Why did Certain Groups Revolt Against Peter the Greats Policies

Throughout the course of known history, it has always been the case that the implementation of various innovations in particular country’s socio-political, cultural and scientific life, would initially be met with a fierce resistance, on the part of self-proclaimed ‘guardians of tradition’.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Why did Certain Groups Revolt Against Peter the Great’s Policies? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Nevertheless, it had always proven to be only the matter of very short time, before such resistance would be subdued. In this paper, we will aim to substantiate the validity of an earlier statement, by reflecting upon the specifics of how Peter the Great went about modernizing Russia through 1689-1725. Within the matter of few years, after having ascended to Russia’s throne in 1689, Peter had made it clear to Russian boyars (nobles) and to Orthodox Church’s clergymen that struggling with Russia’s social and cultural backwardness represented his life’s foremost priority. And, Peter’s activities throughout his early tsardom, leave few doubts as to the fact that it was namely the undisputed dominance of Orthodox Church in country’s socio-political life, which he perceived as the actual root of Russia’s backwardness. For example, in 1692, Peter parodied the functioning of Orthodox Church by establishing a so-called ‘Vseshuteishyi, Vsepyaneishyi I Sumasbrodneishyi Sobor’ (Most Drunken Council of Fools and Jesters) – a carnivalesque mockery of Church’s High Council, which was perceived by Peter’s contemporaries as the clear proof of his sinful-mindedness. Yet, as many historical studies on the subject matter indicate, there was nothing new about drunken orgies that occurred in times of Peter Sobor’s gatherings – these orgies used to be an essential part of Ort hodox clergymen’s lives, just as it was the case with their Catholic counterparts.1 By establishing his Synod of Fools and Jesters, Peter simply exposed Church’s dirty laundry – hence, contributing to the establishment of initial preconditions for Russia’s rapid transformation from essentially a barbaric little principality, to one of the world’s greatest empires.Advertising Looking for essay on eastern europe? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Apparently, Peter was perfectly aware of a simple fact that the concepts of ‘tradition’ and ‘spirituality’ are innately counter-productive, for as long as the process of facilitating cultural progress is being concerned. Being at the time one of Russia’s only few intellectuals, Peter knew well that only science provides people with practically valid answers to life’s dilemmas. This why, upon having decided to set R ussia upon the course of progress, Peter realized that he had no choice but to travel to Europe, in order to study a variety of different sciences, such as shipbuilding, mathematics, philosophy, ethics, etc. In its turn, this explains why Peter’s ‘Grand Embassy’ to Europe lasted for an year – during the course of this time, Peter and his closest associates never ceased studying and even indulging in physical labor on full-time basis. It is not by a pure accident that Peter’s contemporaries used to refer to young Russian Tsar as ‘carpenter on the throne’ – so strong was his desire to turn Russia into civilized country that he did not mind working himself to exhaustion at Zaandam and Deptford’s shipbuilding yards as a commoner.2 Nevertheless, whatever the ironically it might sound – it was exactly to due to Peter being endowed with rationale-driven intellect and due to his willingness to work hard, in order to be able to benefit Russia, that the number of Russians began to perceive him as ‘evildoer’. Given the fact that Orthodox Church have traditionally strived to discourage people from taking an active stance in life, it comes as no surprise that in 17th-18th century’s many Russians seriously believed that material riches should just fall out of sky, for as long as one prays hard enough. This explains why these people considered Peter’s hardworking qualities as the proof of his ‘ungodliness’. After having returned to Russia in 1698, in order to take care of streltsys’ rebellion, instigated by overly-traditional princess Sophia, Peter had dealt with rebellions rather decisively – eight hundred of them were executed in the center of Moscow, within the a matter of days. The rumors about Peter’s cruelty began to spread throughout the Russia.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Why did Certain Groups Revolt Against Pete r the Great’s Policies? