6 Ways to Train Your Essay Writing for College

6 Ways to Train Your Essay Writing for College 6 Ways to Train Your Essay Writing for College Before you finish college, you will have written a great deal of academic papers. That being said, writing each paper is not necessarily easy. The best way for students to improve their essay writing for college is to train the skill-set already taught and expound upon previous writing lessons. Read as Many Academic Papers as You Can Reading different academic papers which are published in your school library or online will open your eyes to college level standards for writing, as well as for research and for citations. These might not be things to which you have been introduced before, and it is better late than never. Learn about Different Citation Styles There are many mistakes made by new college students with regard to citations, often because they are not familiar with the multiple citation styles each teacher may ask them to use. In any given semester students might be asked to write something using APA citation for one class, MLA for another, and Chicago for a third. Familiarizing yourself with these styles and looking over reference material on common mistakes students make can prevent you from making them yourself. Deepen Your Knowledge on the Plagiarism Issue Take seriously the plagiarism guides published by your academic institution and read them more than once. Remember that the key here is to properly cite sources you use and never copy the work of someone else. Take into consideration, too, that even accidental plagiarism can be the ground for expulsion. Ask Your School Teachers What Your Weak Points Are Ask your teachers where you can improve, what areas you should read more about, and what things you can do to hone your skills. Your teachers might tell you that citations are a problem and then direct you to a great book on proper citations. Make a List of Different Topics and Write Essays on Them The more you practice, the better you will be. Don’t limit yourself. Pick interesting topics and produce short, 5-paragraph essays on them so that you can critique yourself. Use the Services of Custom Writing Companies You can send them the essays you have written to practice and they can proofread your samples and tell you your mistakes, so that you can learn from them. With this information in mind, you can then make a list of guides, how-to texts on different academic matters to have it on hand when in college. This will make your homework decidedly simpler for you. Overall, you can improve your writing in myriad ways. Whether you ask your teacher for guidance, practice writing essays regularly, or just read, you can take the steps necessary to prepare yourself for custom college level essay writing.

What is Early Action and Early Admission

What is Early Action and Early Admission SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Shakespeare once wrote, "Better three hours too soon than a minute too late." If you're someone who likes to get things done ahead of schedule, then you might consider applying about two or three months sooner than regular deadlines under an early action program. Early action lets you apply early to one or more colleges, and you find out if you got accepted earlier too. This guide will go over the ins and outs of early action and the schools that offer it. Read on to figure out whether applying early action is right for you. What is Early Action? Early action is an admission plan offered by some colleges in addition to regular decision. Asthe name indicates, you apply by an earlier deadline. This deadline is often, but not always, November 1. This November deadline is months earlier than the regular decision deadline, which is usually in January. When you apply early action, you don't have to do anything special except for make the deadline. You'll still apply the normal way, usually through the Common Application. You'll fill out your application with information, such as yoursenior year courses and extracurricular activities. You'll send your official test scores through College Board or the SAT, invite your teachers and counselor to upload their recommendation letters, and submit your personal essay. Once you send everything in, you don't have too long to wait before hearing back from the admissions office. Most early action applicants hear back in mid-December. This opens up the awesome possibility of getting a college acceptance only halfway through senior year! Besides getting accepted, the other less welcome outcomes could be that you're denied or deferred. If you getdenied, you can't apply again for that academic year. If you're deferred, then your application will be pushed forward into the regular applicant pool to be reviewed again in the next round. If this happens, then you might want to call the school to see if you can get any more information. You could alsosend your mid-year grades or more recent test scores if they'll help your cause. Early action, unlike its counterpart early decision, is not binding. If you're offered a spot in the upcoming class, you don't have to accept it right away (unless you want to!). Instead, you can wait until May 1 before telling your EA school whether or not you plan to enroll. This policy allows you to compare admissions and financial aid offers from other schools that you applied to. You can apply elsewhere under regular decision, but can you apply to more than one school under early action? That all depends on the school. So many options! A little guidance here, please! Can You Apply to More Than One School Early Action? In most cases, the answer to this question is yes. You can apply to as many schools as you want under early action or regular decision. Some schools that allow you to apply early action anywhere include Boston College, CalTech, Georgetown, MIT, UNC Chapel Hill, University of Chicago, University of Virginia, and Villanova. For a few schools, however, the answer to the above question is a firm no. Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, Yale, and the University of Notre Dame, for example, only have a restrictive or single choice early action plan. As Harvard says, "If you apply...under our Early Action program, you may also apply at the same time to any public college/university or to foreign universities butyou are restricted from applying to other private universities' Early Action" programs. Basically, single choice early action means you can only apply to that one school early. So if you're applying to a restrictive early action school, make sure it's your top choice! Even though restrictive early action prevents you from applying under other schools' early action programs, you can still submit applications elsewhere under the regular decision deadlines. Again, this policy allows you to compare offers and financial aid throughout the spring before committing to a college. Early action is a great way to get a jumpstart on your college applications and ideally have your plans finalized ASAP senior year. While this can save you from a lot of the stress of the college notification waiting game, what benefit does it give to colleges? Why do colleges offer early action? Why Do Colleges Offer Early Action? Colleges have all different approaches, philosophies, and priorities when it comes to building a student body (and these can change from year to year). It makes sense that they offer different admissions plans as well. A few of the main reasons for an EA deadline are... To Space Out the Work One logistical reason for early action is that it allows admissions officers to space out their work. With more and more students applying to college, offering two deadlines lets schools stagger the review process over the year, rather than lumping it all together in one crazy month. To Control Enrollment Numbers Another reason that early action candidates appeal to admissions officers is that they're statistically more likely to accept an offer than are regular decision candidates. Think about it: if you apply early to a school, then you're probably really excited about that school. You're motivated to prepare months earlier than normalto get your application in one time. Students who apply under RDmight be applying to six or more schools on their college list, some safeties and some that are big reaches. That's largely why RD candidates less predictable in terms of where they'll enroll than EA candidates. For colleges, being able to predict their enrollment numbers and maximize their student yield is a big plus. To Discover Qualified Students Finally, colleges appreciate that EA applicants tend to be some of the most qualified candidates. A few years ago, Harvard, Princeton, and UVA eliminated their early action programs, citing evidence that early admissions predominantly benefited white, more affluent students with access to better resourced college counseling. Harvard's interim president in 2007, DerekBok,said,"Early admission programs tend to advantage to advantaged. Students from more sophisticated backgrounds and affluent high schools often apply early to increase their chances of admission, while minority students and students from rural areas, other countries, and high schools with fewer resources miss out." Other schools didn't follow suit, though, and all three colleges brought back their EA programs. Why? According to Harvard, they realized that students withall backgrounds wanted an early option. Realistically, though? They probably realized they were missing out on some of the most qualified students, who just applied early action somewhere else. Besides gaining more insight into how college admissions work, does any of this matter for you as a student? Well, by understanding that colleges are looking for qualified candidates andare looking to improve their yield, you could conclude that applying EA cangive you some strategic advantage. By demonstrating both your competitiveness and your commitment to the school (perhaps by saying it's your first choice in a supplemental essay, if possible), then you might curry more favor with admissions officers than would an RD candidate, whose commitment might not be perceived as equally strong. Let's break this down in more detail as we try to answer the much debated question - Is There an Advantage to Applying Early Action? There are a lot of rumors that you have a better shot of getting in if you apply EA. Sometimes students feel pressured to apply early, thinking it will increase their chances of admission. So does applying early help you? Now for the frustrating answer: yes and no. Data does show that a greater percentage of early action candidates are accepted over regular decision. Plus, as more and more students apply early, colleges have begun to raise their early acceptance rates too. In this past year, Harvard increased the percentage of EA acceptances from 6% to 17% That's a whole lot higher than its overall (and extremely selective) acceptance rate of 5.9%. You might conclude from this that you do have a better chance of getting accepted as an EA applicant. But there could be another explanation. The greater acceptance rate could reflect the greater number of qualified EA candidates. Perhaps students who apply early, especially to selective schools like Harvard, contain a higher proportion of well-qualified candidates than students who apply RD. MIT has this to say about its early action program: "There is no positive or negative prejudice associated with or conferred by applying during either cycle. We do not have a preference, and there is no strategic benefit to be had. We have two cycles for two reasons: 1) it helps us spread our work out over a longer period, devoting more time