jasmine Stewart 17 F BM S0009 E1009 Tina Shaw 18 F BM Primary Key: Index Number Information Technology Course (IT) Index Number Examination ID First Name Last Name Age Gender Course S0002 E1002 Nicholas Wong 18 M IT S0003 E1003 Niko Bellic 18 M IT S0004 E1004 David Kim 17 M IT S0008 E1008 Tony Murphy 19 M IT S0010 E1010 David Ford 18 M IT Primary Key: Index Number The tables show that two different tables, which are Business Management Course and Information Technology Course. Students and their course can be easily indentified after the table is separated into two. We can clearly know that IT students are all male and both courses have equally five students each. 1.2.3 Students Examination Grade Index Number Examination ID First Name Last Name Course Grade S0001 E1001 Julia Yasmin BM A S0002 E1002 Nicholas Wong IT A S0003 E1003 Niko Bellic IT B S0004 E1004 David Kim IT B S0005 E1005 Carl Johnson BM C S0006 E1006 John Kay BM B S0007 E1007 Jasmine Stewart BM B S0008 E1008 Tony Murphy IT C S0009 E1009 Tina Shaw BM A S0010 E1010 David Ford IT C Primary Key: Examination ID The above table shows all students examination grade in the entire college and it is stored in Students examination database. This table is required for students certificate printout and act as a primary place for tracking student examination grade. Overall, all the tables had mentioned are the examples on how Students Information System is recorded in a college. This is a basic and very important step for a new user before data is record in Database Management software. Define Question 2 2.0.0 Student Information System Entity Relationship(ER) model We already know all the relationship between previous tables of Student Information System. However create a table only helps to know the concept of a database creation. In order to make these tables and their relationship more efficient and easy organized, database software is required. Therefore these tables are needed to transfer to Microsoft Access. With Microsoft Access, information in each column can be easily created. Creating relational tables will be faster because column of data can be copied from one table to others. 2.1.0 Relationship between tables in Microsoft Access 2.1.1 Primary Key Before tables can relate each other, a primary key is needed to declare in each table. The image above shows that primary key is declared in Students in Design View. A small key symbol (marked as small red circle) shows that Index Number has declared to primary key with primary key tool clicked (marked as large red circle). A particular field that needed to become primary key is highlighted and then Primary Key tool is clicked. 2.1.2 Relationship Chart Creating relationship between tables is easy because Microsoft Access has user-friendly interface, simply drag a data from one table to others and the relation line will appears Tables must link correctly in order to view their relationship. Primary Keys are linked to another tables, for example if we compare Students table with Casher table, Casher Index will become primary key while Index Number becomes foreign key. Note that small key symbol represents which data is primary key. Moreover, tables like Students and Examination Grade are having more than one matching table, which is called as parent table while the table they linked to are child tables. This relationship is called as One-to-Many relationship between different records or tables. 2.1.3 Relationship between Students and Casher Students The Student Information System is recorded into Microsoft Access as shown in image above. These information consists of students index number, which is an unique code that identifies each students. Other information such as First name, Last name, Age, Gender, Addresses and so on are also recorded inside this table. Casher The data in Casher table has created to record students fee paid. Some field such as Index Number and Course are shared together with Student table. Relationship between Students and Casher The table above shows the relationship between Students and Casher. From the first record we can clearly see Julia Yasmins casher index, course and her fee payment. While the last record we can identify that David Ford is in IT course and he is not yet pay his fee. The dropdown table will only appear when the relationship is linked correctly with relevant primary key from each table. 