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, it is not the fact that Peter was a cruel individual with rather short temper, which had won him a strong disfavor with the great number of Russians, while he was on the throne. The real reason why, throughout Peter’s reign, people continued to revolt against implementation of his progressive innovations, in the fields of national defense, industry, trade, tax system, state administration and education, was their mental primitiveness. Russian boyars and high-ranking members of Orthodox Church’s clergy were aware of the fact that, if Peter was allowed to proceed with modernizing Russia unopposed, it will only be the matter of short time, before their parasitic mode of existence would end. It goes without saying, of course, that while articulating their grievances against Peter, these people did not act in intellectually honest matter – instead of admitting that Peter’s reforms simply threatened their bellyful idleness, they wanted to represent these reforms as such that undermined Russia’s ‘spiritual foundations’. According to Slavophiles, Peter’s reforms caused a great deal of damage to Russia’s natural path of development, as in their eyes, this path was inconsistent with the ways of the West.3 In other words, there was absolutely no rationale behind some traditionally-minded Russians’ unwillingness to accept Peter’s reforms, just as today there is no rationale behind some Muslim immigrants’ refusal to live by Western secular laws, after having relocated to Western countries. What gives Peter a huge credit is that, even as far back as at the end of 17th century, he had shown the whole world of what represents the best way to deal with intellectually inflexible people’s ‘traditionalist’ prejudices – if they want to proceed with deny ing the light of civilization, let them be taxed.Advertising Looking for essay on eastern europe? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More There is a famous story of how Peter the Great addressed the issue of Russian boyars refusing to take baths, to wear Western costumes and to shave off their flea-ridden beards. Peter simply issued a decree, according to which, those who wanted to stick to ‘traditional values’ had to pay taxes. Bearded Russians were given a few weeks of time to whether find necessary sum of hundred rubles, in order to be able to retain their beards for a lifetime, or to dispose of their beards altogether. Those who could not afford paying that much but still wanted to maintain their barbaric appearance, had a option to pay for keeping their beards on annual and monthly basis.4 As practice showed, Russians’ willingness to pay taxes, in order to be able to retain their beards, did not last for too long, even though initially, ‘traditionalists’ used to threaten Peter with ‘God’s vengeance’ for his ‘unholy’ intention of popularize the noti on of personal hygiene among them. The ‘God’s vengeance’ also did not fall upon Peter, on account of his other ‘unholy’ deeds, such as collecting Church’s bells, and making cannons out of them, adopting Julian calendar, subjecting Church’s authority to the secular authority of the state, creating Russia’s Navy out of nothing, introducing the principle of draft for sustaining Russian Army of 210.000.000 strong at all times, establishing Russia’s first newspaper Vedomosti (News), building the great city of Petersburg as Russia’s new capital, etc.5 Nowadays, some historians suggest that, in order for just about anyone to be able to even partially grasp the extent of Peter’s contribution to the process of building and civilizing Russian Empire, he or she would have to take a stroll along this city’s streets.6 Just as any political figure of a great historical significance, Peter used to be focused on fulfi lling long-term objectives, which is why it comes as not a particular surprise that many of his simple-minded contemporaries did not fully appreciate the role he was playing in the history of Russia. Just as Napoleon, Peter the Great believed in secularization and modernization as the only pathways towards building a better society. Just as Napoleon, he had no choice but simply to crash those who resisted him, due to their intellectual backwardness. And, just as it was the case with Napoleon, who never ceased being perceived as an ideal ruler by famous intellectuals of the era, such as Ludwig van Beethoven and Thomas Jefferson, the legacy of Peter the Great’s never ceased inspiring Russian intellectuals, well after his death.7 For example, Peter’s vision of Russia as a modern European state was shared by such Russia’s renowned scientists as Lomonosov and Tatischev. In their turn, they strived to communicate this vision to Peter’s successors on the throne. 