Common Application Essay Option #4 Solving a Problem

Alexander wrote the essay below in response to the 2018-19  Common Application essay option #4. The prompt reads,  Describe a problem youve solved or a problem youd like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma-anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution. Alexanders Common Application Essay: Grandpas Rubiks Cube My grandfather was a puzzle junkie. All kinds of puzzles—jigsaw, Sudoku, crossword, riddles, logic puzzles, word jumbles, those small twisted pieces of metal that you try and separate. He’d always say he was â€Å"trying to stay sharp,† and these puzzles occupied a lot of his time, especially after he retired. And for him, it often turned into a group activity; my brothers and I would help him sort out the edge pieces for his jigsaws, or flip through the heavy dictionary he kept in his office, looking for synonyms for â€Å"bastion.† After he passed away, we were sorting through his possessions—pile to keep, pile to donate, pile to sell—and found a box in an upstairs closet with nothing in it save an assortment of Rubik’s Cubes. Some of the cubes were solved (or had never been started), while some of them were mid-solve. Large ones, small ones, 3x3s, 4x4s, and even a 6x6. I never saw my grandfather working on one of them, but I wasn’t surprised to find them; puzzles were his life. Before we donated the cubes to the thrift store, I took one; grandpa had managed to get one side—yellow—completed, and I wanted to finish it for him. I’ve never had the knack he had for solving puzzles. It wasn’t just games he could solve; he worked as a plumber for forty years, and was good at getting to the bottom of all sorts of problems at work. His workshop was full of projects he had started fixing, from broken radios and clocks to cracked picture frames and lamps with faulty wiring. He liked investigating these things, discovering how they worked, so he could fix them in his own way. That’s not something I inherited. I keep every owner’s manual, every installation and user guide; I can’t look at something and know how it works, how to fix it, how to rig up a solution. But I’m determined to solve this Rubik’s cube. I have no idea how long that will take, or how I’ll do it. I know there are books and websites dedicated to the math behind it, to coming up with a logical solution. But I’m not going to read any of their advice. I’ll give it a shot, working slowly, with plenty of mistakes (and probably some frustration). And, as I’m trying to solve it, I’ll be sharing a connection with my grandfather. It’s a small and simple way of remembering him, and honoring one of his favorite pastimes. I don’t think I’m going to take up puzzling as seriously as he did—although, down the road, who knows? Maybe it’s in my genes after all. But this one puzzle, this one problem to solve, is my way of keeping him with me. It’s something I can take to college, to my first apartment, to pretty much any place I could go. And, with time, I hope it will help me understand more about my grandfather as a person. By taking up this puzzle, maybe I’ll learn to see the world the way he did—how anything can be worked through, can be improved. He was the most stubborn, tenacious, dedicated person I’ve ever known; if being able to eventually solve this Rubik’s cube gives me a quarter of his resolve and patience, I’ll be happy. I may not be able to solve it. I may continue to twist those plastic squares for years without getting any closer to a solution. Even if I can’t solve it, if I just don’t have it in me, I will h ave tried. And for that, I think my grandfather would be very proud. ________________ Critique of Grandpas Rubiks Cube Below youll find a discussion of the strengths of Alexanders essay as well as a few notes about possible shortcomings. Keep in mind that essay option #4 allows so much latitude that your essay may have almost nothing in common with Alexanders essay and still be an excellent response to the prompt. Alexanders Topic If you read the tips and strategies for option #4, youll see that this essay option gives you a lot of flexibility as you identify the problem you choose to address. Your problem could be anything from a global issue to a personal challenge. Alexander chooses a small and personal scale for the problem he hopes to solve. This decision is perfectly fine, and in many ways it has advantages. When college applicants try to tackle too much, the resulting essay can be overly general, vague, or even absurd. Imagine trying to describe steps for solving a huge issue such as global warming or religious intolerance in 650 words. The application essay is an awfully small space for addressing such huge issues. Alexanders essay clearly does not face this challenge. The problem he hopes to solve is indeed small. In fact, it fits in his hand: a Rubiks Cube. One could argue that a Rubiks Cube a rather trivial and silly choice for Common Application option #4. Whether or not you can solve the puzzle really doesnt matter much in the big scheme of things. And by itself, an applicants ability to solve a Rubiks Cube isnt really going to impress the colleges admissions officers that much, although mastery of the puzzle can be used productively on a college application..   