Reflective Journal Assessment - Assignment Example

Role of Activists Through career planning in my first at the university I was able to understand that activists play an important role in ensuring social and environmental sustainability. I learnt that activists should be seen as responsible citizens so as to win legitimacy and acceptance from the majority (ordinary citizens) for their movements to succeed. Social Activists include individuals who have political forces and they take action so as to protect the environment and the social welfare of all human beings. I learnt that most activists are rebels who say loud “NO” to public policies and social conditions that violate social sustainability. Moreover, activists are also social change agents who work to involve and educate citizens to oppose current policies and advocate for constructive solution within the society (Somerville, 2009). In addition, I also learned that social activists are reformers who work with official judicial and political structures so as to incorporate solutions into government policies and laws of a country. In conclusion, I learned that as a Rebel, the activist plays the following roles as a social change agent (Moyer, 2010) Nurtures a new public consensus Acts as an 'open system', i.e. informs the public while learning from dialogue with the public and the power holders, so that his/her ideas are open to change Puts issues on society's agent Causes 'creative tension', i.e. highlights the gap between what is and what should be Represents society's moral vanguard Leads in stage 4 of social change movement Articulates a vision of the good society Achieves legitimacy in the eyes of ordinary citizens Withstands power holder attempts to discredit the movemen Reduces potential for violent attitudes and actions within the movement Uses institutional means of getting real change I learned that activists are involved in activities aimed at protecting the environment. It started due to global warming which refers to the average rising in the temperature of the atmosphere around the Earth’s surface which has lead to changes in climate changes. Global warming is brought about by a numbers of causes, both human and natural induced. Since 1975, the global surface temperature has risen by 0.5°C and this has taken the world’s temperature to its highest level in the past 1,000 years. According to the environmental activists global warming is one of the most difficult challenges in our environment faces today. Global warming is cause by the green house effect’s where the earth’s heat trapping capability raises far from normal levels and this increased temperature causes a lot of problems and chances on the surface of our planet. Climate changes, melting ice over the Antarctic and Arctic regions, devastating changes the ecosystem, negative impacts on our forests and the agricultural sector are some of the problems that are brought about by global warming (Vergano & Rice). This essay will focus on why is global warming on our planet. I learned that environmental activists are working to fight against overexploitation of resources, toxic chemicals and nuclear technologies. Activists have made the public to understand the increasing vulnerability of the environment. Activists have been able to make great achievements including reduction of acidic rain as well as rescuing of the ozone layer The outlined roles mentioned above bring about environment and social changes within the society. Environmental activists have been promoting a healthy ecosystem which provided important services and goods to humans and other organisms. I learned that to achieve this, Activists has adopted approaches such as environmental management which is based largely on information gained from environmental science, earth science and conservation biology (Sandhu, 2010) . They have won the hearts of ordinary citizens who in turn has joint their movements to fight against environmental degradation and policies that violates human rights. I have seen the importance of activists in our society and I have also seen the importance of joining the movement. It is a good course as I will be able to contribute positively to the society. As a social activist, I will help the needy within the society to ensure their rights are protected and respected. Moreover, as an environmental activist, I will contribute towards maintaining the environment by planting trees and fighting towards global warming. Career planning Through career planning session during my first year in university I understood the importance of career planning. I learned that there are many ways that that I could develop my employability as well as my personal skills during my schooling at the University. Pre- planning in my life will play a very important role as it will enable me to work in a proper flow as well as plan for my career that I want to pursue in my future after attaining my degree which is very necessary in today’s competitive world (Peter, 2001). It will help me to discover academic paths that best meet the long-term career goals. The advisor meetings as well as the formal self reflection sessions that we held during this time to understand my core interest, skills and values. More over career planning will help me to apply this information to evaluate the many career options I had in mind. During career planning I learned how to prepare my CV. I learned that my CV is a marketing tool as many employers will ask you to send it so as to access your qualifications. Am now in a position to summarize my skill, qualifications and experience in my CV. I also learnt that preparing my CV in my first year, it will assist me in securing for a part-time job which will enable me to earn some money to cater for my personal expenses as well as to apply what am learning in class which in turn enhances my experience (Mushrush &Willis, n.d). Moreover, preparing my during my first year in the university will help me to save me time in the future as I will have all my information collected in one place. Through career planning in my in first year assisted me to learn the importance of getting involved in clubs and societies during my life in the university. Participating in such activities will assist me develop my personal skill. For instance, if am involved in sporting activities such as football, this can enhance your team working skills as well as sow evidence of my communication skills. Career planning helped me to achieve a good study skills as well as learning skill which supported my academic study and achievements. I was able to be better organized, read and make notes as well as being better prepared for exams. The career planning has assisted me to formulate and design my future smoothly. Since I have decided on which career I want, then I will be in a position to choose the course that I will undertake for