Airline History Jet Blue Airways Essay

â€Å"I will bring humanity back to air travel†. This was the gist of the message given by Jet Blue Airways CEO David Neeleman in February 2000 in New York City during the inauguration of its maiden flight from John F. Kennedy Airport to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. jetblue. com (2008). With initial capital of US$130 million, David Neeleman combined his experiences from three airline companies where he was previously connected and implemented an innovation of airline service marketing strategy centered on low cost fare and customer needs satisfaction that rocked the aviation business. Since its inception, JetBlue was associated and maintained its own service brand positioned as low cost airline with high quality customer service. The branding extends to the employees in terms of benefits and stock purchase options. For three consecutive years since its inception, the airline tested its new brand of air travel within the US different states. When enough experience was collected as to consumers acceptance of its unique brand of airline travel, the company embarked into the international flight market. It was in May 2004 that an international flight flew from New York’s JFK International Airport to Aguadilla, Puerto Rico (Peterson, 2004). Currently, JetBlue Airways flies to 54 destinations in 6 countries (jetblue. com, 2008). Jet Blue Airways’ business success is a proof of carefully analyzed plan of strategies centered on satisfying customer wants and needs. The strategies made the customer feel important and felt that Jet Blue cares for them (Jetblue. com/about/,2008). †¢ They offer tasty snacks and drinks Snacks are needed by flight customers though it’s a 45 minute flight only much so in a 5 hour flight. They provided this in response to the needs which they learned from customer complaints in most airlines. Instead of saying free snacks and drinks, they 2 present the message in a different way by saying â€Å"tasty snacks and drinks† †¢ They provide serious R&R. â€Å"JetBlue has made red-eyes a thing of the past with the introduction of our new Shut- Eye Serviceâ„ ¢ on all overnight flights from the West. On these Shut-Eye Flights Customers are enticed to sleep with the help of a Bliss ® Spa amenity kit containing breath-freshening mint lip balm, lemon+sage body butter, an eyeshade and ear plugs. Then, just prior to arrival, customers are treated to a â€Å"good morning† service of hot towels, and Dunkin’ Donuts coffee and tea, orange juice or bottled spring water. â€Å"(â€Å"Why you’ll like us†, jetblue. com/about, 2008). To this date, this kind of service is the only one of its kind in the airline industry. JetBlue did this to differentiate its service from other airlines regarding care for the customers. †¢ The company is offering great low fares with their own Bill of Rights. The customers, in their mind, JetBlue’s strategy is value for money fares, lower in cost than competitor airlines but with high priced quality service, their own way of aring for the customers. Satisfaction is guaranteed with customers’ Bill of Rights. †¢ Award-winning service Their service is with a smile, from the pilot to cabin attendant. Smile is a gesture meaning you are welcome, a great way of expressing we care. As of November 2008, the company garnered a total of 100 different awards including the most coveted Best Airline Award and Best Market Development Award (jetblue. com, 2008). †¢ The company is offering a customer loyalty program This program is designed to maintain loyal customers and indirectly use them in he promotion of their brand of service called â€Å" word of mouth†. The satisfied customer will always have the urge to tell others of their good experience with JetBlue. This is an excellent way and inexpensive promotional gimmick. 3 Signing up to the customer loyalty program is hassle-free because you can do it online. †¢ Offering exclusive features of cabin flight The following features are one and only of its kind in the aviation industry: direct TV programming, XM Satellite Radio, Fox InFlight movies and free wireless. JetBlue made these amenities available to their customers without any additional harge unlike other airlines and they were the first to offer this kind of amenities. †¢ Widest legroom for the customer to stretch The airplane Airbus 320 has the widest legroom between the seat rows thus letting the passengers feel relaxed and enjoy the flight. This is the most important feature of JetBlue planes. †¢ Jetting to Green â€Å"The Jetting to Green program offers JetBlue’s customers the opportunity to offset CO2 emissions generated by their travel. Upon completing their itinerary online, customers will have the option to link directly to www. carbonfund. org/jetblue to offset heir flight’s carbon footprint† (jetblue. com/green/, 2008, 1st para. ). This is the latest addition to the marketing strategies of the company which is in lined with company social responsibility of caring for the environment. The customers can help in maintaining environmental sustainability. No other airline has thought of this; only JetBlue. With the company’s offer for stock option purchase and the social responsibility consciousness in the conduct of its strategic operation, in addition to its being customer needs reactive, anyone will be proud to be a part of the company.

