Crazy Parents and College Admissions

Crazy Parents and College Admissions August 26 Our company policy at Ivy Coach is to only work with nice people. Its a policy that has served us well for a quarter century. We have thousands of visitors to Ivy Coachs website every day. Some are loyal readers of our college admissions blog. Some are clients, past and present whom weve gotten to know through the years. Some are prospective clients. Some like to come for free information (but if theyre loyal readers of our blog, they know that we keep our best secrets off the pages of our websiteits our secret sauce). And, to paraphrase from a Dartmouth commencement address by comedian Conan OBrien, when referencing how old people sometimes just come to commencement ceremonies, some just come because theyre interested in college admissions. Even if their child graduated from high school twenty-five years ago. Youd be surprised! It happens. Believe us. And lots of folks click on our orange button and fill out our free consult form every day to arrange for a time in which we can discuss our service offerings at Ivy Coach. This is the method through which prospective Ivy Coach clients become our clients. Some prospective clients call, but we typically dont pick up (who wants to have their brains picked about college admissions all day long or listen to boasts about how great their child is all day long? Not us!). And some send us boxfuls of childhood photos. We even once received a lock of hair. Weird! But, by and large, most of the folks we speak to during our free consultations understand from our email they receive upon filling out our form that the free consult is only to discuss our service offerings, not to offer specific advice about their child. Thats a paid service. Hello, Ivy Coach is  a business! And most are entirely pleasant, super nice people. The free consult is as much for us to gauge if we want to work with parents and students as it is for them to gauge if they want to work with us (many folks dont seem to realize this). But every now and then we get a crazy. Someone who knows it all (so why are they coming to us if they think such?). Someone who is entitled and is only contacting us because they want to cover all the bases (if only they knew how many mistakes their child was making!). We recently had a caller who said What else you got? after she rejected a piece of advice we offered. The caller then followed up by asking, So how are you going to woo me as a client? Our response? Were not. We dont have to woo. Were not interested in working with you. Good day. Lifes too short. We only like to work with nice people. Its a company policy and it has been for a quarter century. Oh, and another recent caller apparently sent her childs resume in advance of the call. Its a consult to discuss our service offerings. Were not reviewing documents. Thats part of the paid one hour evaluation. And were quite clear about this in our email response. When she wasnt happy that we werent offering her advice, she subsequently threatened to tell all of her friends (Bueller?) about us (we love when people talk about us!)  and let us know that once we open her daughters resume we will regret not working with her amazing child. On what planet did she think we would waste the time to op en her daughters resume after the free consult? Not on this one. So to all the nice, normal folks who fill out our form as prospective clients, we welcome you with open arms. You pass through our filter, which is quite effective. And to the crazies out there, there are thousands of less well known, less effective private college counseling firms across America and were certain some though not all will try to woo you. Actually, maybe not. But try?

What Is a Molotov Cocktail

A Molotov cocktail is a simple type of improvised incendiary device.  A Molotov cocktail is also known as a petrol bomb, alcohol bomb, bottle bomb, poor mans grenade, or simply Molotov. The simplest form of the device consists of a stoppered bottle filled with a combustible liquid, such as gasoline or high-proof alcohol, with a fuel-soaked rag stuffed in the neck of the bottle. The stopper separates the fuel from the part of the rag that acts as a fuse. To use a Molotov cocktail, the rag is ignited and the bottle is thrown against a vehicle or fortification. The bottle breaks, spraying fuel into the air. The vapor and droplets are ignited by the flame, producing a fireball and then a burning fire, which consumes the remainder of the fuel. Molotov Ingredients The key ingredients are a bottle that will shatter on impact and a fuel that is sufficiently flammable to catch fire and spread when the bottle breaks. While gasoline and alcohol are the traditional fuels, other flammable liquids are effective, including diesel, turpentine, and jet fuel. All alcohols work, including ethanol, methanol, and isopropanol. Sometimes detergent, motor oil, polystyrene foam, or rubber cement are added to make the mixture stick better to the target or cause the burning liquid to release thick smoke. For the wick, natural fibers, such as cotton or wool, work better than synthetics (nylon, rayon, etc.) because synthetic fibers typically melt. Origin of the Molotov Cocktail The Molotov cocktail traces its origins to an improvised incendiary device that was used in the 1936 to 1939 Spanish Civil War in which General Francisco Franco had Spanish Nationalists use the weapons against Soviet T-26 tanks. In World War II, the Finnish used the weapons against Soviet tanks. Vyacheslav Molotov, the Soviet Peoples Commissar for Foreign Affairs claimed in radio broadcasts that the Soviet Union was delivering food to the starving Finns rather than dropping bombs on them. The Finns started referring to the air bombs as Molotov bread baskets and to the incendiary weapons, they used against the Soviet tanks as Molotov cocktails. Revisions to the Molotov Cocktail Throwing a flaming bottle of fuel was inherently dangerous, so modifications were made to the Molotov cocktail. The Alko corporation mass-produced Molotov cocktails. These devices consisted of 750 ml glass bottles that contained a mixture of gasoline, ethanol, and tar. The sealed bottles were bundled with a pair of pyrotechnic storm matches, one on either side of the bottle. One or both of the matches were lit before the device was thrown, either by hand or using a sling. The matches were safer and more reliable than the fuel-soaked cloth fuses. The tar thickened the fuel mixture so that the fuel would adhere to its target and so the fire would produce a lot of smoke. Any flammable liquid could be used as the fuel. Other thickening agents included dish soap, egg whites, sugar, blood, and motor oil. The Polish army developed a mixture of sulfuric acid, sugar, and potassium chlorate that ignited upon impact, thus eliminating the need for a lit fuse. Uses of Molotov Cocktails The purpose of a Molotov is to set a target on fire. The incendiaries have been used by regular soldiers in the absence of conventional weapons, but more often they are used by terrorists, protesters, rioters, and street criminals. While effective at instilling fear in targets, Molotov cocktails present a significant risk to the person using them.