2.1.4 Relationship between Students Course and Students Examination Business Management Class Information Technology Class Business Management and Information Technology classes are separated into two different tables. These tables are also linked together with Students Examination Grade, which is to reveal their examination grade when it is opened. A drop down table from the tables above show that students examination grade is revealed. Two different dropdown tables is shown (marked as red colour border), when we look at the Information Technology Class. We can easily identify Nicholas Wongs examination ID, which is E1002 and gets grade A in examination. Similar to Tony Murphy, which has examination ID of E1008 and gets grade C in the examination. Students Examination Grade The table above shows the entire examination grade among every student, which exactly contains the same record from the table we had created from Question 1 (Page 9). As mentioned before, Students Examination Grade is linked to Students Course and this allows records also appear in Information Technology and Business Management Course. Overall, the tables in Microsoft Access made Student Information System organized in good manner and made user easily retrieve, access and view all students information in short time. Conclusion and Recommendation Information is an important resource in any organization and it must be properly managed. Database plays an important role because it allows information to be stored and organized in good manner. To handle large amount of information such as Student Information System, creating several tables is required to store different data such as name, index numbers, age and so on. Creating a database also requires knowledge on how data relate each other and their model. Learning Microsoft Access will be a good start for a beginner to learn and practice how database works even though it is not powerful enough compared to other database management software. Since nowadays jobs are relying on technology, having computer knowledge is very important to keep ourselves not to be outdated. Similarly, people with knowledge of database will have better job opportunity because most large business and manufacturing company will hire them. Bibliography Oppel Andy, 2009, Database a Beginners Guide, Second Edition, McGraw-Hill Professional Publishing, USA Anderson Virginia, 2001, How to do everything with Access 2002, McGraw-Hill Professional Publishing, USA MacMillan, Andy Huff, Brian, Transforming Info glut! A Pragmatic Strategy for Oracle Enterprise Content Management, 2008, McGraw-Hill Professional Publishing, USA P.Sellappan, 2002, Information Technology in Business, Fourth edition, Federal Publication Sdn Berhad, Malaysia James L. Johnson, 1997, Database Models, Languages, Design, , Oxford University Press Inc, USA Shelly Vermaat, 2009, Discovering Computer 2009, Complete Edition, Shelly Cashman Series, United States of America SQL Manager for Oracle 2007, View from File Transit, SQL Manager for Oracle, online, retrieved 12 October 2010, from http://www.filetransit.com/images/screen/2935188e684b1f718eecbf92de0bdfd6_EMS_SQL_Manager_for_Oracle.gif Primary Definition, 2010, online, retrieved 12 October 2010, from http://databases.about.com/cs/administration/g/primarykey.htm

Essay on Traditions in Jacobs Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

A Medley of Traditions in   Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl       Though considerable effort has been made to classify Harriet Ann Jacobs'Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: Written by Herself as another example of the typical slave narrative, these efforts have in large part failed. Narrow adherence to this belief limits real appreciation of the text's depth and enables only partial understanding of the author herself Jacobs's story is her own, political yes, but personal as well. Although she does draw from the genre of her people, the slave narrative, to give life and limb to her appeal for the eradication of slavery in America, she simultaneously threads a captivity narrative, a romance, and a seduction novel through the text as well.     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Initially, the blurring of genre lines might appear inconsistent, or contrary to the unity of the work. However, further reflection reveals this "muddying" is in fact  Incidents' strength. By fashioning her narrative like a seduction novel Jacobs was assured her story would be read by the northern female readers she sought to champion. The idea of a captive in a foreign land most closely resembled the author's own understanding of her life in bondage. And finally, the qualities of a romance render Jacobs' tale an unmistakable "good read." Consequently, Harriet Ann Jacobs is much more than just an additional voice among mid-nineteenth century abolitionist banter, she is an astute author with a story altogether her own.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In order to appreciate how  Incidents reaches beyond the slave narrative genre, one must first understand how it is perfectly in synch. The slave narrative, popularized between 1840 and 1865 largely due to the creative efforts of Frederick Doug... ...sors Comments: Katie, this is A work, this is what I want everybody to be able to generate, this is my hope and reward. You set out from the first with a clear agenda about four prongs of your argument about genre and Jacobs and systematically show how each is separately evoked and confirmed, finding along the way some excellent supporting critical opinions. I do think that your first two sections on seduction and slave narratives are the strongest, in that they show a clearer articulation of the forms. Had you more time, I think you might have developed the captivity narrative conventions more thoroughly. Only the romance section needs more propping up, as the romantic conventions are more implied than articulated. Even so, these concerns are small potatoes. Overall, thoughtful and scholarly work. Thanks for the effort. Wanna switch majors?   Grade: A      