to each application and 2) it provides applicants with more options sothey can choose which works best for them." So is there any advantage to applying early? I would suggest the answer lies somewhere in the middle of Harvard's data and MIT's statement. Colleges do seem to appreciate the greater yield of EA candidates and their enthusiasm about attending. On the other hand, the EA pool could be even more competitive than the RD pool. Applying early won't make weaker grades or test scores look any stronger; in fact, compared to other early applicants, they could look even less up to scratch. So what conclusion can we drawhere? I'd say your number one priority should be sending the strongest application you can. If you've done careful planning in advance of your November deadline (more advice on how to do this below), then by all means, go for it! Apply early action. If you feel like you're doing a rush job, consider holding off and applying in January. Don't apply EA because you feel like you "should" if you think you're not ready. Take control of your college planning and go with the option that feels right to you. To cover all possible bases, you could call up or visit the admissions office of your school of interest and ask them about their EA program. Ask how selective EA is, or what their process is on denying versus deferring an applicant. Find out if there's any differences in financial aid processes and packages for EA vs. RD candidates. While you may be starting to have a sense of whether EA is right for you in terms of your readiness, what else do you need to think about when deciding to apply early? What steps do you need to take throughout junior and senior year? IsEarly Action is Right for You? Early action pushes your college planning timeline earlier by a few months.When deciding whether or not to apply early, you should think about your readiness and the strength of your credentials at that point. If you're already a senior, you could evaluate your readiness based on the info below. If you're a younger student, you can use this timeline to guide your college planning as you get ready to apply early action. Let's break down your planning byeach application component and your timeline for completing it, starting with your course grades. How Are Your Junior Year Grades? If you apply EA, your application will reflect your academic record up through the end of junior year. This differs from regular decision, when you'll send your mid-year senior grades as part of your transcript. If you're satisfied with your grades and GPA up until that point, then EA could be a great choice. If your grades are improving and you want to show that momentum in your college app, then you might wait until a January deadline. Remember that applying EA means that the admissions committee will focus on your freshman, sophomore, and junior years. If you'd benefit from adding the first half of senior year to the mix, then it might be to your advantage to wait for RD. How Are Your SAT or ACT Scores? If you apply EA, then your last chance to take the ACT or SAT would be in September or October of senior year. It could be pretty nerve-wracking if you're relying on these fall test dates to achieve your target scores. To ease the pressure, you could leave yourself two or three test dates in sophomore and/or junior year. For instance, you could take the SAT or ACT in the spring of sophomore year, fall of junior year, and again in the spring of junior year. With this schedule, you'd have three opportunities to achieve your target score, plus an additional date in the fall of senior year, just in case. Alternatively, since not everyone wants to take the SAT or ACT three or four times, you could take your test in the fall and spring of 11th grade. The main takeaway here is that you'll need to prep and plan for the SAT or ACT a long time before your EA deadline. If you find that you've run out of available test dates and still aren't satisfied with your scores, then you might decide to wait until RD. That way, you'd have one more opportunity to test in the fall of 12th grade. Do You Know Who to Ask for Recommendations? According to Emily Post's rules of manners and etiquette (probably), you should give your recommenders at least three weeks to a month's notice before your deadline. Be thoughtful about who you ask, and take the time to fill out a detailed "brag sheet" with your reflections on your goals andvalues. A lot of students ask their junior year teachers, so it can be a good idea to ask them at the end of junior year. At the very least, you should have your brag sheet ready and ask your teachers by October of senior year in order to apply EA. Meeting and talking to your counselor is important too. Share your plans and get to know her so she can write you a detailed and insightful rec letter. The keypoint here? To apply EA, fill out your brag sheet, talk to your recommenders, and make your rec letter requests at the end of junior year or by October of senior year at the latest. Are You Working On Your Personal Essay? Just like with your test scores and recommendations, you also want to start preparing your personal essay a few months in advance of your EA deadline. Even though it's a short essay (only 650 words for the Common App), it takes a lot of time, thought, and careful revising to produce an effective personal statement. To apply EA, you should start working on your college essay over the summer, and give significant time to drafting, eliciting feedback, and revising. Finding the time to work on your essay and balancing it with your other schoolwork and activities is another challenge to applying early, but one that you can manage if you get a head start and set deadlines for yourself. These are a few of my favorite schools... Is the EASchool Your Top Choice? This last question is most important for restrictive