Knowing Minds Is A Matter Of Authority Essay

The idea or the concept that I wanted to discuss which I find most interesting is the poem â€Å"What a Wonderful World† by Louis Armstrong. I find it interesting because of the details on how he described things around him. He mentioned seeing trees of green and red roses and he can even see them bloom. How the tress feed the birds and how the birds scatter the seeds, how the flower provides foods for butterflies and how the butterflies transfer the pollen, they help each other to survive. Armstrong uses variety of phrases to describe the beauty of nature. His words persuaded me so much that after hearing the song, I myself also find the world so perfect, so beautiful, and so magical. The concept or idea that I found to be problematic is Antonio Damasio’s studies about Spinoza. He discuss in details the human mind and behavior, stressing on emotion and feelings, decision-making, recollection, communication, and imagination. It was a good stuff and he was indeed very good when he discuss things in his books, however I consider it to be problematic because it didn’t answer all the questions being asked. I find his idea about equating the human nature’s equal to bad condescending and biased. I believe that each human being is naturedly good and if given a chance to do good will do right. We have one thing in common we are all human being . And it is already innate of us to be humane. We were created in God’s image and being the reflection of our good Maker man in his truest sense is good. The book entitled â€Å"Mind Into Matter†, by physicist Fred Alan Wolf, resonates the â€Å"Knowing Minds Is A Matter Of Authority† by Rupert Stasch. They both support an idea about the importance of the mind and how it controls everything in the human body. They support each other ideas about the mind, the human will, and how it affects one’s behavior toward something.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas Research Paper

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas - Research Paper Example He later proceeded to Yale Law School where he helped establish the Black student Union while at the same time developing a conservative approach to issues. After his legal training, Thomas moved back to the South in 1974 where he worked as the assistant to the Attorney General of Missouri Mr. John Danforth before later on taking up the job of being a lawyer to Monsanto, an agricultural firm. In 1981, he was appointed the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the United States Department of Education majorly due to his past in the civil rights movement and to balance the composition of this important part of the US government. He is now a conservative and controversial judge though initially he had wanted to pursue a religious life having had seminary education stints at the St. John Vianney Minor Seminary and Immaculate Conception Seminary in order to become a catholic priest or cleric. He however left the seminary and decided to fight for civil rights after he overheard a fellow student at the seminary make fun of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jnr. In the year 1982, President Ronald Reagan appointed Thomas as the Chairman of the EEOC, a position in which he held til the year 1990 when President George H.W Bush nominated him to serve as a Judge in the U.S Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. On July 1, 1991, after sixteen months as a judge of appeal, he was nominated to fill the position left vacant by Mr. Marshall who was almost similar with his views on civil rights at the Supreme Court. However, his nomination was opposed by critics who attacked him due to his views that were largely deemed conservative for the highest court of the land while others had the view that he had little experience as a judge of the superior courts. At the confirmation hearings, Thomas decided to remain quiet on a number of issues including rights on abortion and faced a difficult moment explaining himself out about suggestions that he had made unwelc ome sexual comments on a colleague both at the Department of Education and at the EEOC. However, he was confirmed by the United States Senate through a vote of fifty-two votes for him against forty-eight who opposed him. Thomas’s views at the Supreme Court have been the interpretation of the United States constitution from the original meaning by following from a conservative point of view (Totenberg). He has argued that the powers of the federal government must be limited and the states empowered as well as having a strong executive branch within the federal government. Clarence Thomas’s Legal Career and the Supreme Court Thomas was admitted to the Missouri bar on the 13th day of September 1974 from where he practised as an assistant Attorney General of the State of Missouri under Attorney General Danforth whom he had met at the Yale Law School. At the AG’s office, he worked at the criminal appeals section before being assigned duties at the taxation and revenu e division. After the election of Danforth to the United States senate, Thomas joined Monsanto as an attorney before moving to Washington to work with his former colleague Danforth where he worked as a legislative attorney attached to the Senate Commerce Committee. Later on Dansforth played a key role in the confirmation and appointment of Thomas as a judge of the Supreme Court. After a one year stint as Assistant Secretary of Education for the Office for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Education from 1981-1982, he became the Chairman of the United

