The Perception of Nursing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Perception of Nursing - Essay Example The term ‘leadership’ is usually described as the procedure of stimulating or motivating a collection of people in order to act accordingly for the purpose of accomplishing a common target. An effective leader is viewed to be an inspiration as well as the director of different activities which leads, influences, guides and commands people by a considerable level. The important features of a successful leader entail possessing the competence of building effectual communication proficiencies, quick problem-solving, making valuable decisions consistently and appropriately. It has been apparent from the fact that the aspect of leadership is deemed to be a vital management function which helps to maximize the individual competencies as well as probabilities in relation to the attainment of the expected organizational objectives (Northouse, 2009). The notion of nursing leadership refers to those activities which are performed by a nurse practitioner in order to provide a standard level of patient care. The leadership skills of a nurse practitioner includes making valuable decisions, resolving any sort of conflicts within the team members or multidisciplinary colleagues, acting with increasing integrity and maintaining a strong collaboration with every working member. In relation to the principles of a successful leader, the facet of ‘nursing leadership’ entails the practice of interpersonal as well as communication skills in order to manipulate different members with the intention of attaining a specific objective (Frankel, 2008). The meaning of the general term ‘applicability’ is relevant or appropriate to anything that may be applied in order to acquire an optimistic response. Moreover, it can be described as a deliberate act of applying any kind of a practical application for a specific reason or use (Riviere, 2011). ). For instance, in relation to this discussion, the applicability of nursing leadership with regard to the effectiveness of the patient as well as staff outcomes in modern clinical practices has been portrayed. Conversely, the notion of ‘effectiveness’ is principally described as the capacity of delivering or ensuring an effect in order to attain a predetermined purpose. Additionally, it is also defined as the extent towards which the different objectives are accomplished and the degree towards which the targeted problems are being solved in an efficient manner (Waldt, 2004). The importance of nursing leadership in relation to patients relies on the fact that the nur sing leaders play an imperative part in serving different patients with utmost personal care along with shaping the profession of nursing in order to become more responsive in today’s changing healthcare systems. The nursing leaders usually

Critically assess the rights and duties of the shipowner under a bill Essay

Critically assess the rights and duties of the shipowner under a bill of lading - Essay Example With the development of mercantilism, these bills started to be used as the label to the products, and the bill of lading was developed in much the same form as we recognise today (Wilson, 2010). The up to date rules on bills of lading were codified by the Hague Statue in 1924. Ship-owners have had and still have huge obligations with regard to this bill (Al Tamimi & Company, n.d). In order to ensure that the goods people are protected when in voyage, the bill of lading set certain rights and duties of ship-owners that should be followed. This paper will critically assess the rights and duties of ship-owners under this bill. When merchandise is transported under the bill of lading, the rights and duties of a ship-owner are recognised by fast clauses in the deed (Australian Government n.d). These are known as "express obligations". The text can also include a Paramount clause confirming that the ship-owner is subject to legislation, for instance, the United Kingdom Carriage of Goods by the Sea Act of 1971 and/or the U.S. Carriage of Goods by the Sea Act of 1936, which impose The Hague-Visby Regulations of 1968 and The Hague Regulations of 1924 respectively. In any scenario, the bill of lading itself might not be liable to legislation, but be affirmed to be liable to The Hague-Visby Regulations and/or The Hague Regulations (Wilson, 2010). The Hamburg Regulations of 1978 are not applicable to the 1991 regulations, but there is nothing to stop a nation, which has accepted these, from passing legislation requiring carriage to and/or from that nation and under bills of lading to be liable to the Hamburg Rules . The duties and responsibilities of ship-owners were put into effect internationally on November 1st, 1992. Various obligations of the ship-owner under these rules are understandable and need not be considered in any depth, for instance the

Ask for Help Essay Example for Free

Ask for Help Essay Describe the process that you used to take a sample of the puddle-shaped burn pattern on the floor. Why did you also take samples from the portion of the floor that was not burned? To take a sample of the burned floor we scraped the burnt wood will we got loose pieces of it. We did the same to take a sample of the wood that had not been burned. We took a sample of the burned and non-burned wood to compare what made them burn differently. What evidence did the space heater provide? What did the evidence indicate? The space heater was on when the fire started. What information did you gain from the pictures taken at the scene? The information we gained from the pictures taken at the scene was, the victim was laying on the floor during the fire, The crazed glass window is not conclusive, And the fire burned more intensely in the puddle shaped area. (May involve some type of liquid.) To whom did the fingerprints on the match box belong? What characteristics of the fingerprints helped you to determine they were a match? How long does the average IAFIS search take? The finger prints belonged to Donald Parker. The Characteristics of the fingerprints are, Hook, Bridge, Ridge ending, Island, and two bifurcation. It takes 30 minutes for the average IAFIS search. Why is there a charcoal strip inside the containers that you used to collect the floor pieces? Why are these pieces saved after the solution has been prepared for the GC? What elements were present in the gas chromatograph from your puddle sample? How did this differ from the control graph? While performing the autopsy to determine if the victim died in the fire, what signs of inhalation did you look for? Based on the graph, what percentage of carboxyhemoglobin in the blood is deadly? While performing the autopsy the signs of smoke inhalation we looked for was soot in the victims mouth and airways. How does the spectrometer work? What does the absorption of light waves help you to determine? How did you use the calibration curve to determine the blood alcohol content? Explain how the evidence helped you to determine how Trevor  died and whether the fire was accidental or arson.