or single choice early action. Since restrictive EA only lets you apply early to one school, you should make it your top choice. How can you figure this out? For one thing, you can research the school, its programs, and its culture and social scene online and in person. Visit campus, speak to people in the admissions office, and speak to students about their experience. Maybe you can even do an overnight visit. Make sure that the school appeals to you and that you have concrete, significant reasons for wanting to spend the next four years of your life and education there. If you're really excited about attending the school, then this could motivate you to accomplish all of the steps described above in time to create an impressive application by the EA deadline. In closing, let's review the most important pieces of info you need to remember about choosing and applying early action. Key Takeaways About Early Action If I had to distil all the information above into the most important points for you to remember, they would be these: Some schools offer early action deadlines. They're usually in November, and you'll hear back whether you were accepted, denied, or deferred in mid-December. A small number of schools have restrictive or single choice early action, meaning you can't apply EA anywhere else. Applying early action isn't binding. You can apply to other schools and compare admission and financial aid offers before responding by May 1. If you're planning to apply EA, then you should prepare your application months in advance, payingspecial attention to your SAT or ACT scores, recommendations, and personal essay. Remember, applying EA can be a great option if you're excited about one or more schools and ready to apply. Don't rush and send off a weaker application just for the sake of applying early, but if you demonstrate that you're a qualified candidate, then you could have great success applying EA. If you're lucky, you could have your college plans all set before the new year! Then instead of anxiously awaiting college decisions, you could spend the spring relaxing and shopping for dorm room furniture. What's Next? Now that you know all about how early action works, check out the full list of schools with early action and their deadlines. Are you curious about how early decision differs from early action? Learn more about applying ED with this in-depth guide, plus a full list of schools with early decision and their deadlines. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Which habits of the mind you are going to set for yourself as your Essay

Which habits of the mind you are going to set for yourself as your highest personal goals for the rest of this semester - Essay Example Striving for accuracy will help me to set a goal in my mind and check the progress. This habit of mind will help to review the criteria, rule and confirm the works that are completed exactly matching the specification (Hyerle 76). This will help to get aware of the expectation of the faculties and standard that needed to be done to meet the requirement. This might take maximum effort and devotion but ultimate finished product will help me to succeed in this semester. Checking continuously on the goals that are set by me and finding out ways to improve and succeed in this semester. And to make sure that I am doing my best is concentrating on my aim and blocking everything else. Goals set by me might me higher, but this habit of mind can help me to improve constantly to find out best possible results for this semester. `This can be concluded that striving for precision and accuracy will help me to identify flaws, strength and weakness. Constantly correcting my work and flaws will help me to find out best possible result to achieve my goals for this

Healthy Lifestyles Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Healthy Lifestyles - Assignment Example ecifically, the detrimental consequences of these unhealthy behaviors manifest when two or more habits of the behaviors merge to produce synergistic effects. Technically, frequent health habits coalesce to form health lifestyles. Based on the interview, relevant data and information were obtained regarding particular unhealthy lifestyles. Admittedly, trends on unhealthy lifestyles suggested by the interview’s results were a bit surprising. Prior to the interview, I perceived the behaviors of tobacco use, alcohol consumption, and lack of physical exercises as experienced by members within the age bracket of 45-60 years. Surprisingly, these unhealthy behaviors are prevalent among members of the young generation; particularly those between 20-35 years. Actually, this optimally productive portion of the population seems to frequently engage in risky health habits more than those within the age bracket of 45-60 years. For example, alcohol abuse and reckless driving topped the list of most common unhealthy behaviors examined during the exercise. Observably, certain unhealthy behaviors are primarily associated with members of a particular age group. For example, teenagers and young adults between the ages of 15-24 are fond of smoking, drinking alcohol and using phones while driving compared to members of any other age group. Contrarily, adults between the ages of 55-64 years emerged as having unhealthy physical activity habits coupled with improper nutrition. With respect to teenagers and young adults, the pronounced frequency and intensity of drug abuse are relatively high compared to any other age group. In addition, reckless driving habits are more common among teenagers and young adults compared to any other age group. Reasons for this trend in young persons may include but not limited to emotional immaturity, juvenile delinquency, and social anxiety among others (Burnham, 2010). Contrarily, drinking, smoking and reckless driving habits subside towards adulthood.

