Author Archives: Gabriela

Research Proposal Draft

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The topic I chose to do a research about is happiness in adolescents who are struggling with their sexual preferences. Being in a public high school myself I saw that there were many kids who were homo sexual and had a hard time being accepted in such a harsh world. I personally had a friend who struggled all through high school with accepting himself and being worried about losing his friends or about what others thought about him if he was to be public about his sexual preference. I believe that everybody should have an open mind about homosexuals because they are no different from us and have the same feelings we do. This topic will most likely attract the people who already accept homosexuals but I want the people that don’t accept them as of yet to see how this affects people. How can someone be happy if they are hiding who they really are? They aren’t being true to themselves and to others around them. A lot of adolescents commit suicide and its always on the news about another teenager not wanting to live because they aren’t being accepted by the world. I want to know how they can find happiness knowing all the hate thats going on around them and how do they stand up to what they believe in because not many people can do that.

http://www.pbs.org/thisemotionallife/topic/adolescence/identity-formation

This article talks about the ways adolescents feel pressured about telling others who they really are and how it leads to depression, stress, low self esteem, drug abuse, and even having suicidal thoughts. Also how they have identity problems and not having parents who are accepting who should be the first person to have their back in this situation and it also creates conflict with self and being stereotyped in your teenage years is hard because when in that stage of your life you are still finding who you are and having that holding you back even more can be more difficult for yourself as well.

 

Do apps really help figure out your happiness ?

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In my opinion apps do not tell whether or not your are happy. Maybe I didn’t use the apps in the correct way but they didn’t work for me. But the most common app that a lot of people seem to go after is to track their mood and see whether or not the app can figure out how happy they may be. I tried out the T2 Mood Track and it wasn’t successful, you basically just put in your moods and nothing happens. It just shows up on a scale and the way they changed over the days kind of like keeping a chart of how much weight you lost every few weeks. Another app I tried was the Expereal and I was kind of not excited about it because of the fact  that the only way to login in was to login with your facebook account. You also had to put a picture and give access to your pictures and basically everything on your phone. So I don’t think that apps can figure out how happy you are, maybe the apps I tried out didn’t work for me or I didn’t use them correctly but they weren’t very helpful. It was more of just me putting information into my phone. I also noticed that some apps that were listed only worked on androids which sucked because when I looked at the information it looked that it would have probably worked better than the other apps. Another thing is that the apps that you had to pay for looked more interesting obviously than the free ones because they might actually work if you really have to pay for it right ?

My Happiest Place in NYC

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My happiest place in New York is my new apartment. Growing up my family and I lived in a real tight small studio and I shared a room with my brother and sister. If you were to walk in to the old apartment it was pow the living room the dinning table, move right it was our room then my parents room then walk up and the kitchen was there. So it was really small for 5 people. Growing up and seeing the struggle my goal in life is to give my parents everything and knowing that they struggled really has pushed me. In August I signed a lease and moved my family into a two bedroom apartment.

Being able to have space makes me more comfortable even though being in a tight space made us close. This new apartment is everything to me i’m working and going to school and helping out with bills. When I walk into my apartment i just feel a sigh of relief and a peaceful and calm environment. I can do whatever I want here and not worry about bothering somebody or being in their space. I know people always say they can’t wait to get home from a long day but I honestly really mean that. Seeing how happy my family is makes me happy and it really warms my heart because I know that the new apartment may be their happiest place in new york too. This reminds me of the discussion about how sharing experiences with people can make you happy because thats what really happened in my situation.The new apartment just shows how a family is united and it honestly just shows how everything is peaceful and everyones different personalities.

My happiest place in new york is my apartment, everything in here makes me happy and knowing I did something not only for myself but for my family makes it even more special and knowing that new and better experiences are going to be made is bittersweet to me.

Essay Revisions

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The first thought that came to my head when I heard Prof Belli say give your essay to the people in your group was oh my god they are going to laugh at my essay and it’s all wrong I don’t even want to hear the feedback. In high school we didn’t really focus on writing argumentative essays it was mostly just focusing on the regents and what is on there. So it was a bit difficult for me to do my essay because I didn’t know how to start it off or how to make my introduction good with a reasonable thesis that made sense. I read the readings that were on the schedule and sort of got an understanding on how to go about it. When I got my essay back with all the revision done and with the feedback from the people in my group, I was surprised at their comments saying that I did a good job on presenting the thesis and giving details to back up my body paragraphs. I honestly wasn’t expecting to hear anything good but hey i doubted myself a little too much. They pointed out that I didn’t have a title and that was hard for me because I didn’t want the title to say happiness and state the obvious. Also another thing I left out was the work cited page mainly because I was focused on just getting the argumentative essay done and making sure it was the right thing. What I have to work on when I revise my essay for the final draft that’s due on tuesday is just to make sure my ideas are flowing and getting rid of any unnecessary information and changing my conclusion. Another thing I have to fix is my body paragraphs, I was told that I had two of the same ideas in different places and when I read my essay over I realized they were correct so it’s something I have to fix. I need to make sure that the grammar is correct and that i don’t have any run on sentences because I do tend to do that when i’m just focused on writing and not paying attention to my work.

