Aisha Hinton
ENGLISH 111
Essays
Victims and Creators
The author Steve Maraboli is quoted as saying, “Stop validating your victim mentally. Shake off your self-defeating drama and embrace your innate ability to recover and achieve” (Maraboli). Maraboli is suggesting that people stop making up excuses and take responsibility for their actions. This is the basic premise behind the relationship between a victim and a creator. The terms Victim and Creator are recognizable in our daily lives and personal experiences.
In the article “Do you think like a Victim or a Creator”, Professor David Mirman talks about Victims and Creators. Dr. Skip Downing’s definition of a victim is, a person who feels like he or she is not in control of the outcomes in their lives and so passively wait for their fates often allowing negative thoughts and results to govern their outcomes. They also blame others for their problems instead of taking full responsibility for their actions. Another author defines a Victim response as when, “A Victim response seeks to find blame for a negative situation.” He also says, “The Creator asks, what can I do to achieve my goal? Or what can I do to make this situation better? Rather than seeking to lay blame for how the situation came to be” (Mirman). Creators seek multiple options and take effective actions to create the results that they want. They take full responsibility instead of blaming others.
A Victim uses other people as an excuse for his or her mistakes. For example, on graduation night I came home two hours after my curfew. I thought it wasn’t fair that I had to be home at a certain time when everyone else got to stay out as long as they wanted. I also thought the fact that I still had a curfew even though I had just graduated was embarrassing and childish, so I allowed my phone to die so my aunt couldn’t text or call me. Although I knew what time I was supposed to be home, I chose to ignore the time and stay out later. Once I finally got home, I got in trouble. Rather than accepting the fact that I was responsible for getting home on time, I blamed my friends for making me late. In that sense, I was playing the Victim instead of the Creator.
Unlike a Victim, a Creator comes up with his or her own solutions instead of just giving up on whatever the problem is. I consider my mom to be a Creator. When I was younger, she had a car, but something had happened so that she no longer had it. That became a problem because she had to get to work and school, but at the time couldn’t afford a new car. She could have given up, but she found a way instead. Even though she really didn’t want to, she rode the bus to get to school and work. Since later on she had started working extra shifts to save up for a new car, she would sometimes get a ride from a coworker.
David Mirman’s article “Do you think like a Victim or a Create” defined the characteristics of both Victims and Creators. A Victim uses others as excuses for their own failures where as a Creator would find a way to solve their own problems. If someone has a Creator’s mindset instead of the attitude of a Victim, you will be able to get more done and be successful. In order to become a Creator rather than a Victim in respect to my success in college, I plan to develop specific strategies. The first step in this plan is to make homework and studying my first priority. If one of my friends ask me to hang out, I’ll make sure I get my homework done first and if it’s not, I’ll have to tell them no. In class, I listen to my professor and write what he says for notes. Outside of class when I’m at home, I’ll take time to study and do homework for extra practice by reading over my notes. As Steve Maraboli states, “Let today be the day you stop being a victim of your circumstances and start taking action towards the life you want.”
Works Cited
Mirman, David. "Do You Think like a Victim or a Creator?" You Are The Prime Mover. 2 Jan. 2012. Web. 8 Sept. 2015. http://youaretheprimemover.com/2012/do-you-think-like-a-victim-or-a-creator
Downing, Skip. “On Course” ND, p.42-44. http://youaretheprimemover.com/2012/do-you-think-like-a-victim-or-a-creator
Creative
Mindset
Communicating as a Professional
Communicating As A Professional
There are many different ways people communicate with one another. Sometimes when people are talking to love ones, they like to use slang or talk improperly and shorten their words. When in a professional setting, you have to speak properly and grammatically correct. That is the best way to make sure people are taking you seriously, especially if you are being interviewed or you are talking to someone in charge.
In Susan Adams, writer for Forbes Magazine stated why she thought grammar was important at work. She said that when you talk, you show your level of intelligence. “You also demonstrate how organized you are, in your thoughts and in your intentions.” (Adams). It also shows that you are listening closely to whoever is speaking to you. Kyle Weins, writer of “I Won’t Hire People Who Use Poor Grammar. Here’s Why” also thinks grammar is important in the work place. Weins makes everyone that applies for a job take a grammar test, and if a person doesn’t have good grammar, they won’t get hired. He believes that grammar is important because usually, most of the work that people working for him do is through writing or the Internet. When a person can’t actually see you, your words are all you really have, and that’s what they judge you off of. (Weins). I believe that same thing. People judge you by the way you speak. If you go to a job interview and speak grammatically incorrect, whoever is interviewing you won’t think you’re too bright, and probably won’t hire you. If you speak correctly and professionally, then people will think more highly of you, and might even respect you more. When you say “um” or “uh”, it makes it seem like you are not sure of what you are talking about and you are not confident about what you’re saying. If you don’t sound confident in what you’re saying, then people are less likely to believe you. (Adams).
In order for me to become an athletic trainer, I will have to have good communication skills. I will also have to be able to speak professionally, which means I need to have good grammar. There are many communication skills needed to be an athletic trainer that college can help improve. For example, doing writing assignments such as writing papers like I do in English class can help with writing reports about a patient’s progress, or their treatment plans. The writing assignments could also help me learn how to write professionally using correct grammar, vocabulary, and clearly expressed ideas. I think taking courses on public speaking would also be very helpful. It would help develop oral communication skills by speaking to small groups and professionals clearly and with understanding. Sometimes I get really nervous when I have to talk in front of crowds so, it could help with that as well. Of course any college level courses having to do with sports medicine would help acquire the knowledge I need so I can communicate technical terminology to supervisors, colleagues, and coaches, as well as the ability to explain treatments to the athletes I would be treating. I would have to make sure they have a clear understanding of their specific injuries and treatment plans.
Having good communications skills and proper grammar are very important when it comes to working. If a person doesn’t have those two things then they might not be able to get a decent job. Having those two things will also determine what people think about that person. That means if they don’t speak or write correctly, then people might think they are lazy, unorganized, or even uneducated.
Works Cited
Adams, Susan. “Why Grammar Counts At Work.” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 20 July 2012. Web. 22 Sept. 2015. Weins. http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2012/07/20/why-grammar-counts-at-work/
"Summary." U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 8 Jan. 2014. Web. 30 Sept. 2015. http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/athletic-trainers-and-exercise-physiologists.htm
Weins, Kyles. “I Won’t Hire People Who Use Poor Grammar. Here’s Why.” Harvard Business Review. 20 July 2012. Web. 22 Sept. 2015. https://hbr.org/2012/07/i-wont-hire-people-who-use-poo