Potential of Wine and Pumped Storage for Energy Security

Potential of Wine and Pumped Storage for Energy Security Introduction Energy security is making sure there is enough electrical supply for demand based on a price which is not too volatile. In order to make certain of the energy security for the future governments around the world are introducing new plans to reform their current strategies. In the UK it has an Electricity Market Reform which is said to attract 100 billion GBP. (DECC, 2016a) Increasing energy efficiencies, maintaining reliable networks, and increasing connectedness of nearby countries will all lead the way to making sure we are sufficient for the future. Commitments from governmental commitments further strengthen this resolve for example the EU renewable energy directive of 15% energy consumption of 20% by 2020. Wind Energy This form of renewable energy uses the flow of air from the wind to rotate a turbine which generates electricity. The equation to calculate the power through a square metre is given below which in turns shows that the power is proportional to the velocity of the wind and as shown by Coley (2008) as you increase in height above land the faster the wind speed is which is why wind turbines are increasing in size: From DUKES (2016), it states a total electrical generation from Wind in 2015 for the UK was 83550 GWh as which Wind contributed to 18965 GWh (18.965 TWh). The total wind generation has increased by 26% from 2014 to 2015. DECC (2013) are predicting an annual growth rate of 13% for onshore wind over the next decade with 11 GW capacity currently under or awaiting construction and in planning phase. For offshore up to 18 GW could be available by 2020. Figure 1: UK coverage of wind turbines (RenewableMap, 2016) Wind can be predicted with a margin of error but is difficult to store so other technologies are needed to compensate it. Pumped storage hydroelectricity (PSH) This renewable source stores energy in the form of gravitational potential energy of water with two reservoirs. During high demand water from the top reservoir is released and goes through a turbine which generates electricity. The top reservoir is recharged during times of low demand. It can be used to reduce the amount of start-ups and shutdowns and maintain a steady balance between supply and demand. Pumped Storage hydro is the most flexible source of power generation available, it can meet demand within minutes. The main countries with the highest pumped storage capacity are Europe, Japan, and the US. The total pumped hydro capacity worldwide was 136 GW in 2010 compared to 98 GW in 2005. The installed small hydro was 61 GW in 2010. (IRENA, 2012) According to Owens (2013), there are around 50 pumped storage hydro plants that have a capacity of ~1GW. The worlds largest is Bath County Pumped Storage Station which has a capacity of 2.7 GW. Unlike a dam a PSH has little damage to an ecosystem in comparison. The flooded area would be best suited in a low organic content area. Figure 2: Example picture of PSH According to DUKES (2016), the total electrical generation from hydro in 2015 for the UK was 6.3 TWh. 7.5% of the renewable generation was from large scale hydro. Figure 3: UK coverage of hydro projects (RenewableMap, 2016) PSH is one of the few large scale renewable sources which gives an affordable means for storing while generating low cost electricity carbon-free. It has the ability to generate electricity based on demand instantaneously. 23 GW of PSH capacity is undergoing construction with 8.3 GW announced for the future in the UK. (Scottish Renewables ,2016) In the US there are currently 40 PHS plants in operations totalling a capacity of 22 GW which accounts for 95% of all the energy storage in the country. 50 more PSH projects have been proposed which could increase the total capacity by 40 GW. (U.S Department of Energy, 2015) Global Energy Storage Different storage systems have been used in other countries like pumped hydro energy storage (PHES), thermal, battery, and hydrogen storage. Pumped storage has been found to be the leader due to its high capacity, flexibility, and availability. (Al Zohbi, et al., 2015) Scottish Renewables (2016) shows that 97% of world storage capacity is from PSH. Figure 4: Installed global capacity of energy storage (Scottish Renewables, 2016) Wind and Pumped Storage Combination The are several other methods of which can be combined with wind energy (e.g. hydro, conventional