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Friday, June 5, 2009
Dear Reader
Hello everyone. To those of you who do not know, my name is Alyssa and I have been enrolled into Everett Community College for two quarters now. I also am enrolled into the U3 program, meaning I did not graduate from high school. I have lived in Arlington my whole life and for those of you who have been to the Arlington High School know that it is like a prison, literally. I finished my junior year there and decided that I was done and did not want to continue going to that school every day. I heard about the U3 program and ever since I have gotten enrolled and going to school. I am eighteen years old and have no clue what I want to do for a career. Right now I am just getting my general degree and furthering my education.
Throughout this quarter form going to my service learning site at the Stanwood/Camano food bank I have learned a lot about what the economy does to people. People that I had seen around down as just ordinary people I saw them at the food bank just trying to feed their family. It really opened my eyes and showed how everyone goes through a bad time. Going to the food bank led me to think about the human service programs and helping out the people in need. Hopefully as I continue this journey through college I will be able to find a career that will suit me and one that I love. This English 98 class broadens my horizons about writing and about the outside world, helping me be a stronger person today.
In high school English was always my best subject and I felt I did well in it. My English teacher for my junior year taught me so much that this English 98 class went over a lot of information that I previously learned, but not all. I still struggle with my excessive use or no use of commas and being able to explain in more depth about my writing. I have pick four pieces to go into my e portfolio. One being the first major writing assignment (MWA) and will be showing the weaknesses I had with it. Next will be my MWA three and still show some of my weaknesses that I still have, but more importantly the strengths I have made. My last two piece I am choosing is my inventory in being and my first and last of the seminars of Three Cups Tea. With the inventory of being I was able to express myself and let people to get to know me better. Throughout my high schools years I did not read very many books and reading Three Cups of Tea it was hard for me to get back into reading and look for those quotes. In my first seminar I chose quotes that were not as meaningful but something that I understood. In my seminar five worksheet I was now used to using more in depth quotes and was able to understand more about the book and follow along. In my English 98 class I have reviewed information that I already knew about but also was able to learn more and apply more teachings to my papers
Throughout this quarter form going to my service learning site at the Stanwood/Camano food bank I have learned a lot about what the economy does to people. People that I had seen around down as just ordinary people I saw them at the food bank just trying to feed their family. It really opened my eyes and showed how everyone goes through a bad time. Going to the food bank led me to think about the human service programs and helping out the people in need. Hopefully as I continue this journey through college I will be able to find a career that will suit me and one that I love. This English 98 class broadens my horizons about writing and about the outside world, helping me be a stronger person today.
In high school English was always my best subject and I felt I did well in it. My English teacher for my junior year taught me so much that this English 98 class went over a lot of information that I previously learned, but not all. I still struggle with my excessive use or no use of commas and being able to explain in more depth about my writing. I have pick four pieces to go into my e portfolio. One being the first major writing assignment (MWA) and will be showing the weaknesses I had with it. Next will be my MWA three and still show some of my weaknesses that I still have, but more importantly the strengths I have made. My last two piece I am choosing is my inventory in being and my first and last of the seminars of Three Cups Tea. With the inventory of being I was able to express myself and let people to get to know me better. Throughout my high schools years I did not read very many books and reading Three Cups of Tea it was hard for me to get back into reading and look for those quotes. In my first seminar I chose quotes that were not as meaningful but something that I understood. In my seminar five worksheet I was now used to using more in depth quotes and was able to understand more about the book and follow along. In my English 98 class I have reviewed information that I already knew about but also was able to learn more and apply more teachings to my papers
Introduction to MWA 1
With my first major writing assignment it was very difficult for me to get back into the grove of writing an essay. My paper was about how customers differ from a service employee. I explained that the relationships between them differ but at the same time have the same views of what actions need to be taken. In this paper I felt I had good examples because I once was the service employee and a customer. Although I had good examples some of my peers felt that I needed to express them more in order to clarify the paper. Two major problems that I had in the first paper was the usage of "I" and my punctuations. Within the first page of my first MWA I counted about 12 times that I used the word "I", when I should not have.