Push and Pull Factors in the Tourism Industry Essay Example for Free

Push and Pull Factors in the Tourism Industry Essay Gogo (formerly known as Aircell), is an innovation company, becoming leaders in providing inflight connectivity. The company began in 1991, when they began creating telephone systems for aircrafts, they progressed from this and in 2006 began creating a broadband network for aircraft. In 2008, they launched this new system into commercial flights and since then they have been offering this service for various American airlines including US Airways, Virgin America and American Airlines (Gogo 2013). The purpose of this paper is to discuss the recent experience of using Gogo Wi-Fi on an American Airlines flight, and investigate the strategy of Gogo, with reference to the innovation dilemmas when creating this new service. The experience occurred on an American Airlines flight from San Francisco to Los Angeles, although the technology had been available for a few years, this was the first time the consumer had experienced Wi-Fi whilst flying. Although the consumer had no need for the Internet on their flight and only purchase it to update their Facebook status, they recognised the benefits of having the internet on long haul flights, this included people being able to check emails and stay in touch with people and it also provides people with the ability to download entertainment from online sources and no longer be limited to the selection provided by the airline. Due to the nature of the Airline industry, at the core level it can be viewed as a generic offering across the industry. This resulting in airlines often creating a differentiation strategy, in order to gain a competitive advantage as they seek to increase the value of the product/service on offer to the consumer (Hooley et al, 2012). The Gogo Company acknowledged that their innovation could provide a service to Airlines that will enable them to differentiate themselves. This can be identified on the Gogo website, as it states ‘By differentiating your airline and providing a memorable passenger experience, you stand to gain loyalty among your valued flyers†¦lets you custom wrap the video portal, so your brand is consistently comes forth whenever passengers are connected’ (Gogo 2013). In 2009, American Airlines announced it would be using Gogo services on their domestic flights, costing the airline $100 000 to install (Semuels, 2009). This therefore shows that American Airlines have recognised the benefits and the increase ticket sales and revenue they could receive by advertising Gogo Internet is now a part of inflight entertainment. When innovation occurs within a company, they must consider the following innovation dilemmas, whether the product or service is a technology push or market pull, product or process innovation, open or closed innovation and finally a technological or business-model innovation. Technology push is when innovation is pushed by technologist or scientist who pass this information onto the company, from there they will manage, promote and distribute this new innovation. This can be compared to market push, this is when companies create innovation based on what the ‘lead users’ are doing in that particular industry (Johnson et al, 2011). One aspect that has enable Gogo to overcome this dilemma, is by listening to what the market wants and ensuring they are up to date with the current market technological tends. Product Innovation is when emphasis on innovation is placed on the finally product, whereas in process innovation is when innovation is focused on the production and distribution (Johnson et al, 2011). At the beginning Gogo was focused on the product innovation, but as the company has grown, they have shifted to process innovation. This can be identified on the Gogo website stating that ‘1 in 4 people consider their laptop, tablet or IPad an essential carry on item’ (Gogo 2013), therefore Gogo has had to ensure its innovation is compatible across the multiple devices. Open innovation is when companies improve their innovation through gaining ideas through internal and external personnel. This can be compared to closed innovation, when innovation is based on internal personnel (Johnson et al, 2011). Gogo tend to go for closed innovation to ensure they remain leaders in the industry however ensuring they are receiving feedback from their clients to ensure they are meeting their needs. Technological or business-model innovation, technological innovation is when innovation is relied on new science or technology, whereas business-model innovation emphasises on creating new models that will bring stakeholders together in a new method (Johnson et al, 2011). Gogo began as a technological innovation, however has become a business-model innovation for companies using Gogo products and service, as it changes the way they sell and promote their airline company. Overall, Gogo are the market leaders and innovators in inflight communications services. And from reviewing the company’s current strategy, it can be recognised that will continue to be market leaders as they are aware of the demands from today’s consumers, and are constantly updating, innovating and meeting these demands. Although by company innovating new products or services, it dose propose the risk of innovation dilemmas, Gogo has proven that they can overcome these dilemmas and continue to lead and grow.

