Category: Growing Up

To most, September 24, 1961, has no significant value and is a day just like any other, but for Jaime and Marlen Moreno, it was the day their daughter Nidya was born. Nidya Moreno was born to a family of two parents and a one-year-old sister. This family, which later expanded and developed, formed part of her ecological system which would influence her development and growth. The Ecological Systems Theory was created by Urie Bronfenbrenner who proposed that humans interact with five different environmental systems that develop our behavior and growth (1977). These systems include the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem. The systems expand from daily close interaction with the person to very minimal, if often no interaction, with the person. In Nidya’s case, her systems would include family, school, peers, social support systems, and life-changing events. Her family dynamic was not the norm for society at that time, with a nurturing and loving father and a cruel and abusive stepmother. These two types of environments combined with the taboo of coming from a divorced household would have a huge impact on Nidya’s development and behavior throughout her ecological systems.

Her less-than-normal family dynamic would impact every ecological system she was to encounter for the rest of her life, whether she knew it or not. Especially on the most personal level, her microsystem. The microsystem, according to Bronfenbrenner, is the immediate surroundings that a person interacts with daily that have an impact on the person’s foundation of behavior and development (1977). These surroundings can be things such as their family structure, parents, peers, or school (Bronfenbrenner, 1977). Nidya grew up in a divorced family, which ended up having a large developmental impact on her. Her family dynamic affected how Nidya would interact within her microsystems. Growing up, she only attended private schools that prohibited children from divorced households from attending, this meant she would have to lie about her family dynamic for the following 18 years. Most kids go to school and make plenty of friends and spend time at each other’s households and getting to know each other’s families, but not Nidya. She only had one close friend growing up who truly knew her story and could go over to her house, with her other friends that she kept the facade with she would have to go to social gatherings at their houses or just at school, never at her residence. Nonetheless, there were still problems with how these separate microsystems interacted with each other in her life.

The mesosystem is described as how microsystems interact with each other at certain developmental points in one’s life (Bronfenbrenner, 1977). The best way to see these two systems interact is for example when peer groups and home life interact, separately these two systems, family and friends, are involved in the child’s life as a microsystem, but when they come together and interact they become part of the mesosystem (Bronfenbrenner, 1977). When Nidya’s home environment and peer groups interacted with each other, she had problems interacting the two together in her mesosystem As previously mentioned, she couldn’t have friends come over because they couldn’t know the truth of her family dynamics, which made it hard for her peer group (friends) and home life to interact. She would have to make up excuses as to why they could never play at her house. It is very common for children of divorce homes to have problems with their peer groups and home environment interacting in their mesosystem (Bronfenbrenner, 1986). This problem continued until college, so growing up she had to have her peer group and family separate, unlike most children.

The micro and mesosystems require settings in which the child is actively participating in the environment; however, not all systems in the ecological system theory require the child to be actively involved for the system to have an impact on their development (Bronfenbrenner, 1977). This can be seen in the exosystem, this is where there are external environmental factors that influence the mesosystem and development (Bronfenbrenner, 1977). These external factors can be things such as their parents’ jobs or social support networks; they do not involve an active role in the child’s participation, but they still have an impact on their life. Nidya’s father, Jaime, owned a car repair shop for American-made vehicles, which was a thriving business that allowed her to have an exclusive lifestyle that allowed them to be part of certain social societies and support groups. However, when they lost the business, these lavishes were no longer part of her environment, changing the dynamic of her exosystem and in the latter her development. Nonetheless, seeing her father’s hard work and dedication created the foundation of her work ethic, and drive for success, so she can live a life standard of her please.

The macrosystem includes an interaction between the child and the exosystem in their cultural environment (Bronfenbrenner, 1977). This means that your society’s culture can influence your belief system, lifestyle, social class, and opportunities (Bronfenbrenner, 1977). This system can also be influenced by big life changes such as death. For Nidya, her macro system was influenced by her lifestyle, the social classes she belonged to, and the passing of her father. Before her father’s death, her family was part of the highest social class in the city and were members of elite societies that gave them connections that opened doors that seemed unobtainable to those outside their society. Yet, that all changed once her father passed. With his death came the closing of the business, the exile from elite societies, and a loss of exclusive and unreachable opportunities. This had a major impact on Nidya’s life and exosystem. She now had to fight twice as hard for the opportunities she once had, she became the sole provider for her family and she no longer cared to be a member of these elite societies. While her father’s passing devastated her, it helped shape her into the woman she is today.