Customer vs. Service Employee
Being in customer service myself, it is easy to get in difficult situations daily when it comes to pleasing customers. It is likely that everyone has either interacted with a difficult customer or has possibly even been the difficult customer. Some people do not realize the different views and aspects of being a customer and being the employee in customer service. With being a customer and employee I know that the knowledge is the same, but the views in a challenging situation are different.
The view of customer may be that they are usually in control in the interaction. When being a customer, it is likely to demand and receive service. The knowledge is that the customer is always right, at no cost. With these all being the common views of a customer it is frequent that being in customer service people tend get difficult consumers, this is more common in the fast food industry. With me working in the fast food industry for a while, learning how to please customers and know what they want has been helpful, although it gets to be difficult when they start being rude. Often customers have some type of complaint and are very loud about it, but it is my job to make them feel right. Customers are what keep businesses going and some people know that, which leads them to feeling in control. An example of this is that a customer orders a cake. Everything went smoothly with the order until the customer saw the order of the cake was blue and not pink, but accidently they checked the box for blue. Now the customer is mad and not happy with the cake. This not the employee’s fault, but we must make the customer happy. In some cases the view of the customer is that the employee made the mistake and that we need to fix it right away. Because we are taught that the customer is always right or to make them feel that they are always right is our duty to do so.
In comparison, the employee has the same knowledge of the customer but the views in a difficult situation differ. With being an employee in customer service it is important that an worker does not make the customer feel that they are wrong. Even though a difficult customer is arguing and the employee knows that they are right and customer is in the wrong it is the goal to make them feel right, which in return gives them superiority over the employee. The idea of the customer always being right is the knowledge of both customer and employee, but two viewing points differ from one another.
The ultimate goal in most business is to make the client happy and hope that they are impressed with the service. A customer and employee both know that the customer is to be pleased and that everything is ran smoothly so that the client will want to come back. Using the example of the cake order again being the employee it occurred to me that the customer was in control and right, even though it was their mistake. Another example is that a customer calls and complains about another one of the employees and is saying that he or she was very disrespectful and rude. Being the employee that takes the call it seemed customer was lying, because I saw what had happened. Now being the employee it is my job to make sure that they are pleased and know the issue will be taken care of.
The previous examples of comparing and contrasting the views, knowledge and goals of the customer and customer service employee are helpful in describing the relationship the two have. Speaking from personal experience has allowed me to make these comparison and contradictions. Often when one of the employees works they have an interaction with at least one difficult customer. It is my duty to make sure they are pleased with the customer service, the end result and the business as a whole. On the other side of being an employee often they are also customers. Being a customer myself it tends to be challenging because of the felling of superiority of other employees in their own business. Having been both customer and employee, learning the views of both sides has been helpful in the success of employee and customer relationships.
In conclusion it is important that the employee stays to these guild lines when helping a customer for a successful transition. With the customer being happy the employee will be happy and another business will succeed. It is common that there are complaints and problems on a business, especially fast food. Customers and employees have the same knowledge of what needs to happen, yet two very different views in a difficult situation.
The view of customer may be that they are usually in control in the interaction. When being a customer, it is likely to demand and receive service. The knowledge is that the customer is always right, at no cost. With these all being the common views of a customer it is frequent that being in customer service people tend get difficult consumers, this is more common in the fast food industry. With me working in the fast food industry for a while, learning how to please customers and know what they want has been helpful, although it gets to be difficult when they start being rude. Often customers have some type of complaint and are very loud about it, but it is my job to make them feel right. Customers are what keep businesses going and some people know that, which leads them to feeling in control. An example of this is that a customer orders a cake. Everything went smoothly with the order until the customer saw the order of the cake was blue and not pink, but accidently they checked the box for blue. Now the customer is mad and not happy with the cake. This not the employee’s fault, but we must make the customer happy. In some cases the view of the customer is that the employee made the mistake and that we need to fix it right away. Because we are taught that the customer is always right or to make them feel that they are always right is our duty to do so.