8 Thus, just as we have stated earlier, the only reason why certain groups in Russia did revolt against Peter the Great’s policies, is that the representatives of these groups could never appreciate the sheer significance of Peter, as a historical figure. They wanted to continue living in patriarchic society, unaffected by the rapid pace of cultural and scientific progress that was taking place in Europe. They wanted to continue professing ‘traditional values’ (read – prejudices), as if outside world did not even exist. The closer analysis of these people’s stance, in regards to Peter’s reforms, reveals an undeniable fact that it was namely their religious fanaticism, which added to the strength of their resolution to defy Peter the Great. For example, after the functioning of Russian Orthodox Church was reformed by Peter’s adoption of Julian calendar, it resulted in creation of so-called Movement of Raskolniks, the affiliates of which would go as far as referring to their Tsar as the ‘Son of Satan’. Just as today’s Jehovah Witnesses, Raskolnics used to indulge into social withdrawal, in full sense of this word. They refused to pay taxes, to serve in the army, to take part in administering country and to obey even the basic secular laws.9 There used to be whole villages of these fanatics, who would rather burn themselves, then criss-crossing their foreheads with three fingers instead of two, as they were accustomed to. Thanks to Peter the Great though, these people did not succeed with their agenda of keeping Russia in the state of primeval savagery. Despite the fact that there were very many controversial aspects to Peter’s reforms, the laws of history dialectically predetermined his triumph over the enemies. References Anemone, Anthony â€Å"The Monsters of Peter the Great: The Culture of the St. Petersburg Kunstkamera in the Eighteenth Century.† The Slavic and East  European Journal 44.4 (2000): 583-602. Burbank, Jane Ransel, David. Imperial Russia: New Histories for the Empire.  Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1998. Kamenskii, Alex Griffiths, David. The Russian Empire in the Eighteenth  Century: Searching for a Place in the World. Armonk, N.Y. : ME Sharpe, Inc., 1997. Kohn, Hans â€Å"Napoleon and the Age of Nationalism.† The Journal of Modern History 22.1 (1950): 21-37 Lewitter, Lucjan â€Å"Peter the Great and the Modern World.† History Today 35.2 (1985):16-23. Mackay, Charles. Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions. London: Richard Bentley, 1841. Raeff, Marc â€Å"The Bureaucratic Phenomena of Imperial Russia, 1700-1905.† The  American Historical Review 84.2 (1979): 399-411. Raleigh, Donald Iskenderov, Akhmed. The Emperors and Empresses of  Russia: Rediscovering the Romanovs. New Russian History. Armonk, N.Y.: ME Sharpe, Inc., 1996. Waliszewski, Kazimierz. Peter the Great. New York: Haskell House Publisher s, 1897 (1969). Footnotes 1 Anthony Anemone, â€Å"The Monsters of Peter the Great: The Culture of the St. Petersburg Kunstkamera in the Eighteenth Century,† The Slavic and East European Journal 44.4 (2000): 591. 2 Lucjan Lewitter, â€Å"Peter the Great and the Modern World.† History Today 35.2 (1985):18. 3 Donald Raleigh Akhmed Iskenderov, The Emperors and Empresses of Russia: Rediscovering the Romanovs. (Armonk, N.Y.: ME Sharpe, Inc., 1996) 4. 4 Charles Mackay, Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions. (London: Richard Bentley, 1841) 232. 5 Marc Raeff â€Å"The Bureaucratic Phenomena of Imperial Russia, 1700-1905,† The American Historical Review 84.2 (1979): 400. 6 Alex Kamenskii David Griffiths, The Russian Empire in the Eighteenth Century: Searching for a Place in the World. (Armonk, N.Y.: ME Sharpe, Inc., 1997) 77. 7 Hans Kohn â€Å"Napoleon and the Age of Nationalism,† The Journal of Modern History 22.1 (1950): 21-37. 8 Jane Burbank David Ranse l, Imperial Russia: New Histories for the Empire. (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1998) 50. 9 Kazimierz Waliszewski, Peter the Great. (New York: Haskell House Publishers, 1897/1969) 159. This essay on Why did Certain Groups Revolt Against Peter the Great’s Policies? was written and submitted by user Spirit to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

When To Use Time Sensitive Salutations [Etiquette Mistakes]

When To Use Time Sensitive Salutations [Etiquette Mistakes] Two participants in our Effective Business Writing courserecentlyquestioned why using â€Å"Good Evening† was not best practice for an email salutation. We always want to engage our reader, and shape any document, including email, from our reader’s perspective, not our perspective. With email, when the recipient is likely to read the email is more relevant than when we send it. Good Evening Email Etiquette For example, if you work in London and send an email off at 9:00 P.M. to a colleague or customer in Los Angeles, the recipient would receive it 1:00 P.M. Los Angeles time. If the first words your recipient reads are â€Å"Good Evening† while he or she sees the sun shining and is midway through the work day, it fosters reader disconnect. If you do not know when your reader is going to read your email message, choose a time-neutral salutation: Dear, Hello, Hi – choosing whichever best matches the relationship and purpose of your email. (More on appropriatebusiness email salutions.) Using the salutation â€Å"Good Morning† can be particularly warm and engaging, if you are certain your reader will receive your message in the morning. For example, you have a phone conversation with your reader in the morning (reader time zone), and promise to email a document right after you conclude the call. In this case, â€Å"Good Morning† is a