Context, however, is everything. A Rubiks Cube may seem like the focus of Alexanders essay, but the essay is about much more than solving a puzzle. Whats really important in Alexanders essay is the  reason  he wants to attempt the puzzle: whether he succeeds or fails, the Rubiks Cube connects Alexander to his grandfather. My Grandpas Rubiks Cube is not a trivial essay about playing with a plastic toy; rather, it is a charming essay about family relationships, nostalgia, and personal determination. The Essays Tone Alexanders essay is pleasingly modest. Too many option #4 essays essentially say, Look how amazing I am for solving this difficult problem! Of course there is nothing wrong with tooting your own horn a little in your application, but you dont want to come across as an egotist or braggart. Alexanders essay certainly doesnt have this problem. In fact, he presents himself as someone who isnt particularly good at solving puzzles or figuring out how household items work. That kind of humility and honestly reveals a level of maturity that can work extremely well in an application essay. That said, the essay does reveal a quiet determination as Alexander vows to keep working on Rubiks Cube without ever consulting any online cheats or strategy guides. He may not succeed in his efforts, but we admire his attempt. Even more important, the essay reveals a kind soul who wants to keep his relationship with his grandfather alive. Alexanders Title, Grandpas Rubiks Cube As the tips for writing essay titles suggest, a good title can take a variety of forms. Alexanders title is certainly not clever or funny or ironic, but it is effective because of its concrete detail. Even at a school that receives 20,000 applications, there wont be a single other application with the title Grandpas Rubiks Cube. The title, like the focus of the essay, is unique to Alexander. Had the title been something more general, it would be less memorable and less successful in capturing the focus of the essay. Titles like A Big Challenge or Determination would be appropriate for this essay, but they could apply to hundreds of different essays and, as a result, fall a bit flat.   The Length The guidelines for the current Common Application state that essays should fall between 250 and 650 words. While there is plenty surrounding the ideal essay length, a compelling 600 word essay can help your application more than a similarly well-written 300 word essay. Colleges that ask for essays have  holistic admissions. In other words, they want to get you as a person, not as a simple empirical matrix of grade and test score data. Youll be able to paint a much more detailed portrait of yourself if you opt for the longer end of the length range. Alexanders essay comes in at 612 words, and the essay isnt wordy, fluffy, or repetitive. A Final Word Alexanders essay doesnt impress us by touting his accomplishments. If anything, it highlights things that he isnt particularly good at doing. This approach carries a little risk, but overall Grandpas Rubiks Cube is a successful essay. It paints a loving portrait of Alexanders grandfather, and it presents Alexander as someone who valued that relationship and wants to honor his grandfathers memory. We see a side of Alexander that we certainly wont see anywhere else in his application. He comes across not just as a student with good writing skills, but someone who is observant, thoughtful, and kind-hearted. Put yourself in the shoes of the admissions staff, and ask yourself an important question: Does the author sound like someone who would contribute to the campus community in a positive way? With this essay, the answer is yes. Alexander seems caring, honest, eager to challenge himself, and willing to fail. These are all characteristics of a good college student and valuable community member. Its also important to note that Alexanders essay is well written. At highly selective schools, glaring writing errors can be disastrous for an applicants chances of being admitted. For help with your own essay, check out these 9 tips for improving your essay style  as well as these 5 tips for a winning essay.   Finally, note that Alexander didnt need to use Common Application essay option #4 for Grandpas Rubiks Cube. The essay could also fit under option #2 on facing a challenge. Is one option better than the other? Probably not—most important is that the essay responds to the prompt, and that the essay is well written. Be sure to look through the tips and strategies for each of the seven essay options to find where your own essay is likely to best fit best, but also keep in mind that the essay itself, not the prompt its responding to, is most important.

Using Manipulatives Help Increase Mathematical Performance...