Evaluation of Journal Article Involving Cross Cultural...

Evaluation of Journal Article I. Introduction The essay is about to evaluate the journal written by Coen Heijes and express my personal interpretation of the article. The essay was divided into five sections. First of all, I would briefly outline the topic of the article and introduce the findings made by the author. Secondly, I would analyze the theory and literature review by evaluating the main theoretical framework. Then research design and methods would be discussed, followed by the findings and conclusions given by the author. Finally, personal implications would be delivered. In my opinion, take power dynamics into account while analyzing the perception across-cultural is a beneficial supplement to the dimensional†¦show more content†¦Besides, in the 1960s and 1970s, Clifford Geertz’s interpretive anthropology (1973) was accepted as a standard which emphasized that the concept of culture was not so much fixed, cohesive and systematic but more dynamic and co-created in dialogue. In addition, the role of power, power imbalance and power dynamics had been regarded as significant elements on cross-cultural researches. Jack and Aycan (2006) emphasized the demand on researches focusing on power relations in the diffusion, interaction, fusion, adaptation and hybridization of cultures such as in post-and neo-colonialism, and the political, business or occupational dominance of one ethnic group over another. Human (1996) observed that â€Å"differential power or status and power relations would affect the perceptions of culture and ultimately on the motivation, performance and development of a certain group†. Obviously, the need of research on the role of power and power imbalances in cross-cultural studies is reasonable and essential. What is more, Ybema and Byun (2009) delivered a cased study to explore issues of culture and identity in Japanese-Dutch work relations in two different contexts, and concluded that it was significant to analyze the context and power asymmetry on cross-cultural studies in multinational corporations, and Jackson (2004) indicated that it was inadequate to address the dynamics of

SON OF A SMALLER HERO by Mordecai Richler Essay Example For Students

SON OF A SMALLER HERO by Mordecai Richler Essay What is the central truth about people in the novel?I think the central truth that Richler writes about in this novel concerns our right to be happy. In the novel we witness the main characters suffering because of the fear to protect their rights. One of the brightest examples is Melech. On one hand he is presented as a stern and ambitious character who isnt afraid to accept a challenge. In pursuit of happiness he leaves his homeland and comes to Canada with only fifty cents. He makes a living working in the scrap yard and still he can afford to have ten children. It seems that he succeeded in life, but on the other hand he isnt happy at all. At the end he feels guilty about his Polish girlfriend who he misses all his life. He and she truly loved each other, but Melech was too afraid to rebel against his family which forbade him to marry her. A similar situation happens to his oldest son, Wolf. Unlike his father, he is a small man who accomplished nothing in life. He works in Melech s scrap yard and cant do anything about his miserable life. Being always afraid of Melech, he has to marry against his will. Later he even has to make a child because Melech tells him to. Submitting to his father, Wolf voluntarily gives away his freedom and turns his life into a torture. It seems that fear to stick up for ones own rights is a common problem in the Adlers family. In this case Noah is represented as a hero and an example to be followed. Living in the Jewish community he cant afford to be a loser and an embarrassment to his family. He knows what is right for him, and sets off into the gentile world, even if its different and against the laws of his grandfather. He failed to be a real Jew, but partly it happened by his initiative. He wanted to be someone different, may be better or worse for him, but still someone. Unlike both of his predecessors, he is natural and rebels for his rights. Through his example, Richler suggests that for any human being there are things tha t are much more important than laws.