In comparison, the employee has the same knowledge of the customer but the views in a difficult situation differ. With being an employee in customer service it is important that an worker does not make the customer feel that they are wrong. Even though a difficult customer is arguing and the employee knows that they are right and customer is in the wrong it is the goal to make them feel right, which in return gives them superiority over the employee. The idea of the customer always being right is the knowledge of both customer and employee, but two viewing points differ from one another.
The ultimate goal in most business is to make the client happy and hope that they are impressed with the service. A customer and employee both know that the customer is to be pleased and that everything is ran smoothly so that the client will want to come back. Using the example of the cake order again being the employee it occurred to me that the customer was in control and right, even though it was their mistake. Another example is that a customer calls and complains about another one of the employees and is saying that he or she was very disrespectful and rude. Being the employee that takes the call it seemed customer was lying, because I saw what had happened. Now being the employee it is my job to make sure that they are pleased and know the issue will be taken care of.
The previous examples of comparing and contrasting the views, knowledge and goals of the customer and customer service employee are helpful in describing the relationship the two have. Speaking from personal experience has allowed me to make these comparison and contradictions. Often when one of the employees works they have an interaction with at least one difficult customer. It is my duty to make sure they are pleased with the customer service, the end result and the business as a whole. On the other side of being an employee often they are also customers. Being a customer myself it tends to be challenging because of the felling of superiority of other employees in their own business. Having been both customer and employee, learning the views of both sides has been helpful in the success of employee and customer relationships.
In conclusion it is important that the employee stays to these guild lines when helping a customer for a successful transition. With the customer being happy the employee will be happy and another business will succeed. It is common that there are complaints and problems on a business, especially fast food. Customers and employees have the same knowledge of what needs to happen, yet two very different views in a difficult situation.
Introduction to MWA 3
By the time I started writing my MWA three I knew what I needed to do and what a good paper looked like. I chose this piece so that I could compare the first MWA and the third MWA. The difference between them was a lot because by the time I wrote the third paper I knew all my weakness and improved them so my paper was strong. With both my first and second major writing assignments I got B's on them showing that I had room to improve and on my last paper there was defiantly improvement. On my first two papers I was still learning more on how to improve and fix my punctuation, word choice, and explanations. With my last paper I took all the notes from my other papers and made sure that I watch all my weaknesses.
Economic Crisis
Many people are facing an economic problem, and with that some may question what the real reason behind this is. If everyone is still doing the same thing they did ten years ago, for example spending the same amount monthly according to their paycheck, then why is there such a problem? People begin to blame President Bush and that he was doing bad things for his country, but I wonder, was it really all him and is Obama going to be the fix for the economic failures. Americans tend to blame large mortgage companies for the financial crisis, but the citizens need to take responsibility also.
As people look into loans they are convinced that they can afford it, generally leading them to get the loan and worse things to come. Some had an escalation clause where the interest rate and payment was low for a certain amount of years. This idea sounds like a good deal and most would agree which is why people get the loans. What they do not know though is that after the certain amount of years of low payments are up the payments increase, essentially making the home completely unaffordable to buy. (Bawaba) As people talk to a consultant at a large mortgage company they need to beware that they are selling a product. Always, when about to purchase something big, people need to calculate the cost and know what exactly and how much they are paying for something. Someone nowadays can easily get a car or house loan, go buy that car or house and five years down the road not be able to pay for it. Unfortunately this happens a lot and this is a large problem in the economy. Mortgage companies and other companies are good for baiting someone, giving them a low payment rate, and then switching the payment higher once they have been in the home for a few years. (Bawaba) Even though this is not a good thing that businesses should do, it is how they make money. From my experience because I just bought a car of myself, I knew that I had to get a small loan because it was all that my income can afford. Many people today get large loans and hope that they can pay them off and afford it, even when they cannot. Such actions lead to a bad economy because the businesses are not getting paid and credit card debt.
