Self-Reflection Profile Essay
It was one of those rare hot summer days back in my home country Germany. My mother and I boarded an overcrowded Lufthansa plane at Frankfurt’s international airport, starting a journey that would have a lasting impact on my life. I was just 5 years old, but the memories seem as vivid today as the actual experiences were back then. It was my first trip to the United States of America. I remember loving everything about it, the people, the food, the smells, the sceneries. It felt like home from the moment I arrived. Today, I believe that this trip sparked a flame inside of me that grew bigger and bigger as I grew older. I became passionate about everything and anything American. It was as simple as watching a cowboy
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I felt connected to the United States at any given point in time. After finishing high school, graduating from a 3 year hospitality training program, being drafted into the German military and joining the workforce for approximately one year, I was presented with the opportunity of a lifetime. I was asked if I would be interested to spend 18 months in the United States as a management trainee. That was the day when my childhood dreams became a reality. Over the course of my childhood and life as a young adult, I spent hundreds, probably even thousands of hours researching the United States. Some would have called it an obsession, I called it a passion. After reading Gladwell’s “The 10,000-Hour Rule” in Chapter 2 of Outliners, I cannot help myself but believe that his rule might have applied to my life at that time. I didn’t practice on an instrument and I didn’t program computers, but I dedicated an enormous amount of time to perusing a dream, and guess what, it became reality! Gladwell presents a very well structured and logical thesis in the second chapter which illustrates how only intense practice leads to mastery of a skill. Unfortunately he fails to deliver on validating any counterarguments and solely focuses …show more content…
Their introduction serves as generalization showing how his argument can be widely applied. Mozart, the Beatles and Bill Gates complement the introductory story well and “Build on substance, not overtone” (Anthony Weston, 2009, p.5) in an easy to follow order that appears almost natural. “The 10,000 Hour Rule” (Gladwell, p.35) starts to seems plausible considering Gladwell’s ability to “Use representative examples” (Anthony Weston, 2009, p.11) throughout the Chapter. The author repeatedly points out how each person of interest in the examples was exposed to lucky circumstances, allowing them to spend additional time on activities they would later succeed in, just like he did in the introductory section speaking of
How many hours of someone’s life are necessary to perfect a skill? 300? 5000? Perhaps try 10,000 hours. In this chapter from Outliers, “The 10,000-Hour Rule”, Malcolm Gladwell argues that talent isn’t innate, but takes 10,000 hours to perfect a skill based on opportunity, talent, and practice. Throughout the chapter “The 10,000-Hour Rule”, Malcolm Gladwell effectively relies on logos--evidence from well-known figures and charts that show age similarities--to support his theory that it takes a particular window of time to offer someone the opportunity to practice for 10,000 hours to succeed at a skill. However, Gladwell ineffectively relies on repetition of evidence and failure to
Right away the readers get interested in learning what the then thousand hour rule is about. Gladwell reviews the lives of extremely successful people and how they have had success. There are many ways in which logos are used in Outliers. Gladwell viewed children in Berlin playing the violin and saw that kids having ten thousand hours of practice, were proven to be better at playing the violin, than kids with less than ten thousand hours of practice. He also took a look at Bill gates, which dropped out of college and started a very successful company, called Microsoft. Bill Gates had thousands of hours of practice in programming and other abilities learned through his short years at college. There are no shortcuts at becoming great; everything can only be achieved with lots of practice and hard work.
As Gladwell conducts his argument, he writes with confidence and authority, which expresses his passion and knowledge about the subject. Gladwell’s poise throughout the essay, combined with his resume, establishes his credibility and constructs a rhetorically effective argument. Being a best-selling author as well as a professional
The day was finally here. It was November 11, 1990, the day that our family was to go to ¡®Land Of Liberty.¡¯ I heard so many different things about this country called United States of America and I was warned that it would be nothing you¡¯ve expected. The plane ride did not seem as long as it was; partly because I was lost in my own thoughts with hopes and anxiety. I thought about what I will become in this massive country I was headed and how soon I will adapt to this new culture and people.