thermal, gas). Pumped storage has the advantage of always having available power even during dry period. (Montero Pà ©rez, 2009) Figure 5: Hybrid wind and pumped storage plant (Anagnostopoulos Papantonis, 2007) Example 1 According to Ingram (2016), Germany are currently undergoing a pilot project for wind and pumped storage hydro. There will be four wind turbines installed and a 16 MW pumped storage unit on the Kocher river. This will give a fast response to the grid and reduce costs of electricity for the consumer. The 4 wind turbines will be commissioned by the end of 2017 and the PSH plant will be operational by 2018. Figure 6: Pilot project combining wind and pumped storage hydro in Gaildorf, Germany (Ingram, 2016) Example 2 A pumped storage system composed of 4 turbines and a 11MW wind farm has been built in one of the Canary Islands which will meet 80% of electrical demand. (Al Zohbi, et al., 2015) Figure 7: Pumped Storage Plant (Montero Pà ©rez, 2009) Example 3 The concept of a 10MW wind farm installed in the Faroe Islands combined with a pumped storage plant. The reservoirs will be connected at Miovatn (upper reservoir) and Vatnsnes (lower reservoir) which could give a capacity of 10MW. The cost of the storage plant is estimated to be 5.7 NOK/kWh. (Nordon Energy Research, 2013) Figure 8: Catchment area in the Faroe Islands. (Nordon Energy Research, 2013) IRENA (2015) shows an increase in both Wind and Pumped Hydro capacity by 2030 compared to 2013: Figure 9: Total installed renewable capacity between year 2013 and 2030. (IRENA, 2014) A disadvantage with PSH is it is very capital intensive with long development and construction times. The main contributors being the infrastructure of the hydro plant and second to this is the electro-mechanical equipment. According to IRENA (2012), the total installed cost ranges from $1000 $3500/kW. This may also increase by an additional $3500/kW due to the cost of connecting to existing transmission networks; this depends from location to location. Energy Interconnectedness An electrical system which can become more flexible could save the UK consumers billions per year. Flexibility can come from interconnection of other electrical systems, for example wind and pumped storage hydro (PSH). The European Commission has set a target of 10% electricity interconnection for 2020. They are building towards a more integrated, competitive and sustainable common energy market. They have put forward a European Energy Programme for Recovery (EEPR) mainly because of the economic crisis and with this have identified interconnection projects across the EU and to date spent 650 million EUR. (EuropeanCommission, 2015) The UK currently has an interconnector capacity of 4GW with France, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland. (Ofgem, 2016) According to Becker (2015), there is a further 7.3 GW proposed interconnector capacity from for example Belgium, Denmark, and Norway. The German Advisory Council requires 42 GW transmission capacity between Norway and Germany by 2050 to make PSH able to balance renewable electrical generation in Germany. Germany has a goal of 80% renewable electricity by 2050. (Ingebretsen Johansen, 2014). Norway possesses ~50% of the reservoir capacity in Europe. Norway provides 98% of its electricity from hydroelectric plants. Stone (2015) says that Norway could be a potential Green Battery for the EU but is restricted due to political and social issues. However, it has been announced that a 1.4 MW 740 km link will join UK and Norway costing $1.64 billion which will be operational in 2021. The Global Energy Interconnection Development and Co-operation Organization (GEIDO) is a Chinese group with a goal of an Asian super grid by 2050. There are now agreements between energy companies in China, Russia, Japan, and South Korea. They have highlighted geopolitics as a main obstacle for grid interconnected stability and assumed that there will be access to the newly developing ultra-high voltage lines which operates at 1000kV AC and 800 kV DC over 1000kms. (New Atlas, 2016) Figure 10: Global Energy Interconnection (GEIDO, 2016) A disadvantage of interconnectedness between countries is shown in Andrews (2015). During the summer time our demand is assured however during winter time when electricity demand is at its highest there is a potential for other countries to take the supply leaving another without electricity (such as brownouts, blackouts, and overloads). Conclusions Wind and PSH will