Taiwan :: History

Taiwan For centuries, Taiwan has been ruled by alien regimes. Modern Taiwanese history is a chronicle of the Taiwanese' struggles against oppression and fight for independent survival. Since 1945, Taiwan under the Kuomintang (KMT) regime has been subject to the threat of China's invasion. Even though recently the tensions across the Straits of Taiwan has loosened gradually, to Taiwanese, the unification policy stressed by both the KMT regime and the Chinese government still poses a grave danger of a forced and forcible merger with China. On August 31, 1993, the People's Republic of China issued a document titled, "The Taiwan Question and the Reunification of China." Circulating in seven languages, this diplomatic white paper manifested its intent and ambition of annexing Taiwan through its distortion of history, misconstruction of international law and treaties, and disregard for the will and welfare of the Taiwanese. Though less dogmatic and more pragmatic than before, the KMT's response remains ambiguous and problematic: the KMT still insists that the Communist regime cannot legitimately represent China, while emphasizing its own capability of resolving this "Chinese problem" eventually. Under such circumstances, we think it necessary to explicate our point of view from the perspective of the Taiwanese. China released a paper that states that "Peaceful Unification" and "One Country, Two Systems" are the basic principles of its Taiwan policy. The paper lists four guidelines: one China, coexistence of two systems, extensive autonomy, and peaceful negotiation. China warns that the Taiwan question is a purely domestic issue and thus to be solved under the premise of "One China." It further pronounces that peaceful unification is a fixed policy of the Chinese government. However, this government will reserve the right to take all action necessary, including military action, to protect its territorial integrity and governing authority. As a note directed at foreign states, the paper delivers its intention to keep out foreign intervention. "The Chinese government is not obliged to any foreign country and makes no promise whatsoever." In our opinion, the Chinese assumption and interpretation of the Taiwan issue are extremely absurd. Taiwan by no means is a part of the People's Republic of China, whether from the perspective of history, international law, or reality. This being the case, what position does the PRC have to formulate the "peaceful unification, one China" policy which aims at devouring Taiwan? China's chauvinistic ambitions are clearly manifested in light of this.

Adolescent Development Essay

There are mutual influences between an individual and their social environment. There are also at-risk factors involved in the life of a developing adolescent that interconnects with a series of reciprocal systems. I can recall as a developing adolescent quickly maturing into adulthood, the many social, economic, external and internal influences that contributed to certain at-risk behaviors. These type of influences impacted me directly and indirectly. I was influenced by the several environments I was in, and I also contributed to influencing the environment around me. Attempting to exert control over uncontrollable circumstances only lead to desperate situations and weighty consequences. However, learning to accept my present circumstances, and how to appropriately respond to the hardship and temptations in life developed positive life changes. Individual human development occurs within interconnected and embedded ecological systems (McWhirter et al, 2013). The ecological systems include the individual, the microsystem, the mesosystem, the exosystem, and macrosystem (McWhirter et al, 2013). The individual consists of genetic and biological factors, and personality characteristics (McWhirter et al, 2013). The microsystem consists of the people that the individual comes into direct contact with and who the individual interacts with (McWhirter et al, 2013). The mesosystem is the embedded interconnections between different microsystems and the impact of the interactions that take place (McWhirter et al, 2013). The exosystem consists of the interconnections between one or more settings that indirectly involve the individual (McWhirter et al, 2013). The macrosystem represents the social blueprint of cultural values, societal structure, gender-role socializations, race relations, belief systems, and national and international resources (McWhirter et al, 2013). The chronosystem is the interconnection and interaction of the individual within different environments, and is the transitions that occur during the course