great salutation because it enhances the connection because it is immediate and warm and reader-focused. This same thought process should apply to description of your activities. My friend, based in Seattle, recently shared that she was momentarily concerned when her colleague, based in Glasgow, sent an email to her that began â€Å"I’m savoring a single malt and reading your proposal†¦Ã¢â‚¬  It was 6:00 P.M. in Glasgow, so a single malt was well deserved and in order, but it was a little jarring at first read for my friend in Seattle, who was sipping morning coffee at 10:00 A.M. Of course, any reader will understand with brief reflection, but we don’t want to require reflection or questioning. We want to engage our readers right away. Reader-focused writing requires that we keep content, organization and tone on our reader, not on our own thoughts. Good Night Use â€Å"Good Morning† and â€Å"Good Night† with care – they are engaging when you know your reader will read them at the right time, but will wedge an intimation of lack of awareness for your reader if you miss the time mark. Master Business Email in ThisEmail Course

Balanced Score Card Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Balanced Score Card - Article Example Learning and Growth perspective 12 6.1 Objectives 13 Increase the skills and knowledge of the employees 13 Satisfaction amongst the employees 13 Reduce the attrition rate of the employees 13 6.2 Measures 13 7. Initiative 14 REFERENCES 18 1. Balanced Scorecard The balanced scorecard is a tactical arrangement and management system that is extensively used in industry, government, business and non-profit organization all over the world in order to align the activities of the business to the strategy and vision of the of the organization, enhance the external and internal communication and monitor the performance of the organization against the predetermined strategic goals. This has been created by Professors David Norton and Robert Kaplan as a framework for performance measurement that adds traditional financial metrics with the non-financial performance measures that provides the executives and the managers with a balanced view of the performance of the organization. The balanced scor ecard model is used by the organization to get a clear perspective about what the organization should measure in order to balance the financial perspective in operation with the organization of strategic plans. The balance scorecard changes the strategic plan of the organization from a striking but passive document into an active one for the daily basis. It is a framework that not only provides the executives of the company with performance measures but also helps them in identifying and planning what can be done. It makes the executives capable of framing strategies. The balanced scorecard claims to consider an organization from four perspectives and look for developing metrics, collecting the data and analyzing them. The four perspectives are financial perspective that looks at the return on equity, cash flow, sales and income growth. Second is the customer’s satisfaction perspective that measures on time delivery, product development, defect levels and warranty support. Th ird is the business process perspective that measures the efficiency of the internal business processes that is measured via cycle time, quality, productivity and downtime. Lastly learning and growth perspective that measure organizational and innovation learning measured performance on the dimensions like product development cycle, technological leadership, operational improvement etc. This study focuses on the measuring the performance of marketing unit of McDonalds through balanced scorecard approach. Figure 1: Four perspectives of Balance Score Card (Source: Kaplan & Norton, 1996, p. 76) 2. McDonald’s McDonald’s started their journey in the year 1955 and since then they have been proudly serving some of the world’s most favorite food (McDonald’s, 2013a). They have not just managed history but have created it. Currently McDonald’s is operating as the world’s biggest retailer in foodservices with over 34,000 local restaurants offering food to about 69 million people in around 118 countries per day. The company has employee strength of 1.8 million. About 80% of all the existing restaurants of McDonald’s are run by franchisee (McDonald’s, 2013b). They started â€Å"from drive-thru restaurants to Chicken McNuggets to college credits from Hamburger U and much more.† Ray Kroc dreamt of starting a restaurant chain that will be famous for its food which provides uniform