This created the foundation for Nidya’s chronosystem. The chronosystem is described as environmental or historical events that occur throughout a person’s life that have an impact on their development (Bronfenbrenner, 1977). Growing up, Nidya saw how hard her father had to work to give her the lifestyle and opportunities she had. While she appreciated him and all his hard work, she knew that she wanted to go into a field that was more mental labor over physical labor. For Nidya, her chronosystem meant achieving her American Dream of becoming the first woman in her family to not only attend college but also become a Doctor of Food Engineering Sciences. After obtaining her PhD, Nidya went on to become the first woman to run the Nestle factories in Cartagena, and eventually all over the Colombian coast. She had made her American Dream a reality, obtaining a degree, having a fulfilling career, and doing a job she loves that requires mental strength over physical labor.

While all these ecological systems: microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem, have different impacts on a person’s development, they all interact together to develop them (Bronfenrenner, 1986). Bronfenbrenner showed that all interactions in one’s life, either directly or externally involved, have an impact on the development of a person (1977). Throughout Nidya’s 57 years of life, her ecological system has grown, developed, and changed, intertwining different events, people, and environments into her life, which continue to develop her to this day. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory comes to show that while one may think a person or event has minimal impact on development, it is not true. Every person and event has an impact on development, even certain dates (Pinquart & Silbereisen, 2004). Take September 24, 1961, for example, it’s a date that has no value to most people, yet for Nidya’s family, it is the day that her family was changed forever. That day has become an important part of her children and husband’s ecological system because it was the day she was born and without her, none of their systems would be the way they are today. 

 A Child’s Journey To Adulthood

Every child grows up and develops skills at their own pace. Child development is genetic and involves internal changes that can occur in children during their youth. There are internal and external factors that affect a child’s development and growth. In Heather O’Neill’s novel, Lullabies for Little Criminals, Baby is a 12-year-old daughter of a 26-year-old single father and heroin addict, Jules, who live in an inferior part of downtown-Montreal trying to survive the hardships of living with impecuniosity. It is evident that poor parenting can affect a child’s habits and views while growing up. In addition, living in poverty creates challenges that one must suffer through mentally, socially, and physically. Furthermore, exposing a child to illegal activities at an early age can adapt to this lifestyle. In Heather O’Neill’s novel, Lullabies for Little Criminals, the author illustrates Baby being raised with poor parenting, her exposure to illegal activities, and how living in poverty negatively affects her child development.

Inadequate parenting can negatively affect a child’s habits and morals growing up. In the novel, Jules exhibits characteristics of poor parenting through the way he raises Baby. Jules constantly swears around Baby without realizing she may pick up this habit. According to Bandura’s social learning theory, by observing the actions of others, children develop new skills and acquire information (Cherry). Baby, a 12-year old, proves this theory when she calls her doll a “little bitch” simply because she is frustrated (40). As a result of hearing a lot of profanity by Jules, Baby develops this habit as well. Being a young parent requires maturity and the sacrifices of putting a child’s needs before oneself. Jules forgets the responsibility of a parent and switches roles with Baby. For example, Baby tries to convince Jules a tattoo is something “you [cannot] erase” (86). Baby uses a firm tone as she tries to persuade Jules not to get a tattoo. Baby is obligated to take on the adult role of worrying if they can afford basic necessities or depending on herself to find the love she needs and desires. As a result, it forces her to mature quickly and stress about the responsibilities of a parent rather than treasuring the experiences of still being a child. Furthermore, his unstable and selfish behavior isolates Baby from the only family member she knows and forces her to depend on friends that are a bad influence. Jules’ addiction forces him to leave Baby months at a time while he seeks treatment in a rehabilitation center. If Jules’ realizes his responsibility of being a parent and avoids the chances of relapsing for Baby, he did not have to send her “to a center for rejected children, [she would not] have become such good friends with Alphonse. [She] would be a virgin” (206). His constant failures to stay sober results in his inability to take care of Baby for the past year. While Jules is unable to realize the impact that his decisions have on Baby, her desire to make sense of the world leads her to the exposure of illegal activities.