Furthermore, Gladwell’s tone and style of writing throughout Outliers contributes to his arguments’ effectiveness. The manner in which Gladwell tells the stories in relation to each individual claim is brilliant. Not only is the writing tone of the author informative, thoughtful, and compelling, but it is also frequently conversational. Many times in Outliers, Gladwell seems to be speaking directly to his readers. The author achieves this conversational tone primarily by asking questions within his arguments. In The 10,000-Hour Rule chapter, Gladwell applies this tone when he asks, “What’s ten years?” The author is challenging the reader to determine what significance ten years has in relation to success. Unknowingly challenged, the reader searches for an explanation within his or her own thoughts before continuing reading. The author answers his own question, “It [ten years] is roughly how long it takes to put in ten thousand hours of hard practice” (41). Gladwell also uses a conversational style of writing by including a personal touch within the epilogue, A Jamaican Story. “That is the story of my mother’s path to success,” writes the author (272). With this statement, Gladwell is opening up a personal revelation to the reader in a way
What is the 10,000 hour rule? Malcom Gladwell uses this rule to help explain that
The personal statement is very important to applicants who intend to be admitted to an undergraduate or graduate school. The role of a personal statement is to make applicants be different from other applicants. It mainly serves the purposes of persuading the admission committee of applicants’ great passion for the study field, explaining their experience that shaped their personality, demonstrating their longtime desire and commitment for the degree, and showing their life goals. What the admission committee is looking for in a personal statement varies from school to school, major to major. Art and Design is a unique program requiring its prospective students to be different in every aspect. The Art and Design Admission Committee is looking for a student who has creative potential in all respects. Hence, for those who want to apply to the School of Art and Design, they should understand how to present their stories, experiences, practice, goals, philosophy, inspirations, and aspirations in a creative way.
Dr. Sandra D. Wilson (2001) asks, “Have you ever felt as if you were the only caterpillar in a butterfly world? Do you often feel as if you have to do twice as much to be half as good as other” (p. 16)? If you answered, yes, then that is what Wilson (2001) calls binding shame. “Shame is the soul-deep belief that something is horribly wrong with me that is not wrong with anyone else in the entire world. If I am bound by shame, I feel hopelessly, distinguishingly different and worthless (p. 16).
This paper is the development of my personal theory on Christian Counseling. I use many scriptural references to support my beliefs and stress the importance of gaining wisdom and knowledge from the bible. It incorporates all of the presentations, readings, and critiques I did at Liberty University’s Theology and Spirituality in counseling course. I talk about how I integrate Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality into my Christian counseling and believe that they all have a lot to offer the Christian counselor. The role of integration and multitasking is necessary to be an effective Christian counselor under the guidelines of the American Association of Christian
Essentially, the topics Gladwell covered in this book include are, being at the right place at the right time, the 10,000-hour rule, timing, upbringing, and pursuing a meaningful career. Although all of these have been proven by Gladwell to be a major component of success, I do not agree with the idea of a particular upbringing will determine success. With this idea, Malcolm also includes that
Being great at something doesn’t guarantee success, and Gladwell states it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert at something. That’s why it is imperative to choose something that can make one successful to ripen into an expert in. An example would be a person becoming an expert at folding clothes. Just because that person became an expert they are more than likely not going to become successful from that particular skill. An example Gladwell gave was the Beatles whom spent an extensive amount of hours practising at Hamburg. Their talents were undefined and crude before they would go on to play for many consecutive hours at Hamburg. After they received 10,000 hours of practice they initiated a long and successful journey that led to their
study involving violinists and about how many hours they’ve practiced in their lifetime. This study polled the violinists, resulting in similar results between each of them. Each of the violinists, all on different levels of playing, had practiced for at least 10,000 hours. Gladwell also stated that regardless of your origins and riches, the only thing that matters is practice for a
The foundation of my personal philosophy lies in my values, beliefs, and simply put what I believe is true. I am fulfilled when my patients are empowered, are positively involved in their health, able to make informed decisions about their health and wellbeing, and optimizing outcomes. I have emerged and improved in many ways as a professional nurse as a result of the RN-BSN program. I will confidently say that as a nurse and a supervisor that I am more proactive. I try to identify issues, seek solutions and resolve them before they develop into problems. At my job, I used the knowledge and skill of being proactive to reduce falls and patient hospital transfers in the agency to zero for a two consecutive quarters. Secondly, I am more prepared
Malcolm Gladwell supports his claim that in cognitively demanding fields there are no naturals, by writing interesting anecdotes that show examples. For example, the article contains an anecdote in talking about how Mozart’s earliest works were not outstanding; his earliest masterwork was created when he was twenty one years old, showing he had already been practicing for ten years and he had to practice to create his masterwork. Gladwell argues that even Mozart was not a natural. According to Gladwell’s article, he shares a story about the Beatles and how they played eight hours every day for two hundred seventy nights over the course of a year and a half. This evidence shows that they practiced long hours, and when they got to the United States they
I had never felt as excited as I did on that glorious day. I was scared, sad, and at the same time, I was happy. It was a big decision for me at that time, but life is about decisions, and I made mine. Now, as I remembered with tears in my eyes, I write about the beginning of my new life in the United States.