Term PAper D Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Term PAper D - Essay Example Hence, in our organization much attention was given for the training and development of the workers. How to make these training and development programmes more effective is a challenge to the human resource department. Hence, alternate strategies were tried and tested. This paper explains the nature of our organization and the challenges faced by the human resource department and the level of success achieved. With the huzz and buzz created by globalization, there is opportunity everywhere because of the world becoming a small market place, thanks to internet! So when everybody talks about global competition or global standards, the focus of any organization should be on human resource. The human resource is one resource that controls other resources in an organization. In the new economy there is a lot of attention given on the development of human resource and knowledge management. Welcome to my world. With this scenario as the backdrop, I want to tell you about my company. My company is a textile yarn manufacturing company. You may ask what is yarn Yarn is the thread that is made from polyester or cotton. The thread is then dyed, woven into cloth, which is then stitched into garments. But in our company we buy polyester and make the yarn and supply them to the customer. To make this yarn, we have nearly fifteen hundred workers divided into various departments according to the various processes of production. I work in the human resource department as training and development coordinator. Our department is responsible for recruiting, staffing, counseling, separation and training and development. Of all the activities in our department the management allocates a lot of resources for the training and development part. Why is that so Firstly, our management has realized that the quality of the people decides the quality of the product. Secondly, there is a high chance of accidents happening on the job which may result in temporary and permanent disabilities of workers. Thirdly, the yarn we produce are exported to very quality conscious customers who may reject the whole order if the product is not of the specified quality. OUR TRAINING PROGRAMMES We organize workshops and panel discussions every Saturday. The main objective of these sessions are to improve the motivation of the employees, to keep them updated on the latest technology and trends and to create workable relationships to facilitate efficient functioning. The topics include quality control and assurance, better shop floor safety, machinery maintenance, excellence in a team, effective leadership, etc, etc. it is compulsory for the shop floor workers and the middle level management to attend these programmes. The resource persons for these programmes include us, i.e., from the human resource department and external faculty and sometimes professional and technical consultants. These programmes often serve as a platform for exchanging information between us and the workers. In this process we also come across various issues which were overlooked by the management and we also get an insight into those issues. ONE WAY TRAFFIC First it was difficult to make the employees come to the workshops. And then it was made compulsory and we had full attendance, but the workers tried to avoid these

Homelessness in Raleigh, North Carolina Essay Example for Free

Homelessness in Raleigh, North Carolina Essay This paper presented the subculture of homeless people in Raleigh City, North Carolina. The paper focused on describing the health problems and issues being experienced by the homeless people in Raleigh. It also enumerated the different health care systems available in the city that provide health services to homeless individuals, as well as the different organizations built to address the needs, health and housing concerns of the homeless people in the city of Raleigh. Moreover, the researcher also attempted to describe an ideal health care system practices and services that should be made available for homeless individuals and for the whole community. Homelessness in Raleigh, North Carolina Homelessness is a state and social condition wherein an individual or group of individuals cannot afford to own a house or shelter.   Some sociologists associated homelessness with augmented risks of mortality or simply the inevitable increase of population.   However, other sociologists identify homelessness to be a consequence of socio-economically deprived populations. Whatever the cause of homelessness is, the fact remains that homelessness is becoming a serious problem all over the world. It is estimated that more than 100 million people worldwide are homeless, â€Å"of which 20 million to 40 million are adrift in major urban centers† (Habitat International Coalition [HIC], 2005). Homelessness is one of the serious problems in Raleigh, capital of North Carolina. Although Raleigh is a capital city, a number of residents here are facing the problem of poverty, unemployment, health problem, and homelessness. This has led some people to build different organizations and health care centers which aim to resolve the mentioned problems. There are also several health care services established to manage the health problems in the community. This paper will dwell on the subculture of homeless people in Raleigh, North Carolina and on the diversity in health care organizations