of the individual’s lifetime (McWhirter et al, 2013). These interconnecting systems are referred to as the ecological model, and assumes that the individual is continually interacting with his or her environment hat produces constant change due to mutual influences (McWhirter et al, 2013). Part A – The Ecological Model The core of who I really am involves the combinations of my genetic predispositions, evolutionary and biological components, personality characteristics, and the ongoing process of behavioral, cognitive, and affective experiences (McWhirter et al, 2013). Who I am has a lot to do with my expe riences in life, my responses to life events, and the social and environmental influences and interactions involved. The ecological model provides a greater understanding of how I influence my environment and my environment influences me. This is important because it is through the interactions of the ecological systems that help me better understand myself and others. The Individual. I entered the world with an umbilical cord wrapped around my neck, struggling to live due to insufficient oxygen intake. As a child I was very susceptible to illness. As an adult I discovered that I was living with an autoimmune disorder. I have very vivid fragmented memories as a child of several doctor office visits. At the personal level, I was a very fearful, anxious, angry, socially withdrawn child who experienced an unstable, insecure, neglectful, abusive, and dysfunctional home environment. The structure of personality develops in childhood and continues to develop in adulthood (Caspi, Roberts & Shiner, 2005). I developed a combination of extraversion and introversion traits. These traits show themselves depending on how safe I determine the environment around me to be. As a child I experienced positive and negative emotionality. I at times struggle with viewing the world as a safe place and occasionally viewed it as threatening. I experienced anxious distress with a tendency toward anxiety, sadness, insecurity, and guilt. As a teenager I experienced darker emotions such as anger, frustration, and irritation. I developed agreeable personality characteristics as a child. In adulthood I sometimes struggle with the fear of rejection, self-acceptance, people pleasing tendencies, self-awareness, and feeling comfortable in my surrounding environment and own skin. I also developed a strong motivation to achieve academically, and have a strong sense of independence. As a child and through my teenage years I was not allowed to have an opinion or express individuality, which resulted in the inability or challenge to think on my own, questioning who I am through life stages, fearful of making decisions on my own and especially decisions I need to make on behalf of others, and codependency issues. The Microsystem. I grew up in a traditional family household for a time being that consisted of my mother, father, and sister. Although, it was considered a traditional two parent household, my father was rarely home, and when he was home he was unavailable. My mother was emotionally unavailable and suffered from manic depression. My mother stayed at home and my father was either out working or pursuing one of his addictions. My family was homeless until I was the age of 5. We had lived and slept in my father’s suburban, randomly stayed with strangers, and at times lived in a recreational vehicle. I assumed responsibility and care of my younger sibling, my mother, myself, and household chores. I entered the stages of maturity alone and without parental support. The lack of positive parenting during my adolescent years made me vulnerable to at-risk risk behaviors such as premarital sex, tobacco use, substance abuse, gang involvement and mental and social disorders (Clinton & Clark, 2010). At the age of ten I was removed from my parent’s custody and placed in foster care where my sibling and I were separated and placed in different homes. In the foster system I was only allowed to socialize at school, and attended church depending on whether or not my foster parents at the time deemed it necessary. My sister and I went through several foster home placements which resulted in the loss of security, the loss of our personal possessions, and sense of belonging. Being bounced from home to home, it was difficult maintaining a close friendships with others. I developed an internal mechanism of being friendly with everyone, but not allowing myself to develop a close friendship with others. As I gained independence and freedom in my later teen years and early adulthood, I became more involved in church. The Mesosystem. I grew up in a rural community with a lack of parental involvement. There were no real established mesosystem relationships. The environment was inconsistently positive and very negative at times. Since school was my outlet, I strived for academic excellence and successfully achieved it. School seemed to be the only sense of stability. The Exosystem. Outside agencies that developed policies and created public resources were an