World Religion and Cultures Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

World Religion and Cultures - Research Paper Example Yet the two are quite distinct in many ways yet share a common bond in the belief of natural goodness and the strength of the spirit within and without in the natural world. In the West experience is explained in words, in the East, words are slowly pealed away so one can experience reality directly. In fact the Taoist text, The Tao Te Ching, opens with the following, â€Å"The Tao that can be told is not the Eternal Tao Way, the name that can be named is not the eternal name.† (Novak 146-1479) So, in essence, words always fall short of the true meaning of experience. Eastern religion must be felt and experienced rather than thought about. In these religions there is not just the mind but the heart-mind from which understanding comes, something the west has separated into two distinct entities. In regards to philosophy in the West it is intelligence versus emotion instead of a combination of the two when talking about morality, ethics and so on. Enigmatic, this is probably one of the best terms that a Western mind can come up with when initially trying to understand Taoism. Phrases that can be used to describe the Tao such as, the more we know about it the less we understand, seek and you will not find it, and so on have left many people respectfully bewildered. This may also be the feeling that is left when trying to fathom many of the other Eastern religions including Buddhism. Taoism is the oldest of the group and was perhaps the initial driving force for the Chinese philosophical bent overall. Taoism, in a sense, paved the way for Buddhism as the centuries passed. Confucianism as well but especially Taoism created some of the structures for understanding and even necessitating the philosophical and spiritual principles of the Buddhist philosophy. Taoism created a common thread of awareness, of collective insight that gave the Chinese

Ethical Performance Appraisal Issues Research Paper

Ethical Performance Appraisal Issues - Research Paper Example The compensation plan also cut down on the amount of money that was given to doctors who had tenure. This is because the amount of money they were getting was more that they were bringing in and or that reason, in order to benefit from the finances they had to work more to gain more. Various strengths have been associated with the pay for performance plan. They include positive performance because the surgeons pay correlate directly with the number of patients or surgeries they perform in a given quarter. Secondly, the compensation plan provides equality on the surgeons in the sense that regardless of the tenure on has served they all have to get paid according to their performance; hence, reducing the protection given to low performers in the organization (Beaulieu & Zimmerman, 2005a). Thirdly, there is employee motivation because the surgeons will not be relying on the base pay that they have been accustomed to in that, knowing that they will get more when they work makes it increase their motivation and productivity for the organization. Even though the compensation plan has various strengths, it has shown some weaknesses. They include lack of backing from surgeons who have had tenure of service. Because they are accustomed to a little work, yet more pay and for that reason, adjusting would be AA problem. Secondly, the surgeons working on the research will abandon their work because the money meaning that they might lose grants from National Institute of Health motivates them. To deal with these challenges, it is important to come up with a plan that will ensure that the employees with tenure do not feel left out. Additionally, they should be provided with a work plan that allows them to bring the hospital money to stop in order to ensure that even though they are taking money from the hospital at least they are bringing some back. In relation to

Exam Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Exam - Assignment Example You will NOT be able to save the exam and return to it at another time; you must complete it in one attempt. Be sure to submit it when you are finished! If you have any questions about aspects of the exam, please take note of these and you are welcome to e-mail me after you have completed the exam. Further, if there are any exam questions that are unclear, please take note of these as well and I will ask about this in the class. Often when a hazard event occurs, other hazards are triggered by the initial event. These are known as secondary hazards. Which of the following is an example of a hazard that can potentially follow wildfires? A wildfire that caused over $4.4 billion (unadjusted) damage and burned a significant amount of tropical rain forest for which loss calculations were attempted in terms of impacts on global carbon contributions occurred in which place? c. Create an emergency plan for you and your family, which particularly includes arrangements for contacting one another in the face of a disaster, but does not necessarily address school and work situations. Wildfires are a relatively common hazard throughout the U.S., occurring every year and in various regions. There is a distinct seasonality to this threat, although it is possible to have an event outside of the season. Which best describes wildfire season in Colorado? We have talked about how important risk communication can be in saving lives and reducing injuries. Which of the following statements BEST describes the role of risk communication in reducing the hazard threat to people? d. The urban-wildland interface is not of particular concern when considering wildfires because so many places are now creating and enforcing building codes that reduce the threat of fire to buildings. While the focus of this class is on hazards geography and geography is one of the main disciplines contributing to hazards research, many disciplines actually contribute directly to