Many students with a learning disability have a hard time grasping number sense. Having an intervention strategy may help these students when they are trying to understand number sense. A number of studies have been done on trying to determine if using manipulatives help increase mathematical performance for students with a learning disability. Tournaki, Bae, and Kerekes (2008) conducted a study to figure out the effects on mathematical performance when using a manipulative, the rekenrek, to teach addition and subtraction for children with a learning disability. A rekenrek consists of two rows of 10 beads and in each of those rows five beads are one color and the other five are a different color (Tournaki et al., 2008). Tournaki et al. (2008) states that one of the main characteristics of a rekenrek is that it is based on a five-structure system that represents the five fingers on each of our hands and the five toes on each of our feet. Purpose and Research Questions Tournaki et al. (2008) stated that the â€Å"study was conducted to examine whether the use of the rekenrek in refining number sense of students with learning disabilities had a significant effect on the accuracy of addition and subtraction performance with numbers from zero to 20† (pg. 46). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to see if using the rekenrek would increase a student’s mathematical performance when looking at addition and subtraction problems from numbers zero to 20. Method Participants TheShow MoreRelatedMath strategies for special education students Essay example1164 Words   |  5 Pages Special education students often lack the necessary mathematical skills needed to be independently successful in the secondary classroom. These students face challenges in applying the basic math skills needed as well as retaining basic math skills from grade level to grade level. 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Start Up Restaurant And Potential Risks †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Start-Up Restaurant And Potential Risks. Answer: Introduction Business and its success depend largely on how well the business is planned. This assignment highlights the business of a chosen start-up restaurant that is to be launched with adequate funding and sufficient time. In this assignment, the organization is described, along with the size of the organization, the industry it operates in as well as operational country. The organizational structure that is best suitable for the start-up business has been highlighted in this assignment. The various internal and external forces that affect the business has been analysed, along with the potential risks and its analysis. The various business practices that enhance the organizational performances have been described, along with the most important functions and its relation with the organizational performances. Description of the organization The start-up business that is being launched is a start up restaurant. The business operates in the food industry. The start-up restaurant will mainly cater Indian food and operate mainly in Australia. Initially, the business will operate in Sydney and Brisbane in Australia. To start with, the restaurant will be located in places of tourist interest, to attract customers. With the expansion in business, 5 other outlets are to be launched in various other parts of Australia. The size of the organization is small (Abel Obeten, 2015). To start with, there will be 50 employees, with 5 main chefs, few assistants and helpers, waiters, accountants, manager, inventory manager, overall business manager of both the outlets. The two locations have been chosen since these are the two most popular destinations of Australia and thousands of people come down to these destinations from all over the world. Since it is a start-up business hence, it will take time for the business to flourish. The strategy that the start-up business adopts includes in-depth market research and identifying the target customers and their demands (Chen Elston, 2013). Once the target market and the demands of the customers are analysed, various promotional strategies are to be adopted. Being a start-up company, the restaurant needs high promotions. Hoardings, leaflets, advertisements using social media and television could be used effectively. The vision of the start-up restaurant is to serve high quality Indian food to the people of Australia as well as the tourists from all-over the world coming to Sydney and Australia. The restaurant also aims at giving an exclusive Indian experience with Indian food and culture to the people of Sydney and Brisbane. Organizational structure The organizational structure highlights the way the employees are placed according to their designations and responsibilities (Verghese et al., 2015). For the start-up restaurant business, the flat organizational structure is the most appropriate one than the hierarchical or the tall structure. This is because in the flat organizational structure there are very few levels between the managers and the employees. Moreover, the flow of communication as well as ideas is smoother in the flat organizational structure. For small organizations, the tall organizational structure makes it difficult for the employees to communicate their ideas with the higher authorities (Verghese et al., 2015). In a start-up business, each level of the employee has to communicate with each other, such that the issues and concerns could be shared with each other. Internal and external forces Various internal and external forces affect the start up business of the restaurant. A SWOT analysis has been carried out to highlight the internal forces that affect the business and PESTEL analysis has been carried out to analyse the external forces. SWOT analysis Strengths Ability to cater to the needs of the customers Launch of the new idea of Indian restaurant in Australia Location of tourist interest Outdoor catering services (Chen Elston, 2013) Innovation Weaknesses Lack of enough fund High competition Low profit Lack of enough trained employees All items listed in the menu is not available initially Opportunities Few competitors of Indian restaurant in Australia One of its kind Attracting new customers with a completely Indian experience Since the Australians