Growing up in poverty can restrict a child’s growth and development in the future. After being in a detention center, Baby is unable to go back to her old “high school” because she is a “system kid” (158). The current school program she is in is specifically for children who perform poorly in academics and helps them focus on life skills. However, this program cannot mentally challenge her capability of attaining knowledge way above her class. Baby is unable to flourish and challenge herself to create a future full of opportunities as a means to escape poverty. In addition, the ‘Family Stress Model’ proposes that poverty can contribute emotional distress and family dysfunction (Ahmend). Family distresses can cause problems in the relationship of adults that links to less effective parenting. In school, Baby makes a new friend, Lauren, and invites her over for dinner. When Lauren meets Jules and sees the aggression of him towards Baby, she immediately runs away. With the family dysfunction, Lauren “[gossips] to everyone about [her]”, not because Baby did her wrong, but because of the abnormal relationship between her and Jules (80). As a result, she “[did not] want to be friends with anyone at school” (81). Due to the lack of interaction with friends at school, Baby will have trouble talking to others and developing her social skills that can be a necessity to get a job or develop relationships. Lastly, children living in poverty are at a greater risk of behavioural and emotional problems according to the American Psychological Association (‘Effects of Poverty, Hunger and Homelessness on Children and Youth’). This is demonstrated when Baby and Theo break into a house and destroy its contents. They also steal things they deem is worth stealing. This shows Baby’s impulsive behaviour and her little to no regard of the consequences. As Baby makes impulsive decisions without thinking about the consequences, the society she lives in deems wrong moral activities acceptable.

In an environment where illegal activities are deemed normal, a child is unable to see the negative effects on their thoughts and development. “As children grow, curiosity propels them to enjoy broader, more complex encounters” (Eastern Florida State College | Eastern Florida State College – Home). With Baby growing up in a setting of “cheap hotels and strip joints”(24), she unconsciously conforms to the idea of “prostitutes and drug dealers [doing] their business all day long” as a normal setting (225). Baby’s surroundings with “prostitutes always around” eases the idea of her becoming one later on in the story (7). In addition, the absence of people telling her about the dangers of using heroin, she “never [thinks] of heroin as a terrible, frightening thing” (239). With the surroundings of drugs, Baby connects happiness as the equivalent of it. This is demonstrated when Baby says that Jules and his friends make her “laugh so much” and are “the coolest group of humans” (63). When she tries drugs, specifically marijuana, “pretty phrases and ideas” consume her thoughts (121). As a result, Baby becomes addicted to drugs as an escape from reality because it helps her forget the “ugly insecure things” (121). In addition, prostitution is an activity that is seen as normal in the book which Baby’s curiosity to see if she can find love. Her vulnerability of searching for unconditional love gives Alphonse, a pimp, an opportunity to manipulate her that he can give the love and attention she yearns for. Baby believes if someone wants “to get a child to love [him or her]… they should hide for three or four hours… and that child will turn you to God” (48). With Baby being an example of a child who is manipulated into child prostitution in return for love and attention, she is exposing herself to toxic relationships affecting her ability to trust others and look for healthy relationships in the future. This is displayed with Alphonse physically abusing her by “[slapping] on both sides of her face” when he sees her with Xavier (240). Growing up in a society that adapts illegal activities as normal, children are more likely to be curious and try it themselves.

In conclusion, Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O’Neill, clearly shows the negative effects on child development through examples of poor parenting, the curiosity of illicit activities, and the lifestyle of indigence. With her single father unable to fulfill his responsibility as a parent, she picks up bad habits and depends on others for support. In addition, living in poverty puts Baby in a place where the opportunities are limited to succeed in life, as a result, she will continue living in poverty. As well as the drugs she is exposes herself to gives her the opportunity to become an addict and use it as a way to escape her problems. Lastly, Baby will have difficulty looking for healthy relationships from experiencing Alphonse’s manipulation for her being a child prostitute. Baby’s quick development to mature strips away her opportunity to experience a ‘normal’ childhood while living with an incompetent father in a poverty-stricken city.