Credit card debt is something that millions face in America, due to peoples bad choices. I myself know a few people that have made bad decisions in this economy and max out their credit cards just so they can afford to live. Some do not realize that there are other choices beside maxing out a credit card and paying off later. Again when people max out a credit card they are bringing the economy down by not paying the banks. The past decade of economic growth has clearly been based on consumers taking on larger and larger amount of credit card debt and the unrealistic expectations of paying the money. (The Herald) This statement shows that people are getting more in debt because they have this ideal payment plan that they eventually cannot afford. People can be persuaded to get a credit card to build their credit or to just have in case of emergency but in the end it is individuals who say yes to the responsibility. Credit card debt today is a common thing to have, and to me that is a sad fact. It is surprising at times that there is several older adults that have major credit card debt and they themselves are to blame.
My opposing side would say that the economic crisis is because of mortgage companies and simply any company that persuades someone to buy something expensive, is the main problem of a bad economy. I disagree with this because in the end it is always an individual who says yes, who buys a house at a bad time, and who puts many items on a credit card they cannot pay for.
As the economy is getting worse people are starting to feel fear about going into a depression. Ironically this fear tends to lead people to spend more money that they do not have. If most people would simply hold off on buying the wanted items and only getting the necessities then I believe that changes will be made for the better in this economy. After being persuaded to buy something it all comes down to one individual and that person needs to take some responsibility for this economy.
As people look into loans they are convinced that they can afford it, generally leading them to get the loan and worse things to come. Some had an escalation clause where the interest rate and payment was low for a certain amount of years. This idea sounds like a good deal and most would agree which is why people get the loans. What they do not know though is that after the certain amount of years of low payments are up the payments increase, essentially making the home completely unaffordable to buy. (Bawaba) As people talk to a consultant at a large mortgage company they need to beware that they are selling a product. Always, when about to purchase something big, people need to calculate the cost and know what exactly and how much they are paying for something. Someone nowadays can easily get a car or house loan, go buy that car or house and five years down the road not be able to pay for it. Unfortunately this happens a lot and this is a large problem in the economy. Mortgage companies and other companies are good for baiting someone, giving them a low payment rate, and then switching the payment higher once they have been in the home for a few years. (Bawaba) Even though this is not a good thing that businesses should do, it is how they make money. From my experience because I just bought a car of myself, I knew that I had to get a small loan because it was all that my income can afford. Many people today get large loans and hope that they can pay them off and afford it, even when they cannot. Such actions lead to a bad economy because the businesses are not getting paid and credit card debt.
Credit card debt is something that millions face in America, due to peoples bad choices. I myself know a few people that have made bad decisions in this economy and max out their credit cards just so they can afford to live. Some do not realize that there are other choices beside maxing out a credit card and paying off later. Again when people max out a credit card they are bringing the economy down by not paying the banks. The past decade of economic growth has clearly been based on consumers taking on larger and larger amount of credit card debt and the unrealistic expectations of paying the money. (The Herald) This statement shows that people are getting more in debt because they have this ideal payment plan that they eventually cannot afford. People can be persuaded to get a credit card to build their credit or to just have in case of emergency but in the end it is individuals who say yes to the responsibility. Credit card debt today is a common thing to have, and to me that is a sad fact. It is surprising at times that there is several older adults that have major credit card debt and they themselves are to blame.
My opposing side would say that the economic crisis is because of mortgage companies and simply any company that persuades someone to buy something expensive, is the main problem of a bad economy. I disagree with this because in the end it is always an individual who says yes, who buys a house at a bad time, and who puts many items on a credit card they cannot pay for.
As the economy is getting worse people are starting to feel fear about going into a depression. Ironically this fear tends to lead people to spend more money that they do not have. If most people would simply hold off on buying the wanted items and only getting the necessities then I believe that changes will be made for the better in this economy. After being persuaded to buy something it all comes down to one individual and that person needs to take some responsibility for this economy.
Introduction to Inventory of Being
My inventory of being came naturally to me. I am not one to talk about my self or express how I feel but in the inventory of being I was able to. In the writing assignment we all had to write about ourselves in a creative way and express ourdselves both of which are hard for me. Writing the inventory of bing was fun to me and I enjoyed the different ways that I could say something simple. I chose this piece because I thought that it was going to be hard for me but in the end I was able to pull it off and really like some of the things I said. An example of this is that I stated I wish people would think before they talk and I love to laugh, have fun and have no limits,you only get one chance at life so make it good.
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