prove to be a necessity for providing energy security in the future. Wind is given an added benefit when combined with PSH of increased electricity usage by transferring energy at times of low demand. PSH is a mature and proven technology and gives the ability of supplying electric on demand within minutes. The future of energy security also relies on the interconnectedness of nearby countries; connecting to Norway is seen as the most beneficially for supply of renewable electricity in the EU. However, on a global scale the geopolitical and social aspects between countries could be deemed as problematic and will need to develop if interconnector capacity between countries is to prosper. Appendix Figure 11: European Wind Atlas, onshore (EWEA, 2009) Table 1: Technical wind energy potential in the EU (Dursun Alboyaci, 2010) Table 2: Worldwide hydroelectric storage potentials (Dursun Alboyaci, 2010) [1600 words] References   Ã‚   AL ZOHBI, G. et al. (2015) Wind-hydro pumped storage systems to meet Lebanese electricity demand. Revue des Energies Renouvelables. [Online] 18. (September). p.375-397. Available from: http://www.cder.dz/download/Art18-3_3.pdf [Accessed: 19th December 2016] ANAGNOSTOPOULOS, J. S. PAPANTONIS, D. E. (2007) Pumping station design for a pumped-storage wind-hydro power plant. Energy Conversion and Management. [Online] 48. (August). p.3009-3017. Available from: http://ac.els-cdn.com/S0196890407002063/1-s2.0-S0196890407002063-main.pdf?_tid=9e097eee-c637-11e6-a2e7-00000aacb35facdnat=1482185465_9948b3b6017d5ca57015e6a48dc377ff [Accessed: 19th December 2016] ANDREWS, R. (2015) UK Electricity Interconnectors a Double-Edged Sword. [Online] Available from: http://euanmearns.com/uk-electricity-interconnectors-a-double-edged-sword/ [Accessed: 22nd December 2016] BECKER, S. (2015) The role of interconnectors in GB adequacy planning. [Online] Available from: https://www.iea.org/media/workshops/2015/esapworkshopvi/Becker.pdf [Accessed: 21st December 2016] COLEY, D. (2008) Energy and Climate Change: Creating a sustainable future. Chichester, United Kingdom: Wiley-Blackwell (an imprint of John Wiley Sons Ltd). DECC (2013) UK Renewable Energy Roadmap. [Online] Available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/255182/UK_Renewable_Energy_Roadmap_-_5_November_-_FINAL_DOCUMENT_FOR_PUBLICATIO___.pdf [Accessed: 19th December 2016] DECC (2016a) 2010 to 2015 government policy: UK energy security. [Online] Available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/2010-to-2015-government-policy-uk-energy-security/2010-to-2015-government-policy-uk-energy-security [Accessed: 22nd December 2016] DUKES (2016b) Chapter 6: Renewable Sources of Energy. [Online] Available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/547977/Chapter_6_web.pdf [Accessed: 21st December 2016] DURSUN, B. ALBOYACI, B. (2010) The contribution of wind-hydro pumped storage systems in meeting Turkeys electric energy demand. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. [Online] 14. (March). p.1979-1988. Available from: http://ac.els-cdn.com/S1364032110000924/1-s2.0-S1364032110000924-main.pdf?_tid=5ec049be-c639-11e6-aed4-00000aab0f27acdnat=1482186218_81556fe3a59c4150108d199e7b2bc998 [Accessed: 19th December 2016] EUROPEANCOMMISSION (2015) Energy Union Package: Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council. [Online] Available from: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/resource.html?uri=cellar:a5bfdc21-bdd7-11e4-bbe1-01aa75ed71a1.0003.01/DOC_1format=PDF [Accessed: 21st December 2016] EWEA (2009) Wind Energy The Facts: A guide to the technology, economics and future of wind power. London, UK: Earthscan. GEIDO (2016) Home: Global Energy Interconnection. [Online] Available from: http://www.geidco.org/html/qqnycoen/index.html [Accessed: 22nd December 2016] INGEBRETSEN E. JOHANSEN, T. H. G. (2014) The Profitability of Pumped Hydro Storage in Norway. Master of Science in Energy, Natural Resources and the Environment. Bergen: Norwegian School of Economics INGRAM, E. (2016) Pilot Project Combining Wind and Pumped Storage Hydro Under Construction in Germany. [Online] Available from: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2016/10/pilot-project-combining-wind-and-pumped-storage-hydro-under-construction-in-germany.html [Accessed: 19th December 2016] IRENA (2012) Renewable Energy Technologies: Cost Analysis Series. [Online] Available from: http://www.irena.org/documentdownloads/publications/re_technologies_cost_analysis-hydropower.pdf [Accessed: 22nd December 2016] IRENA (2015) Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2014. [Online] Available from: https://www.irena.org/DocumentDownloads/Publications/IRENA_RE_Power_Costs_2014_report.pdf [Accessed: 22nd December 2016] MONTERO, F. P. PÉREZ, J. (2009) Wind-Hydro Integration: Pumped Storage to Support Wind. [Online] Available from: http://www.hydroworld.com/articles/print/volume-17/issue-3/Articles/wind-hydro-integration-pumped-storage-to-support-wind.html [Accessed: 19th December 2016] NEW ATLAS (2016) Super Grid the first step towards a global, interconnected, renewable energy grid. [Online] Available from: http://www.hotandbotheredinthekoots.org/single-post/2016/11/15/%E2%80%9CSuper-Grid%E2%80%9D-the-first-step-towards-a-global-interconnected-renewable-energy-grid [Accessed: 22nd December 2016] NORDON ENERGY RESEARCH (2013) Wind power based pumped storage. [Online] Available from: http://www.nordicenergy.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Wind-Power-Based-Pumped-Storage_Pre-Feasibility-Study_Suduroy-Faroe-Islands_2013.pdf [Accessed: 22nd December 2016] OFGEM (2016) Electricity Interconnectors. [Online] Available from: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/electricity/transmission-networks/electricity-interconnectors [Accessed: 21st December 2016] OWENS, M. (2013) Is pumped storage hydro power the answer to storing wind and solar? [Online] Available from: http://www.fairfaxclimatewatch.com/blog/2013/07/is-pumped-storage-hydro-power-the-answer-to-storing-wind-and-solar.html [Accessed: 22nd December 2016] RENEWABLEMAP (2016) Interactive Map of Renewable and Alternative Energy Projects in the UK. [Online] Available from: http://www.renewables-map.co.uk/renewable%20energy.asp?Status=1 [Accessed: 21st December 2016] Scottish Renewables (2016) The Benefits of Pumped Storage Hydro to the UK. [Online] Available from: http://scottishrenewables.com/publications/benefits-pumped-storage-hydro-uk/ [Accessed: 19th December 2016] STONE, M. (2015) Norway Could Provide 20,000MW of Energy Storage to Europe. [Online] Available from: https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/Norway-Could-Provide-20000-MW-of-Energy-Storage-to-Europe [Accessed: 22nd December 2016] U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (2015) Pumped Storage and Potential Hydropower from Conduits. [Online] Available from: https://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2015/06/f22/pumped-storage-potential-hydropower-from-conduits-final.pdf [Accessed: 22nd December 2016] VARKANI, A. K., DARAEEPOUR, A. MONSEF, H. (2011) A new self-scheduling strategy for integrated operation of wind and pumped-storage power plants in power markets. Applied Energy. [Online] 88. (July). p.5002-5012. Available from: http://ac.els-cdn.com/S0306261911004326/1-s2.0-S0306261911004326-main.pdf?_tid=133d350e-c636-11e6-ae64-00000aacb35dacdnat=1482184803_c9d2b7c9ed21b898c1d50d549eded1f1 [Accessed: 19th December 2016]

Pancreas Essays -- science

Pancreas Name and Functions The part I researched, which has only one name, is the pancreas. The pancreas is an organ that produces digestive juices necessary to break down food. It also produces insulin and glucagons. Insulin and glucagons are two hormones needed to break down sugar and to regulate our metabolism. The pancreas provides a lot of power to the body. For example, it allows you to eat many foods and allows your body to feed your cells the energy they need. It also allows you to exercise without decreasing your blood sugar. As you can see the pancreas has a lot of jobs, without the pancreas it would be difficult to live. Organization in the Body If you didnft have a pancreas you would have to give yourself hypodermic shots everyday for the rest of your life. The pancreas is part of the digestive system. Organs located near the pancreas are the stomach, the small intestine, the liver, and the gallbladder. The stomachfs function is to digest and store food and the small intestine and it is used for digestion and the absorption of nutrients. To absorb nutrients, take out poisons, and produce bile you need the liver, and to store that bile you need the gallbladder. The pancreas is located deep in the abdomen between the spine and stomach. It is partially behind your stomach but the other part nestles in the curve of the duodenum. The digestive juices in the pancreas flow through a duct to the duodenum into the small intestine. The digestive juices con...