The Debate Over Video Game Violence Essay -- Violent Video Games

Controversy surrounds almost every topic and has been around for centuries. Controversial topics usually involve different types of people that have two opposite points of view about a certain topic or idea. The widespread expansion of technology has allowed people all over the world to debate certain topics that they deem to have a correct understanding of. Unsurprisingly, the effect of video games on the human brain has been a controversy since video games were first released decades ago. Video games involve the use of body and mind, which causes the player to be "inside" of the game, and they can see the world through the eyes of the character of which they play. Some psychologists and other scientists suggest that violent video games can cause psychological disorders which can cause players to engage in violent behavior in real life. On the other hand, there have also been studies conducted that suggest violence in video games does not affect the brain in that kind of way. Peop le from both sides of the viewpoint bring up good arguments that support their claim and really brings into question our understanding of video games and the impact they have on our brains. These scientists have conducted experiments over the last couple decades but still don't have an answer to what the underlying cause of children and young adults to be violent in real life as a result of playing violent video games, or if it does at all. Unfortunately, many of the people viewing this subject point the finger at others to see who is responsible for getting the children into violent video games. Some may blame the manufacturers for targetting children with their advertising of violent video games, and others may blame the parents for purchasing the... ...mes+influence+aggressive+behaviour+kids+expert+warns/9812114/story.html>. Lejacq, Yannick. "'Call of Duty' maker gears up against 'violent video games' bill." NBCnews. NBC, 11 Sept. 2013. Web. 11 May 2014.. Rettner, Rachael. "Do Video Games Boost Aggression? Study adds fire to debate." Fox News. Fox, 25 Mar. 2014. Web. 11 May 2014. . "S. 134: Violent Content Research Act of 2013." 113th Congress. N.p.: n.p., 2013. GovTrack. Web. 11 May 2014.. Tobias, Greitemeyer, and Mugger Dirk. "Video Games Do Affect Social Outcomes." Sage Journals: n. pag. Sagepub. Web. 11 May 2014. .

The Good Life: Perspectives of Buddha and Confucius

There are several definitions of the technical term â€Å"good life† and there are countless standards on â€Å"how one should live†, however, there are two personalities that teach differently with regards to this. This paper entitled â€Å"The Good Life: Perspectives of Buddha and Confucius† intends to answer the following questions: 1) â€Å"What is the ‘good life’ according to Buddha? †; 2) â€Å"What is the ‘good life’ according to Confucius? †; 3) â€Å"How should one live according to Buddha? †; and last but not least 4) â€Å"How should one live according to Confucius? †. II. The Good Life According to Buddha The good life according to Buddha is to live according to certain standards that will lead one to obtain the â€Å"definitive life of bliss† (Thapar, 1966). In addition to that the â€Å"good life† is where â€Å"equal treatment† is experienced (Thapar, 1966). This is stated under the category â€Å"Sunyata† (Thapar, 1966). Furthermore, it also entails â€Å"nirvana†, which means that â€Å"whatever happens or no matter how disordered incidents may turn out to be, there will always be perfect peace, as well as, fairness in the end† (Gotiangco, 2001). Believing in such is already living the good life according to Buddha (Gotiangco, 2001). Moreover, living the good life is also to practice the combination of â€Å"compassion and wisdom† (Gotiangco, 2001). This means that individuals ought to show sympathy towards other people which may be achieved by â€Å"understanding the real meaning of life (Gotiangco, 2001). He reiterated that â€Å"wisdom should be developed as well to be able to impart the right teachings of Buddhism while compassion should also be present to be able to appropriately carry out the appropriately the teachings of Buddhism† (Gotiangco, 2001). Last but not least is to â€Å"develop wisdom and faith† which involves the conviction with open-mindedness to be able to see visibly other people’s point of view without any preconceived notion and foregone conclusion; belief with extremely profound contemplation to be able to be acquainted