Resisting Disability Epithets Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Resisting Disability Epithets - Assignment Example The analysis of the case would be presented by providing a brief introduction to present the issues in the case; an analysis of the issues by evaluating the communication climate at the organization and by identifying Stacey’s alternative courses of action; and a concluding portion that stipulates recommendations and the justifications for these. Given the letter that Stacey wrote, from the alternative courses of action, it is proposed that Stacey should send the letter she composed through the official publication News and Notes, and specifically outline transforming the communication culture of the organization to reflect a more professional and respectful environment that adheres to ethical, moral, and legal standards. Introduction The organization, Hermit Life and Auto, could be deduced to offer insurance services (both life and automobiles) to various clients across the United States. Its communication culture manifests an abundance of expressing disability slur or disability epithet, defined as â€Å"an abusive or contemptuous word or phrase†¦commonly used as a simple synonym for term of abuse or slur† (The Free Dictionary, 2012, p. 1), with frequent references to words such as â€Å"spazzos† and â€Å"retards† (Mills, 2010, p. 257) within their communication patterns. The main party involved in Stacey, who is disturbed by the communication culture, particularly due to her being â€Å"the mother of a child with an intellectual disability† (Mills, 2010, p. 257). She felt that by being tolerant of other personnel’s constant disregard for respectful and irresponsible use of disability epithet, the communication culture would be construed as an unprofessional representati on of the high quality of services they are expected to offer to diverse clients â€Å"regardless of race, religion, political or cultural differences, sexual orientation, or mental and /or physical disability† (Mills, 2010, p. 257). In this regard, a letter was drafted and written by Stacey with the aim of presenting the issues to her colleagues to ultimately put a stop to the use of disability epithet within the communication culture in the organization. Analysis of the Issues The case facts revealed that although the disability epithets were not particular directed to Stacey or were reportedly said in â€Å"a joking manner, the statements are direct and derogatory, references to people with disabilities† (Mills, 2010, p. 257) and therefore potentially cause grounds that could violate the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). According to the Affirm Able Action Associates (2012), the â€Å"ADA makes it illegal to discriminate against anyone who has a mental or physical disability in the area of employment, public services, transportation, public accomodations and telecommunications. Not complying with the ADA may result in time-consuming complaints and possible penalties issued by the government† (par. 1). If the Hermit Life and Auto’s personnel would not be made aware of their unconcious and irresponsible language and use of disability epithet, these people could unknowingly extend the same language to various stakeholders and jeopardize the professional image that the organization is expected to manifest. Likewise, as revealed in â€Å"Things Employers Wish They Never Had Said†, there are disability discrimination never-says language and instances that were enumerated to endanger the employer and could potentially invite legal suits: â€Å" disability-related jokes; making fun of various disabilities; disability-related slurs; frequently calling attention to someone's limitations; and "Now he'll probably go and file a workers' comp claim!"† (Texas Workforce Commission, 2011, par. 8). As evident, Hermit Life and

Ethical consideration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Ethical consideration - Essay Example se is, to have a correct ethical decision such that the resources of the foundation will not be put to waste and that the employee will be compensated accordingly. If I were to make a decision, I would look for the average market value or the average compensation given to major gifts officers of various foundations like ours and base the compensation that we will give, if there is no existing policy or rule in the foundation. To avoid the scenario where the employee will not be able to do the job is a little more difficult to ensure but this will not be dealt with using the commission option. Instead, he will be subject to a quarterly review against the set objectives/goals and his performance will be the basis for renewing his services or not. In this case, proper compensation is given and the objective to generate funds will be ensured because of the performance review. Government officials are prohibited to accept gifts because of various sources one being the fact that they may affect the decisions of the officials especially when the giver is currently transacting a business with the government office to which the official is connected. An extensive do’s and don’ts are listed along with the conditions is put forth by the US Department Ethics Office (1999) which can be made as basis for making my decision on what to do with the other $25,000 given to me along with the other $25,000 for the foundation. One condition in the ethics pamphlet states that the gift may be received provided that the act of giving is prompted by personal relations, such as friendship. In this case, my friendship with Jones for 15 years has probably prompted him to send me such gift, considering that he has no family and probably limited friends. Initially, I would gladly accept the gift and look at it as a token of gratitude. In the first place, I know that there is probably no string attached to his gift being the fact that we have known each other for more than a decade