Class Notes for Oct. 14, 2014

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In class on Tuesday we went in our groups and were doing peer review. Just a few reminders when you are reviewing your essay that is due NEXT WEEK TUESDAY :

– it is okay for you to use own experiences but it doesn’t have to be your own, you can use your own analysis with others as well. Just don’t research nothing.

– Stay in 2nd person to keep the reader engaged and you can talk in 1st person when you are talking about yourself.

– When you turn in the essay make sure you email it in the correct format and bring a printed copy to class.

– Don’t do any quick editing, revise your essay and take the comments from your classmates into consideration and make changes. Its okay to think beyond your own thoughts and start from the body paragraphs and then fix the intro and/or conclusion.

– Remember that this is an argumentative essay so try not to summarize.

And bring in the readings that were required to be read for the past class sessions and be ready for the writing workshop on Thursday.

Pre draft Essay Thesis

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What is your definition of happiness and can you explain it in an easy way to someone? Or is happiness just a “thing” that isn’t explainable and just an emotion or feeling? Can anybody buy happiness? Happiness has been put out to everyone that it can be bought and material things can make you happy. Having everything in the world does not necessarily make you happy, it has been proven that being rich and having all of the things in the world doesn’t make you happy but miserable. “How to buy happiness” by Sonja Lyubomirsky and the Op-Ed of “How to buy happiness” by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton both speak about the ways people think being happy is and what people do. But the reality of all of this is that happiness can’t be bought but it can be gained by experiences with others.

HUS , Chapter 8 Questions

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1. Describe how the client empowerment model for change effectively impacts a clients well-being status.

Client empowerment model for change impacts a clients well-being by giving them hope and so they can believe a change can and will be made. The job of a professional in the counseling session is to help the client think on their own and make their own decisions like for example on what may be the right or wrong thing to do in a certain situation and how they can better their lives.

2. Describe how a community based agency’s mission and goals promotes well-being and happiness for they clients.

A community-based agency’s mission and goals promotes well-being and happiness for their clients because being assigned to help a community and knowing you’re helping a person and helping yourself understand them, it’s for your well-being.

3. Describe how an agency’s organizational chart promotes well-being through the chain of command.

An agency’s organization chart promotes well-being through the chain of command because it shows us how the agencies work together and get a task done in an organized way.

4. Describe how the referral process is utilized in the relation to the client’s well-being.

The referral process is used in multiple ways to the clients well-bein. First, it’s used to assess the client problems and needs, second; to provide the connection between the client and the needed services. It helps the professional help the client and have a better understanding with what’s going on.

5. Describe how an informal network can aid in the referral and well-being goals.

An informal network can aid in the referral and well-being goals of a client by reaching out to organizations that are public and/or private agencies like churches, businesses and schools. It uses these type of communications to help the client and figure out what may be the problem and how to help them.

6. Describe how documentation and paperwork requirements aid in the well-being of the client.

Documentation and paperwork requirements aid in the well-being of the client because it is used to transfer any important information about the client to other professionals if they move on to different agencies and help them know what’s going on and how to help them go through whatever it may be that they are going through.

7. Describe how stress and “burnout” of the worker can impact the client’s well being.

Stress and “burnout” of the worker can impact the clients well-being because they wouldn’t help the client, they would just have a negative affect towards the clients and not help them like they are suppose to. It will only make the situation more difficult.

8. Describe how professional development activities can impact the well-being of the worker. Describe how it also impacts service delivery to the client.

Professional development activities can impact the well-being of the worker by gaining skills and have more knowledge on how to go about in a certain situation and give their best help/work to their clients.

9. Describe how a human service worker can utilize client empowerment as a tool in the well-being of a client.

A human service worker can utilize client empowerment as a tool in the well-being of a client by letting them make their own decisions and supporting them in whatever they may do as an independent and not having people thinking for them as they go on in life.