with its soundness; commitment with efforts to be able to really comprehend it; and confidence with realization to be able to recognize that there is really no difference between the belief of an individual and the truth (Gotiangco, 2001). III. The Good Life According to Confucius The good life according to Confucius is a never-ending aspiration for moral faultlessness/perfection (Gotiangco, 2001). IV. How One Should Live According to Buddha According to Buddha, one should live in a matter that observes the following: A. Essential Teachings First of all, the basic and essential teachings of Buddha should be learned and practiced by an individual (Thapar, 1966). These include the following: â€Å"1) the Four Noble Truths which include the following: a) Noble Truth of Sorrow; b) Noble Truth of Arising Sorrow; c) Noble Truth of the Stopping of Sorrow; and d) Noble Truth of the Way which leads to the Stopping of Sorrow; as well as 2) The Noble Eightfold Path which consists of the following: a) Right Speech; b) Right Views; c) Right Conduct; d) Right Resolve; e) Right Effort; f) Right Recollection; g) Right Mediation; and h) Right Livelihood† (Thapar, 1966). B. Steps to Follow to Achieve a Life of Bliss and Perfection Second is to be extremely aware of the concrete steps to attain â€Å"a life of bliss and perfection† (Thapar, 1966). The following should then be followed: 1) It is important for one to discover what causes suffering to be felt or experienced (Thapar, 1996). Buddha technically defined suffering as â€Å"anything that hinders preference or anything which go against an individual’s will, for instance death, illnesses, etc† (Thapar, 1966). ) It is needed for an individual to know what he or she should do to be able to avoid encountering suffering (Thapar, 1966). Likewise, an individual is obliged to â€Å"control himself or herself† and to â€Å"fight off suffering† which â€Å"presents itself through lust, negative emotions, hatred, lapse in judgment, as well as, self-centeredness† (Thapar, 1966). This is in connection with the one mentioned in Part A of this section/category that te achings should be read incessantly to be able to internalize it (Thapar, 1966). This is because such internalization and habitual meditation will play a large role in letting go of wants and release of disparaging mania/fixations which will eventually keep the mind and body of a person to be calm (Thapar, 1966). Of course, to live calmly is to be able to initiate goodwill and capability of delivering rational decisions which are all parts of the good life according to Buddha (Thapar, 1966). 3) Last but not least is to know what is technically known as karma (Thapar, 1966). Buddha said that â€Å"since the calmness, rational judgment and goodwill are already present then it can be claimed that rebirth or karma has already taken place (Thapar, 1966). A human being who now actually has better control of herself/himself may now attain â€Å"perfect bliss or nirvana†, which in turn is the objective of living and so the most basic principle to how one should live as well (Thapar, 1966). V. How One Should Live According to Confucius There is a set of standards that one should follow according to Confucius (Gotiangco, 2001). It entails being ethical and being humanitarian (Gotiangco, 2001). Specifically, there are three elements included in the aforementioned two and these are â€Å"human relations, virtues, as well as, rituals† (Gotiangco, 2001). All these components are required or needed to be able to meet the standards on how one should really live from the perspective of Confucius (Gotiangco, 2001). A. Human Relations Human relations should be very harmonious according to Confucius (Gotiangco, 2001). The five kinds of human relations that should be kept are the following: â€Å"1) parents – children; 2) husband – wife; 3) older – younger; 4) friend – friend; and last but not least 5) ruler – subject† (Gotiangco, 2001). He advises that â€Å"a parent should be able to understand what a parents really means; a husband should know how to be a good husband; a daughter or a girl should be able to internalize the allusions highly related with being a female or a daughter; likewise, a ruler or a subject should be familiar of being a ruler or a subject respectively (Gotiangco, 2001). He said that everybody is anticipated to â€Å"relate† in accordance with the aforementioned kinds of relationships to be able to achieve harmony and maintain stability as well (Gotiangco, 2001). B. Virtues He thus