Orthodontic Appliances Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Orthodontic Appliances - Essay Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Fixed Appliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Functional Appliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Removable Functional Appliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Fixed Functional Appliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 List of Tables Table I. Effects, Reasons and Factors to Consider in Orthodontic Treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Table II. Components of Removable Appliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Table III. Advantages and Disadvantages of Removable Appliance . . . . . . 7 Table IV. Types of Removable Appliance According to Force Applied . . . . . . 8 Table V. Clinical Observations with Fixed Appliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Table VI. Advantages of Functional Appliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Table VII. Disadvantages of Removable Functional Appliance . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Table VIII. Twin Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Table IX. Advantages and Disadvantages of Fixed Functional Appliance . . . . . 16 Table X. Disadvantages of Fixed Functional Appliance Herbst and Jasper Jumper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... It was credited to physician Pierre Fauchard (regarded as father of dentistry) at the start of 18th century in France who described an appliance called as â€Å"Bandlette† (now known as expansion arch (Graber TM 1966, cited in Vijayalakshmi & Veereshi 2010, p. 11). He was the first to attempt moving the teeth using Bandlette, an arched flat strip of metal with holes for threads to pass through and apply force upon the teeth. The first fixed appliance used in orthodontics is attributed to Pierre Fauchard while the first removable appliance recognized in orthodontic practice was the Coffin plate introduced by Coffin during the late 19th century (Vijayalakshmi & Veereshi 2010). The Coffin plate had a spring (still present in the current appliances) made of piano wire (Proffit & Fields 1999; Graber N 1977, cited in Vijayalakshmi & Veereshi 2010). The fixed or removable appliance adjusts the teeth slowly and cautiously to prevent extreme pain and damage to the teeth (Cunningham, Ho rrocks, Hunt, et al. 2000). Lionel (2005) said that orthodontic therapy affects the dimension of dental arches that could lead to relapse, thus requiring post-treatment. There is also a tendency for malocclusion to recur, he added. Malocclusion refers to the atypical arrangement of the teeth or jaws (Cunningham, Horrocks, Hunt, et al. 2000). Malocclusion should be treated because it may lead to diseases, cause dysfunction of the jaw (that affects speech and mastication, or leads to Tempero-Mandibular Disorder), affects aesthetic features of the face that may have negative psychological implication, and damage to teeth (Mascia n.d.). Table I Effects,

Managing information and financial resources Essay

Managing information and financial resources - Essay Example Profitability of Astra Zeneca has been analyzed by using four profitability ratios, namely gross profit ratio, operating profit ratio, return on total assets, and net profit ratio. Gross profit measures the percentage of each sales dollar remaining after the company has paid for the goods sold. In fact this is the margin of profit created by sales to meet overheads and other expenses. Astra has shown an improvement in this area of profitability as its gross profit has increased from 78.28% in 2007 to 79.12% in 2008. This also reflects the improvement in its efficiency in managing its cost of sales. Operating profits are also called EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes).These are pure profits because they measure only the profits earned on operations ignoring interest, taxes, and preference dividends. Astra has shown improvement in operating earnings in 2008 when compared with 2007. In 2008 operating profit ratio was 28.94% which is an efficient improvement when compared to 27.38% in 2007. Ratio of net profit remaining after taxes reflect the overall performance of the firm after meeting all expenses, overheads, finances expenses, and taxes. In 2007 this ratio was 19.04% which improved slightly to 19.4% in 2008. Profitability assessment can also be made on basis of return on total assets (ROA). It is also called return on investments. This ratio measures the overall efficiency of management in generating profits. Astra’s return on assets was 13.04% in 2008, which is a definite improvement over ROI of 11.67% in 2007. Liquidity of a firm represents the firm’s ability to meet its short term liabilities as those become due. In fact liquidity refers to the solvency of overall financial position of the firm. Liquidity of a firm is generally measured by its current ratio and quick ratio. However, average collection period and average payment period are related liquidity checks