are culturally rich, hence cultural elements of India are also highlighted Authentic Indian food Threats Lack of acceptance of the local people Lack of availability of the Indian spices and vegetables High competition from the other restuatants Factors Description Political The political factors include the political stability of Australia which helps in the development of new business. Economic The economy of Australia is stable and the Australian dollar has a high exchange rate in the world market. Hence, the stability in the economy is essential for the development of new start-up firms (Chen Elston, 2013). Social The social factors include the changes in the lifestyle of the people, where they want to explore the food of various countries. Thus, the social factor is favourable for the start-up business of restaurant. Technological The required technology such as online ordering and delivery is available (Hartmann et al., 2014) Environmental The start up business has to ensure that it does not cause any environmental pollution. Water and energy conservation has to be given importance as well. Legal The business legislature has to be followed by the restaurant, with proper licence being obtained. Risk analysis The start-up restaurant business could face potential risks. These risks are as follows: Financial risk This risk refers to the lack of adequate funding in order to run the business effectively. This risk is likely to occur, if the cost of building the restaurant or setting the infrastructure is more than the amount estimated (Luo Stark, 2014). Moreover, bankruptcy of the investor might also trigger this type of risk. Operational risk The operational risks include the operational decisions taken, that might prove to be a risky one. For example, relying on a particular supplier, for the supply of all the goods, might prove to be operationally risky. Failure of the supplier will result in huge operational risk. Market risk The risk in the market includes sudden inflation of recession. The instability in the market will result in market risk of the start-up restaurant (Abel Obeten, 2015). Work force risk Since the restaurant is a start-up hence lack of efficient employees is a major issue. If the selected employees fail to serve the restaurant as efficiently as expected, then the restaurant and its operations will be at risk. Unforeseen risk Sudden disasters such as fire or cyclone might destroy the whole business of the start-up restaurant. These are unpredictable and unforeseen. Business practices to enhance the organizational performances The business practices that will enhance the organizational performances are as follows: Clarity in the role The clarity in the role of the employee regarding the job they are assigned has a key role to play in enhancing the organizational performances. If the employees have a clear idea regarding their role, then the restaurant will be able to operate effectively, along with enhancing the organizational performances. Identifying the training needs of the employees It is important to identify the training needs of the employees. Since the restaurant is a start-up, hence most of the employees might need training of effectively setting up the business. The training requirements of the chef, is much different from that of the manager. Hence, individual training needs are to be identified. Effective communication Clarity in communication among the employees will ensure that effective communication is done. This will eliminate the chances of misunderstanding, thus enhancing the overall performances (Abel Obeten, 2015). Efficient supply chain management Thesupply chain management has to be effective, in order to ensure that the restaurant works properly. If there is delay in the supply of the raw materials, then the entire operational chain will be delayed (Luo Stark, 2014). CSR activities The restaurant has to initiate CSR activities, in order to establish its brand image and attract more customers (Hartmann et al., 2014). Important functions and its relation with the performance The most important functions of the start-up restaurant are as follows: Procurement of fresh raw materials The raw materials needed for the restaurant has to be fresh. Organic raw material should be used and genetically modified crops should be avoided. If the raw materials itself are not fresh, then the food cooked will not be good as well (Khan, 2014). Maintenance of hygiene For a restaurant, it is essential that hygiene is maintained. The chefs and the other employees should maintain their personal hygiene as well as clean the raw materials well, to make them free from germs and pesticides. Fulfilling the demand of the customers The restaurant has to meet the demands of the customers, in order to establish itself as a brand (Zhang, 2016). Incorporation of innovation Innovative ideas and food items have to be introduced, to attract more customers. Conclusion Thus, with diligence and hard work, the start-up restaurant could be established. However, it is essential that proper planning and adequate fund have to be arranged before the venture. The internal and external factors that affect the business have to be analysed as well. References Abel, E. E., Obeten, E. (2015). Restaurant Customer Self-ordering System: A Solution to Reduce Customer/Guest Waiting Time at the Point of Sale.International Journal of Computer Applications,111(11). Chen, S. C., Elston, J. A. (2013). Entrepreneurial motives and characteristics: An analysis of small restaurant owners.International Journal of Hospitality Management,35, 294-305. Hartmann, P. M., Zaki, M., Feldmann, N., Neely, A. (2014). Big data for big business? A taxonomy of data-driven business models used by start-up firms.A Taxonomy of Data-Driven Business Models Used by Start-Up Firms (March 27, 2014). Khan, M. A. (2014).Restaurant franchising: Concepts, regulations and practices. CRC Press. Luo, T., Stark, P. B. (2014). Only the bad die young: Restaurant mortality in the Western US.arXiv preprint arXiv:1410.8603. Verghese, K., Lewis, H., Lockrey, S., Williams, H. (2015). Packaging's role in minimizing food loss and waste across the supply chain.Packaging Technology and Science,28(7), 603-620. Zhang, W. (2016). Business Plan for an All You Can Eat Korean Restaurant in Ontario, California.