reiterates that all the members of the family should be provided with the proper training to be able to exhibit the suitable and proper values relevant to the relationship they are involved with (Gotiangco, 2001). The training referred to here by Confucius include the following: First of all is â€Å"loyalty† (Gotiangco, 2001). Second is â€Å"filial piety† â€Å"which is technically defined as â€Å"the Chinese way of showing respect to parents and ancestors† (Gotiangco, 2001). Third is known as â€Å"obedience† (Gotiangco, 2001). Last but not least is better known as â€Å"conduct† (Gotiangco, 2001). Confucius stated that to be familiar with the aforementioned appropriate values will help people be more conscious of what they are about to carry out and since it maintains good relationships with others then it is a way of living the good life (Gotiangco, 2001). C. Rituals There are certain â€Å"rituals† that must be observed (and should be instilled preferably during childhood) as well according to Confucius (Gotiangco, 2001). Some of these are the following: First is to provide â€Å"formal education† to individuals (Gotiangco, 2001). This is in addition to the parental assistance and regulation given to their children (Gotiangco, 2001). Second is the â€Å"worshipping of ancestors† (Gotiangco, 2001). This is important it is effective in instituting and upholding â€Å"high esteem, reverence, faithfulness, as well as, loyalty among the members of the immediate family, as well as, that of the clan† (Gotiangco, 2001). Third is â€Å"contemplative reading or meditation† (Gotiangco, 2001). Confucius stated that the aforementioned is needed to enlighten the mind, invigorate it, as well as, instill and advocate values like tolerance/staying power, self-control/temperance, as well as, calmness that’s welled up inside a person (Gotiangco, 2001). He added that in times of extreme conflict or catastrophes, such values will definitely help the person (Gotiangco, 2001). Last but not least is the training in what is technically referred to as the â€Å"Confucian Six Arts† (Gotiangco, 2001). Included in the â€Å"Confucian Six Arts† are the following: ) â€Å"Music and Literature†, which are considered necessary for the â€Å"purposes of humanism and finesse† (Gotiangco, 2001). 2) â€Å"Mathematics†, which helps challenge and eventually sharpen â€Å"mental awareness† and â€Å"logic† (Gotiangco, 2001). 3) â€Å"Callligraphy†, which actually trains one to become extremely patient and strong-minded/indomitable (Gotian gco, 2001). 4) â€Å"Martial Arts†, which helps and molds someone to exhibit exactness and meticulousness (Gotiangco, 2001). In addition to that, it encourages maintenance of the body to become physically fit (Gotiangco, 2001). ) â€Å"Archery†, which â€Å"according to the philosophy of Confucianism, is needed for the purposes of developing deference, as well as, agility† (Gotiangco, 2001). 6) â€Å"Chariot Racing†, which Confucius says that it highly increases fortitude/stamina, as well as, adroitness/dexterity (Gotiangco, 2001). 5) â€Å"Confucian Literature Reading†, wherein a child is compelled to read the following books everyday: â€Å"a) I Ching or the Book of Change; b) Shuh Ching or the Book of History; c) Shih Ching or the Book of Odes; d) Spring and Autumn Annals; e) the Analects; f) the Great Learning; and last but not least g) the Doctrine of the Mean† (Gotiangco, 2001). The aforesaid books serve as â€Å"directions† or â€Å"models† for people to follow and to light their paths as they keep up with life and face all the challenges/endeavors that may come their way (Gotiangco, 2001). Confucius reiterated that the aforementioned rituals is a critical part of â€Å"how one should live† and so it is very important to him to start early with the aforementioned rituals (Gotiangco, 2001). He said that traditions will not only be sustained, the community/society will be cultivated and taken cared of as well (Gotiangco, 2001). In addition to that, the spirit of reciprocity lives on as well† (Gotiangco, 2001). VI. Conclusion The good life according to Buddha is one that is directed to reach â€Å"a definitive life of bliss† while for Confucius â€Å"it is the unending desire to attain moral perfection† (Gotiangco, 2001). According to Buddha, one should live by knowing and practicing his teachings and following the step s to attaining â€Å"a life of bliss and perfection† while for Confucius, one should live by maintaining good relations, instilling virtues and observing rituals (Gotiangco, 2001).