A Walk in My Shoes Essay Example for Free

A Walk in My Shoes Essay My name is Jr. I hope you enjoy reading as I take you on a journey and a walk in my shoes. Join me as I walk you through my adolescent years up to adult hood. After reading you will be able to see how I developed socioemotionally and became who I am today and why I am the way I am. I will share some of my favorite memories along with some not so fond memories, which changed who I would become as a Father. I was born and raised on the south side of San Antonio, Texas. I am fourth generation Texan, The Sanchez family settled in Eagle Pass, Texas dating back to before Texas became a Republic in 1836. The south side of San Antonio is predominantly Hispanic. Plus I went to a predominantly all Hispanic Catholic School, mainly due to location. Growing up I had little to no interaction with any other races. I feel this gave my classmates and I a feeling of belonging. As I have learned since we all shared the same race, culture, and religion this also helps young people with identity formation. We not only embraced our Mexican heritage we also embraced our Texan heritage. I grew up learning both Spanish and English. Studies show that youths with a positive ethnic identity who also embrace the American culture have more positive outcomes (Umana-Taylor, 2006). My Family growing up was very close. It seemed we always had aunts and uncles living with us at some point in time. I did not mind as I was always looked after and they were excellent role models and provided emotional stability. I am the oldest of four and we are spaced about 4 years apart. My baby sister, the youngest of my siblings came to us when I was about 15. My Father was very strict growing up. It was the typical wait until your dad gets home of scenario. He was a hard working man, and a great provider to his family. He worked two jobs for over twenty years. He put me and my sister and brother through Catholic private school. My father barely graduated high school and was very proud to have graduated. He wore his High school graduation ring until the day he died. If this does not tell you why he sacrificed working two jobs for twenty years I will tell you. There was nothing more important in my dads eyes than going to school and getting a good education. He did not want his kids to have to work as hard as he had to, he wanted a better life for us. Where would I be without my mother. My mother is truly an amazing woman. I know everyone must think their mom is pretty great; unless you can tell me that your mom can go from working a 8-12 hour day, come home feed the kids, help with homework and finish laundry all in one night, than I would say you have a great mom. What sets my mom apart from other moms is she can Cook, garden, fix you’re a/c unit, retile your floor, install your carpet, change out your oil, alternator, pumps, fix your toilet, you name it my mom can do it. So how about that for some motivation, drive, will to do better. When I say I learned my hard work dedication and will to always strive to be the best from my parents, you can see, I truly mean it. My Father was a great provider and like I mentioned before he wanted the best for his kids. I remember him helping me learn to ride a bike, swim, drive a car and even ride a motorcycle. Which are all key points in a child’s life. My mother also worked very hard and late hours. I was cared for by my grandmother whom I grew very attached to. I know it’s not nice to say but I don’t think it was a big secret, I was her favorite. Going to private school definitely positively impacted my life. It is there I would like to say I met my second family. I went to the same school with practically the same students, teachers, nuns and priests from pre-k to 8th grade. It is there I felt safe, I never had to worry about drugs, fights or any negative influences. I played a few sports growing up, like soccer, baseball, volleyball, and most importantly basketball. I also became an alter boy for about 4 years. The church taught me moral character and to love everyone as we are all children of God. My parents were very lively and loved spending time with each other. They seldom ever left us out, we went right along wit them. So this meant if they were going to a dance, so were we. I loved watching my parents dance. We went to many weddings, quinceaneras, and school dances. Another favorite pass time was going to the lake, or the beach, amusement and water parks. I have a lot of fond memories of growing up with my grandmother. I use to love going to her house in the summers, because that meant great cooking, anything we wanted of course and playing with my cousins. My grandmother did not have a very big yard but it was amazing the things we would come up with playing outside. I mentioned before I played basketball. Well I grew up the shortest in class every year but what I lacked in height I made up for in speed. My dad encouraged me like no other, he taught me not to let the bigger kids beat me, he would always say, do not let them eat your sandwich. I never really understood that until I got older. I think what he meant was if you let people take what is yours you will go hungry. This inspired me some how and I collected a lot of sandwiches, because I was feared on the court, fear I would steal the basketball. I continued to play basketball until my 8th grade year. Our team won City champs two years in a row, plus one first place in every tournament for three years. Talk about building up self esteem. Another memory that sticks out in my head is the day I had enough guts to get up and learn how to dance. My mom taught me well. I enjoyed dancing so much I learned how to swing dance, lindy hop, country dance and tejano dance. My dad bought me my first car, it was a 1972 Volkswagen beetle. It was not in the best of shape but little by little my dad helped me fix it right up. All