being provided for the community. The Community Profile of Raleigh Raleigh is the capital city of North Carolina with an estimated population of 341,891 of which 49.7% are male and 50.3% are female. Raleigh population is dominated by mostly working-aged adults with 77.6% of its residents aged between 18 to 64 years, 7.5% under age 5, and 7.8% aged 65 years and over. There are different races inhabiting the city wherein 60.4% are White American, 28.2% are African American, 0.4% are American Indian and Alaska Native, 3.8% are Asian, and the rest of the other races not mentioned. The total family household is 136,993 with a median income of $51,647 in 2007. Of the population 273,453 (16 years old and over), 179,896 are employed in industry and civilian labor while 10,738 are unemployed (US Census Bureau, 2007). Raleigh is governed by a city mayor, a city council and a city manager with a budget of $557,055,589 in 2006-2007 wherein municipal service cost is at $200,000. As for social services Raleigh has three hospitals, seven police stations, 27 fire stations, one library, and six universities. As for recreational establishment, Raleigh has 117 city parks, 22 staffed centers, nine non-staffed program centers, two art centers, 112 tennis courts at 25 different locations, eight public swimming pools, and 8,817 acres of parks and greenways (City of Raleigh Website, 2009). For the past decade, Raleigh had developed as center for education, research and development in North Carolina. Moreover, cultural activity flourishes in the city, for it houses theaters, symphony orchestra, art museums, galleries, and other entertainment and recreational enterprises (Community Link, 2009).

The Peregrine Falcon :: essays research papers

The Peregrine Falcon The peregrine falcon belongs to a group of birds called the Falconiformes. This group includes vultures, kites, hawks, eagles, and falcons. Other than vultures, all of these birds hunt and kill other animals for food. Falconiformes are equipped with hooked beaks and strong talons, making them excellent predators. All Falconiformes are daytime hunters. The peregrine falcon is the best-known of the fifty-eight birds in the falcon family. The word Peregrine comes from a word that means, "one who wanders." This falcon has definitely earned its name. For example, some of Canada's tundra peregrines fly to Brazil each winter. Peregrine falcons are found in every single part of the world except Antarctica. They were once trained by kings to hunt and bring back kills. This sport, called Falconry, is still popular. However, in the 1960s the American falcon came close to extinction. Most of the damage was done by poisons that farmers used to kill insects. The worst poison was DDT. By the time naturalists learned of DDT's effect on wildlife, it was almost too late. The American peregrine's scientific name is Falco peregrinus anatum. At one time, people called this falcon a duck hawk. That was a poor name, since falcons aren't hawks and they rarely kill ducks. The American peregrine was once found all across the eastern United States and southern Canada. In the west, the species was found from Mexico to California. DDT poisoning hit this subspecies the hardest. Even today, naturalists are still working hard to save the American peregrine from extinction. The smaller tundra peregrine (Falco peregrinus tundrius) lives farther north. Tundra peregrines range across the treeless regions of Alaska and Canada. They are also found in Greenland. Peale's peregrine (Falco peregrinus pealei) is the third North American subspecies. This western bird ranges from Oregon northward to Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. Peale's peregrine is the largest of the three subspecies. The tundra and Peale's peregrines have escaped the worst effects of DDT poisoning. Most peregrines are slate blue on the back and wings. The top of its head is black. Black feathers around the eyes reduce glare and improve the bird's vision. The white underside of a Peregrine's wings, tail, and chest show more bands of dark feathers. A peregrine falcon is a medium-sized bird about the size of a crow. Female peregrines are larger and heavier than the males. An average female (called a falcon) weighs a little over two pounds. The female is eighteen inches in length from beak to square tail. Her long,

The Self in a Social World