indirect benefit to me as an adolescent and young adult. During childhood, I was able to eat lunch at school, and enjoy extracurricular activities such as Campfire Girls, cheerleading, and Key Club. I was given accessibility to the basic needs that my parents could not afford such as cloths, food, and shelter. As an adult, several community resources helped my daughter and escape and terminate a domestically violent relationship. The Macrosystem. During adolescence I was exposed to abuse, neglect, and violence first hand and via the television. My father grew up in the south and was very racist toward certain nationalities and races of people. The cultural context consisted of low socioeconomic status (SES), poverty, and experiencing our Native American ethnic background and being exposed to several conflicting belief systems. I grew up on a culture where corporate punishment was an acceptable practice. The culture valued individuality, independence, and self-reliance. I grew up in poverty with a prevailing crime rate not as noticeable as it is today. Social norms included the overuse of antibiotics (McDonnell Norms Group, 2008), and the use of drugs and alcohol were socially acceptable. Chronosystem. A pattern of environmental events, transitions, and sociohistorical circumstances contributed to my development over my lifespan. Both of my parents lived disloyal and adulterous life styles. Overtime, there unhealthy and dysfunctional patterns of relating to each other resulted in a separation. My father died when I was 17 years old. My parent’s marriage legally dissolved at the time of my father’s death. My mother remarried multiple times. My sister and I were exposed to their dysfunctional lifestyle, which tremendously impacted our lives. I personally, transitioned through many of life events by experiencing two divorces, being a single-mother of four children for quit sometime, remarrying and adjusting to a blended family, the loss of my oldest daughter, and facing the social political arena at work. Part B – At-Risk Tree Metaphor The At-risk tree is an analogy that allows people to understand the range of issues involving at-risk adolescence (McWhirter et al, 2013). The soil of the tree represents the individual’s societal environment (McWhirter et al, 2013). The roots refer to family, school, and peer groups that connect the tree to the soil (McWhirter et al, 2013). The trunk represents the developing attitudes and behaviors of each child (McWhirter et al, 2013). The branches of the tree represent the attitudes and behaviors that lead to specific risk categories (McWhirter et al, 2013). The soil of my family growing up consisted of poverty, low socioeconomic status (SES), judgmental and racist attitudes, abusive and neglectful home environment, and conflicting belief systems. The three primary roots are family, school, and peer groups (McWhirter et al, 2013). My parent’s inability to raise my sister and me in a loving, secure, stable, and nurturing environment, and expose us to family conflict, abuse, neglect, lack of parenting, being emotionally unavailable, and an unstructured home environment contributed to my dysfunction and the at-risk behaviors in my life. The school system was unaware of our life circumstances and did not any support. My sister ended up dropping out and getting involved with drugs. I became sexually involved with my boyfriend at the age of 15 and became pregnant at the age of 16. My daughter gave me the drive to continue my education and succeed academically in order to provide her with a better life. I was withdrawn during my adolescence and teenage years. Although, I made intent to get along with everyone, I did not associate with everyone. The peer group I involved myself in strived for academic excellence and engaged in positive extracurricular activities. The trunk of the at-risk tree representing my life consisted of low self-esteem, and depression. The branches of at-risk categories in my life were high-school dropout, substance abuse, risky sexual behaviors, and suicide. I was at risk for teen pregnancy and became pregnant at the age of sixteen. I succumbed to sexual activity with one partner in high school that resulted in teen pregnancy. I was very fortunate that at risk behaviors did not escalate. My tree was broken and bruised and produced damaged fruit. Instead of running to quick gratification I learned to run to God. I found my value and security in Christ. My branches although bruised eventually healed and produced good, healthy fruit. It took a lot of effort, drive, motivation, will, and trusting God in the midst of temptation and hardship. I was fortunate to have a variety of Gardeners in my life from Christian counselors, law enforcement, human service workers, youth group leaders, Sunday school teachers, and church mentors who helped me redirect my lifestyle. I learned how to be academically successful, a loving, supportive, caring mother to my children, a hard worker of integrity, and to do the right thing when the wrong thing seems easier at the time being.