Anna Livia Plurabelle: The Lost Truth of Feminine Subjectivity :: essays research papers

Anna Livia Plurabelle: The Lost Truth of Feminine Subjectivity The oppressed, repressed, and impressed subjectivity of feminism finds a new opportunity to assert its true self against the stultifying atmosphere of modernism and identity-oriented crisis of postmodern ambience by appealing to the unique characterization of Anna Livia Plurabelle which frequently oscillates phallocentrism and proves the me'connaissance of male selfism and female-otherness to establish a new doctrine based on the fact that the male subjectivity as a desceptionary ruling self is subverted through the intermittent alterity that the indispensable feminine Being-Anna Allmazifull-makes possible. Anna Livia Plurabelle (ALP) represents a kind of discourse (gramma's grammer) that grammatologically brings forth a new status in which feminine otherness is altered into an origin that governs all patriarchal claims postrated and confirms them margin subject to feminine alterity. To achieve a full subjectivity through alterity, Joyce appeals to dream, a means in which the self is fully lost and the process of becoming other flows without the trammel that consciousness brings about. Dream contains potentiality to make one which is two-Anna Livia and her daughter Issy or Anna and Kate. Anna lives so many lives especially her pre-self (Issy) her own current self, and her post-self (Kate) to certify feminine power which dwells in the male unconsciousness. Also, through dream, the three processes to which Freud refers as distortion, displacement, and condensation, are depicted to give more authenticity to gramma's grammer. That is through these processes the unconscious is structured to appeal the logic with the purpose of proving the nature of real feminine subjective manipulation over male-made canon. Hence the term alterity. Tracing back the origin of alterity, one comes to term with sexuality as a genetic drive, in possession of female. Again, at this point Anna Livia stands at the head as an invincible representative of women and manipulates the condition through her top hand. Anna who is prayed as "†¦ Allmazifull, the Everliving, the Bringer of Plurabilities †¦ (FW: 104.1-3) dissipates HCE into Howth Castle and Environs and gives us an important key to establish the motif of stone as death and the delineation of the creative power of sexuality reminds us the tree motif as life: so, the dialectic of stone and tree metaphorically stands for the dialectic of death and life within the sphere of the Hegelian Absolute Being (ALP).