my undergraduate program so that I can have the required skills. employers are interested in my diverse interest and background. The career planning session during my first year offered an opportunity for me to assess my personality type, skills, interest as well as my values (Peter, 2001). The personality type assessment helps me understand that people are different people and that I am unique in my own way. Through Myers-Briggs Type Indicator assisted me to learn that different personality types suit different careers. From the career planning, I learned that skills development is very important during my first year as it would help me prepare for future internships, research opportunities and jobs, positions which would require me to articulate my skills. I learned of 10 ten skills that employers are always looking some of these skills include communication skills, analytical skills, team work, flexibility honesty work ethics as well as motivation skills (Student. Net, 2011) . I learned that career planning is a life time process am always learning and growing and as I do, my needs and interests changes. Career planning is not making plans to achieve my career but it assists me to make many adjustments there will be along the ways I learn through my live, the future is un-predictable but I could still make my place in this world by making career plans and goals in advance (Moosa, 2006). Through understanding my strength I can plan for my future. During the career planning session I also learned that that it was very important for me to explore what I really enjoyed doing before settling down on a career choice. This exploration would entail determining some of the activities that draw me in and hopefully through the exploration, I would find out some interest that matches career areas. Relevance of ethics in my future professional life From the session on ethics, I learned that no single profession can be run without ethics. It is for this reason that each profession has its own code of ethics. Ethics are very important for my future professional life as the profession that I will undertake will require ethical skills and knowledge. Ethics will help me determine what is right and what is wrong. Ethics will also help me to build on my personal fortitude to determine what is right and what is wrong. When I keep all the ethical factors in mind, I will be able to suppress peer pressure. I also learned that the role of ethics is increasingly being viewed as an important measure of determining successful graduates. I learned that by maintaining high degree of ethics, employees will view me as having dispositions of a high-level graduate. I learned that once I move to the world of professional work, my employers will expect me will expect to display a range of complex cognitive action and skills as well as demonstrate a well build ethical stance in corporate and personal context (Somerville, 2009). Ethics will also enable me to develop creative techniques of finding and resolving problems, show sensitivity in cross culture related issues, and be aware of the effect of sustainability on the public profile as well as on the activities of the company. I learned that there is need for me to engage in ethical practices in order to be able to cope with the challenges of rapidly changing global and domestic work environment. I learned that through engaging in ethical practices within the context of my profession, I will increase my capacity to be identified as committed and responsible member of my personal as well as my professional life. Ethics will assist me to clarify and even connect with value that I may need to respond to several issues and problem I will encounter in my future profession. Through ethics, I will be able to appreciate the fact that there are so many cultures, religions and social experiences which are different from mine, will help appreciate and accept the differences and come up with ways of behaving ethically so as to coexist peacefully with everyone (Elkin, 2004). Ethics will help me understand the impact of every action that I undertake whether on myself, progeny or the biosphere as a whole. Through ethics I have been able to learn the reciprocal obligations that that I will inevitably have to undertake in my professional life. Ethics will constantly remind of my duties as a professional to my employers, other professionals, citizens and all people living on the earth as a generation link to the generations that came before me and the generations that are going to follow. Ethics will empower me as it is going to help me see many senses which make me as a whole. I learned that in order to enhance cooperation in my future professional life. Working in an organization will require a lot of coordination as well as cooperation among the different people in the workplace. For this reason, there is need to have a code of ethics for employees to know what is expected of them. Finally, I learned that for me to build strong positive public support, I will have to follow proper ethical norms. For instance, if I want the public to invest in a project that I am undertaking, they will have to be sure of the integrity and the quality of the project. That can only be demonstrated by my ethical norms (Ozolins, 2005). References Elkin, S. A. (2004). The integration of ethics teaching in the therapy professions Focus on Health Professional Education, 5(3), 1-6. Lars, S 2008, work, Acumen, Stocksfield Moosa M (2006) Importance of Career Planning, Retrieved on 4th June 2012 from http://ezinearticles.com/?Importance-of-Career-Planning&id=407034 Moyer B (2010) four roles of activists Retrieved on 4th June 2012 from http://turning-the-tide.org/files/Bill%20Moyer%204%20Roles%20of%20Activists%20Hand-out.pdf Mushrush, Willis. “Reducing Employee Turnover” Creating Quality Newsletters, Vo. 11, No. 5, www.missouribusiness.net/cq/2002/reducing_employee_turnover.asp Peter P (2001). “Quality in Careers Guidance” Retrieved June 1, 2006 from www.oecd.org/dataoecd/35/47/2698228.pdf Ozolins, J. (2005). Teaching ethics in higher education. Paper presented at the 'Higher education in a changing world : proceedings of the 2005 Annual International Conference of the Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA) [held] 3-6 July, The University of Sydney, Australia Somerville, M 2009 ‘Past virtues for a future world: Holding our humanness on trust’, chapter 3 in The Ethical Imagination: Journeys of the human spirit, McGill-Queen's University Press, Montreal. Swartz, J 2010, 'Timberland's CEO on standing up to 65,000 angry activists', Harvard Business Review, vol. 88, no. 9, pp. 39-43. Sandhu, S 2010, 'Shifting paradigms in corporate environmentalism: From poachers to gamekeepers', Business and Society Review, vol. 115, no. 3, pp. 285-310. Student. Net (2011) Importance of Career Planning for College Student Read More