Visions of Well-being for NYC

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As you may have seen in both videos of the Victory speeches by Democratic nominee Bill De Blasio and Republican nominee Joe Lhota ; they both want to make a change for New Yorkers and they have different ways in doing so.

Beginning with Bill De Blasio, he made his victory speech as one of the nominees in Brooklyn where he is from while the others did theirs in Manhattan where it is usually taken place. Bill De Blasio started of his speech by remembering and event that united all New Yorkers at one point which was for 9/11(10:15-11:00). He wants people from New York to help each other out in rough times and to stick together like how they once did. Another thing that Bill De Blasio stated in his speech was “The Tale of Two Cities” and how its divided between the wealthy people and the poor people(11:35-12:00). He explains that hospitals are being replaced for condos and how policing has turned into racial profiling and how mothers and fathers are being afraid that their children aren’t getting the education they need. He continuously repeats that New Yorkers cannot afford to take anymore risk.

Joe Lhota started off his victory speech telling the people of New York about his family and how his parents worked hard to get what they wanted. He supports the NYPD because of the history his family has in it. (3:00-3:20) He believes that issues,vision,principles and experience brought him to victory and that New York City is the city of opportunity. Joe Lhota wants everyone to have the same opportunity he had given the fact that his family struggled just as anyone else. He brought up what Bill De Blasio said in his speech about the tale of two cities and he believes thats just something that is being used to tear the city down and create bancrupcy and that he won’t let the city be divided rather unite the city (5:30-6:00). Joe Lhota jus wants the city to be untied and not be divided, and he thanks NYPD for helping bring down crime rates and supports Stop and Frisk which totally contradicts what Bill De Blasio believes about that.

Obviously these two men have two different opinions and have their own way to which they  believe can make a change to New York City. They both believe that families have a big take in this and helps them move forward but Bill De Blasio really keeps family in the change but Joe Lhota just focuses on change and moving forward not being held back and reinforcing education.

Money Can’t Buy Happiness

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In the article “How To Buy Happiness” by Sonja Lyubomirsky , talks about the different ways people try to buy happiness and how they use it, some wisely and some not very wise. It is stated in the article that a research was done and there was a man who was very wealthy and had everything that he wanted but he still wasn’t happy with himself. Something that was said in the article really stood out to me and i’m sure it did to all the readers was ” It’s how we spend our money-not how much we possess-that has the greater influence on our happiness”. Spending money on expensive things for yourself doesn’t make you happy but if you spend money on helping others you will most likely be guaranteed happiness because you know you used your money for a good cause not just thinking about yourself.

The research that Sonja Lyubomirsky did showed that people are not using their money wisely and this supports the point that was made earlier about spending money on others by helping them and sharing the same happy feeling. Experience on the other hand can make a person happy. Why ? Well if you are helping a person that needs things more than you do you are going to feel good about yourself and share the same mutual feeling with the other person. But if you’re just working all the time and spending long hours of the day to be wealthy and have everything you want won’t make you happy, you’re just going to be a miserable person trying to get things you don’t even need thinking that you are going to be happy. Personally, I agree with this article not only because there is research to prove it but because it’s very true that money can’t buy you happiness, having everything in the world won’t make you happy, being rich won’t do anything for you but gain you respect from others around you not bring you happiness. But if you know how to manage your money if you are a wealthy person and you give back to the community or help out in a charity you will definitely find happiness and be happy for yourself.

Can you buy happiness ?

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In the article “How to buy happiness” by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton, they speak about different ways a person can buy happiness. An example that they used was imagining to wake up with $1 million dollars and being able to spend all on yourself but what were you really gaining out of that? Just because you had all that money and the first thing a person would think to do is spend it on themselves doesn’t necessarily mean that they are happy. What they did was do a little experiment and handing out Starbucks gift cards to people and telling them to share it with another person of just giving their gift to another person and realizing how happy that made them instead of just keeping to themselves and not being happy at all. With this research they showed that you can find happiness by giving a gift to someone or sharing something with a person and sharing an experience with someone rather than alone. You can have all the money in the world but if you’re alone what good does that do for you? Wouldn’t sharing and giving something to a person and seeing them how happy you made them make you happy ?

I agree with this article, just because you may have a lot of money doesn’t mean that you are happy. Helping people and knowing that  you made someone smile and sharing the same experience with someone can make both you and that person happy. You can buy happiness by sharing it with others because it won’t make you happy as an individual if you just do things for yourself.