said and done it had a midnight blue metallic clear coated finished paint job with centerline rims, Pirelli tires and smoke black tented windows. I bought my first Harley Davidson when I was about 25 years old. My father always had a motorcycle until I was about the age of 15. I would say about 1 month after I bought mine, he went and bought himself one. For the first time, in a long time he was back on a bike and we were riding together. As a teenager I was pretty active. We moved from the south side of San Antonio to the outskirts of the southeast side of town. This was about the time I graduated from 8th grade. My life was about to change as I knew it. See, up to this point I only knew and interacted with Hispanics. The High school in my district in our new neighbor hood was well versed and predominately white. It is here I would truly feel and learn what assimilation was. There was a mix of races, homosexuality and people of different religious back ground. I did not fully grasp the concept of racism, to me everyone was equal. This was a very tough adjustment for me, especially since I gravitated to the basketball players, which I had always fit in with. I could not fit in with the basketball players they were much to tall, and a lot better skilled than I was. I did however end up getting picked up for the football team, but stopped playing after my sophomore year. I turned my focus to soccer. By the end of my junior year my dad had his first heart attack and I no longer wanted to play sports. I started working to help pay for things that my parents could no longer support me with. I kept some money and gave some to my parents. Without sports I quickly started falling into the wrong crowd. It was not long until I figured out I was headed on the wrong path and with some guidance from my cousins I snapped back into reality. I enjoyed going to clubs and dancing with girls, showing them all the fancy moves my parents had shown me. I can remember dancing until 2 a. m sometimes. This was not a popular decision with my parents of course. In my lifetime I have held many jobs. My first job was with a pharmacy drug store called Eckards. This introduced me to the cruel world of dishonest people. I eventually had to quit this job as I was accused of taking money from the register. I did not take any money from the register but on camera it looked like I took money from the guy that was over paid and whom owed me money, he took the change from a mystery shopper gave me what he owed me and stuck the rest in his pocket. I was very trusting and naive, I never did question what was going on. So I hit the streets, pizza hut delivery that is. I did that for a few weeks but very quickly was introduced to more than what I care to share about from transvestites to abuse. I did not do that job very long. I went to work for West Telemarketing where I found a comfortable, professional, and challenging job as an ATT representative. I am not going to lie to you this job was boring but I was really good at it, and made a lot of money as a senior in high school. After High school I partied a lot with friends and tried going to a local community college. I also tried to move out of a perfectly good home that I had with my parents. My mother cried for a long time the day I told her I wanted to move out. As it turns out, my mom was right this was not a very good idea and I probably would have done better in community college had I listened to her. I found what I thought was going to be my future in working for Pace Foods. I quickly moved up from learning how to run every machine in the place to being selected as a on the job trained mechanic in about one year. This job found me. I did not choose it. I will never forget my Tio Polo cornering me one afternoon at his house after a night of drinking. He shot it to me strait and gave me the best advise of my life, God Bless His Soul. I joined the Coast Guard at age 20. In the Coast Guard I have had many jobs. I have been a deck hand, a painter, and even a boat rescue swimmer. I really got my calling as I chose to be a corpsman in the Coast Guard. I have done everything from pharmacy, lab tech, x-ray tech, and a physical therapy technician. As I matured in my job I was trained in tactical field medicine and a swat team member. After that I was appointed as a Clinic supervisor. Currently I am running my own clinic as I am the only medical provider for over 60 people. In the Future I would like to make E-7 a rank not easily attained. I would like to finish my degree and retire in San Antonio. I have two kids an ex-wife and the woman of my dreams my wife. My second marriage has worked so well partly because we come from similar religious back grounds and we both believe in making things work. I can honestly say we don’t always see eye to eye, but our Love for each other pushes us past any short falls. I have a son from a previous marriage and she has a daughter from a previous marriage. We currently do not have one together. I hope to instill hardworking ethics and strong leadership to my children. Throughout my life I learned some of the most important things. There are many different walk of people in this world and everyone conforms to whom they were brought up to be. Individually it is our job to note all our differences, along with each persons strengths and weaknesses. I tend to follow my parents footsteps in working hard for what I have and raising my kids with strong moral and respective manners. I hope they grow up to have the respect that I have for my elders. The purpose of such rites is to show society that it has a new adult and to impress on the former youth that he or she is now an adult and expected to act as such. Social scientists like Kottak (2008) believe that rites of passage create new adult identities and allow elders to be looked at as sources of wisdom and role modeling for adult thinking and behavior.