A personal opinion in favor of the trophy culture system of rewarding children regardless of performance Essay

Should kids receive an award just for participating? This question has become one of great debate in recent years following the rise of â€Å"Trophy Culture†, a system where children receive awards regardless of performance and get applauded for simply showing up.   Many parents argue that giving children awards even if they do not perform well promotes entitlement and teaches them to not try.   My thoughts on the matter were a little mixed before I did any research on the subject. As someone who has participated in track and cross-country for years, I have been a witness to Trophy Culture in many of the races I’ve competed in.   When I was a beginner runner, I rarely if ever placed in races, and was often still given a medal just for completing the course. Anyone who has taken part in a large-scale public race like â€Å"Race for the Cure† or the â€Å"Disneyland Marathon† knows what I am talking about, basically if you get across the finish line ev en if you’re hours behind the first place runner there will still be someone there putting a medal around your neck at the end.   When I was younger and slower, getting that medal was extremely exciting because I felt like even finishing 3 miles of running as an overweight 7th grader was a big accomplishment. And the girls who finished in the top 20 of the races typically got another medal on top of the participation one, meaning I still had something to strive towards, so lack of motivation was not a problem.   And as I’ve grown and improved in my running skills, the Trophy Culture that is extremely prevalent in the sport of running still does not bother me.   I could argue that getting up at 6:00 AM every morning over the summer and training my hardest, only to win a half marathon then get the exact same medal as the woman who finished last almost 2 hours after I am disheartening.   However, I believe that the â€Å"trophies† we get for accomplishing t hings like this are essentially meaningless, and the true reward is the feeling of triumph one gets when finishing something truly challenging. This feeling relates to the existence of â€Å"self-esteem†, or one’s overall evaluation of their worth as a person. Doing a difficult task well like performing excellently in a soccer game or acing a test are ways we can improve our self-esteem and feel better about ourselves.   This plays into our sense of self-efficacy, our belief inability to perform and succeed in tasks presented to us.   Some parents think that trophy culture is artificially inflating their children’s self-esteem and self-efficacy, making children think they are performing better than they actually are and allowing for them to almost â€Å"get stuck† in a mediocre performance because they have no reason to believe their performance is less than ideal. On the other side of the argument, there are parents who think that if we award children for completing sports seasons or specific events, we are teaching them â€Å"that it is worth keeping a commitment, that we value this† (Heffernan, 2015). A recent report from Real Sports With Bryant Gumble on HBO explored this problem. In the trailer for the show, he is seen interviewing a woman who says that giving trophies to everyone regardless of performance â€Å"sets the bar pretty low†, and she also makes the argument that she â€Å"wants kids to improve and be engaged in the process of improvement†, and she thinks without incentive this will never happen.   This perspective on the topic is one that made headline news when NFL linebacker James Harrison â€Å"took to Instagram announcing he would be sending back the trophies his sons, 6 and 8, received ‘until they earn a real trophy’†(Wallace, 2015).   In an article analyzing the different sides of the debate, Kelly Wallace from CNN points out that many experts side with those saying, â€Å"if you tell a kid they’re wonderful and they believe you, that’s not about healthy self-esteem, that’s about narcissism†. Lisa Heffernan, a contributor to NBC News TODAY, disagrees with this mindset. According to her, participation trophies â€Å"remind kids that they are part of something, and may help build enthusiasm to return for another season†. Another point she brings up is that â€Å"at a time when parents complain of escalating competition in youth sports, [trophies] remind kids that we value their effort, regardless of ability or results†.   Her words echo those of a writer by the name of John Kass, whose article in the Chicago Tribune includes a segment from his son who claims â€Å"What’s wrong with a participation trophy for kids? It makes them happy. They’re just 6 years old. Isn’t it good to be a kid, and happy, playing the game? They’re just kids.† Kass then goes on to explain that this conversation with his son made him realize participation trophies aren’t as bad as some people want us to believe, and â€Å"getting a participat ion trophy as a child didn’t make [his son] any less competitive†. After reading articles with opinions from both sides of the argument, I have come to the conclusion that my initial view of the topic has not changed: I still believe that Trophy Culture is not detrimental to the development of children’s self-esteem and people fighting to end a system that allows awards for participation are wasting their time.   Children need encouragement and support from their parent’s, coaches, and others to succeed and stay motivated in everything from sports to academics.   Trying to get rid of participation awards could very likely result in discouraged children.   Like John Kass’s son said in his discussion with his father, â€Å"What’s wrong with a participation trophy for kids? It makes them happy.† If giving participation trophies make kids happy and doesn’t harm anyone else, then the clear choice is to allow participation awards to continue in our society.    Works Cited Heffernan, Lisa. â€Å"In Defense of Participation Trophies: What They Taught My Son.† TODAY.com. N.p., 21 Aug. 2015. Web. 29 Apr. 2016. Kass, John. â€Å"Is Our ‘Trophy Culture’ Making Happy Losers?† Chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune, n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2016. Wallace, Kelly. â€Å"Debate: Does Sports Participation Deserve a Trophy?† CNN. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2016.