L. I am but a mass of tanned skin, black-brown hair, intimidating eyes, relatively normal features, and limbs and extremities of regular length stuck onto a body of less than average height with a slight belly to match. I have never seen myself as physically fit, exactly, nor do I see myself as someone head-turning gorgeous like a lot of my friends are. There are a lot of things about me that I want to desperately change in a physical sense, because really, I am nothing above typical. Regular mood swings are a norm for me, hormonal imbalance or none, though I ant say I'm emotionally unstable.You might say I'm sensitive; I'm easily touched, easily ticked off, easily pleased, easily hurt. I tend to be intense and extreme with my emotions, and very vocal about it too. Without a venting outlet, my emotions may be easily displaced. My mood is often dangerous and difficult to control, like wildfire. Sometimes, I think of myself as a mirror; how I behave depends on the people I'm with. If h e's the shy type, I'm the shy type. If she's bubbly and talkative, then that's me as well. The only time this doesn't work is when the person I'm with is a loud and obnoxious ass.Normally when there are plenty of people I don't know, be it walking around the Magic complex or sitting in a classroom full of people I don't know, I'm very guarded and conscious of my actions, making me look cold and quiet sometimes. This stems from my intense fear of public embarrassment, I think. But once Vie settled in a little niche, especially with the people who are close to me, the loud, wild and sometimes shameless little monster inside of me comes out with a vengeance. He. I'm not exactly a socially-awkward person, nor am I totally socially-adept.I'm either mainstream nor hipster, trendsetter nor wallflower either. Truth is, I'm really just somewhere in between all that. And I like where I am. I'm not the type to be easily swayed by new trends, habits, practices and opinions, sans political opini ons because I am so pathetically apathetic on those matters. Only in recent years have I begun to be as friendly and cordial as I can to new people I meet. I often try to keep my mood and behavior in check when I'm with my friends as well, because even though they know about it, I don't want to show them the ugly side of me that I only how myself.Now, even if I didn't graduate as the class valedictorian and simply made it with a humble Honorable Mention medal, that hasn't stopped me from thinking of myself as fairly smart. I have intelligent parent's and relatives and I think that's influenced me plenty. I do read and write a lot. I pick up a lot of things from books and movies and my father to be able to do those well, so much that I was able to conquer my fear of public speaking. Although it doesn't apply all the time, I do pick up on things rather easily, making schoolwork lighter for me than most of my friends think so.Still, I don't think that highly of myself in this matter. I am not special, and again, nothing above typical. II. Physical: 1 . ) Physically fit 3. ) Attractive 4. ) Has dimples Emotional: 1 . ) Emotionally stable 2. ) Intense with her feelings 3. ) Short-tempered 4. ) Sensitive 5. ) Happy-go-lucky Behavioral: 1 Careful 2. ) Competitive 3. ) Energetic 4. ) Perfectionist Social: 1 Friendly 2. ) Sociable 3. ) May come off as intimidating and difficult to approach Cognitive: 1 . Above average 2. ) Intelligent 3. ) Witty 4. ) Competitive Ill.For the Physical aspect of the survey, to everything aside from the typical â€Å"average height, brown shoulder-length hair†, I say â€Å"WHAT? † I was honestly laughing at the number of people who responded with ‘physically fit' and ‘sexy, because not only is one of them awkward to read, I also don't find the other one true at all. I always berate myself for my thighs and my arms and my belly that seem to be growing a hundred miles per hour. The responses in the survey make me th ink one of two things: 1 . Maybe it's all in my head after all or 2. They're Just saying that because they don't want to make me feel bad. And to be honest, the second one seems a lot more plausible to me. Because, really, I can't see this body as ‘physically fit' at all. Other than that, almost everything else I read off the survey answers were pretty much things I'm aware of or I already knew about myself. It makes me think how transparent I really am of a person, even to people I haven't been friends with for over a year. This fact assures me somehow, and I seem to take it as a good thing.Since Vie always hated people who are fake and ‘plastic', two-faced people who only care about looking good in front of other people, it's good to know that people are seeing me as I really am, even the rough spots and the dark sides, and that I'm not one of those people I absolutely loathe. It's nice to know I haven't completely turned into the person I swore I'd never become. You'd probably expect me to say something like â€Å"This survey activity has opened my eyes and inspired me to change, etc. † but no, that's the exact opposite of what Vie realized.I realized that there's really nothing to change after all. I already like everything myself, my short-temperateness, my faux icy demeanor, and even my that. Lastly, I thank my friends who responded honestly to this survey. I got to see how other people saw me, something Vie always been curious about, and I learned, based on how fast I ran out of survey forms, how many people I actually consider as friends who also see me the same way. Also, based on the fact that I'm still friends with these people, I realized how much they've accepted me, despite all my shortcomings as a person and as a friend.