The transition from childhood to adulthood isn’t as clear-cut as the physical traits would lead you to believe. The feminine transition isn’t an exception. Culture plays a major role in deciding when the modification happens. Some mark a particular age as the purpose of passage whereas others are proverbial to acknowledge physical changes. Regardless, cultures around the world perceive that there’s a definite distinction between the two. Toni Morrison’s ‘The Bluest Eye’ tells a story from the attitude of a young black woman, Claudia, moreover because of the perspective of her as a girl. Morrison uses a shifting narrative perspective to indicate that the skills to know and replicate are what separate the educated lady from the innocent woman. Morrison shows that a correct transition ends up in a nurturing, freelance, community-driven lady, whereas obstructions within the transition can cause unaffectionate adults. ‘The Bluest Eye’ focuses on images of the ideal kid and therefore the ideal lady by making a distinction with characters that lack these qualities.

Early in the novel, Morrison primes the audience on how a perfect family ought to operate. She provides the audience with a refined style of what the ideal woman ought to be. Jane, the topic of the excerpt, shows qualities of curiosity, friendliness, and happiness. By introducing Frieda, Pecola, Claudia, Rosemary, and Maureen Peal to the reader, Morrison adds vulnerability, confusion, and a worry-free angle to the qualities of being a lady.

The Dick and Jane excerpt sets an early tone that women are often carefree. The imagery points out that Jane is adorned in a red dress, is eagerly waiting to play, and even has a companion in the dog. The scene is spirited and crafted with assumptions that the ideal woman would be familiar with. Maureen Peal is incorporated into the novel to provide a representation of the ideal woman. The quality that sets her apart is her carefree demeanor. She demonstrates fearlessness when she stops the bullies from harassing Pecola; she possesses a presence that commands attention wherever she goes. Once the boys feel Maureen’s presence, they’re suddenly “not willing to beat up three girls under her watchful gaze” (Morrison 67). The reason Claudia and Frieda are drawn to Maureen stems from the fact that they don’t have a similar carefree demeanor. Morrison establishes the carefree attitude to indicate how societal standing has a significant impact on the development of women. Maureen has money and everyone’s attention, which presumably she will desire as an adult. Claudia and the others have fewer resources in this novel, signaling that they’ll likely view acquisition as a privilege rather than a necessity in their adult years.

An important part of being young is being aware of the different ways individuals interact with one another. This curiosity is universal among all women. Women in Morrison’s novel are constantly attempting to resolve issues on their own. One such incident occurs with Claudia’s understanding of puberty. Frieda desperately tries to help Pecola, whereas Claudia is instructed to conceal the evidence from their mother. Claudia, however, has no understanding of the situation and rushes her tasks, insisting that she “had to stay behind and not see any of it” (Morrison 29). Several would prefer to stay behind and clean rather than witness the necessary operation. Curiosity is also evident in the peripheral character of Rosemary in this scene. Rosemary gets caught spying on Frieda and Claudia in Pecola’s moment of distress. Rosemary, even younger than Claudia, ignorantly points out to Mrs. MacTeer that “they’re playing nasty” (Morrison 30). The women in Morrison’s novel display curiosity to indicate that being a woman involves learning from experience, which ultimately implies vulnerability.

A major theme within The Bluest Eye centers on the vulnerability of young African-American women. This novel, set within the Forties, illustrates, however, the oppression of the black community and therefore the innocence from youth adds to the helplessness that the women had to beat. Morrison uses the attribute of being prone to reason why numerous young women are targeted as victims of rape. She additionally explains that while not vulnerable, changing into receptive to the community is not possible. Vulnerability goes hand in hand with being naïve and trustworthy. As kids, several suspect that adults can defend them from danger despite their relationships. In effect, kids are programmed to act friendly towards others. All women have the potential to finish up as cheerful adults, however, several adults make the most of the women and greatly hinder the aptitude to change into honest ladies. the foremost obvious example is Pecola. Pecola is initially introduced as a naturally kept woman. Morrison later reveals that Pecola is sad about herself. She expressly asks for blue eyes from God. By soliciting for the blue eyes, Pecola “would see only what there was to see: the eyes of other people” (Morrison 47) this is often the result of the community perpetually relating Pecola as “ugly” and refraining from wanting within (Morrison 73). Morrison intensifies her depression by limiting her dialogue within the novel and specializing in how others understand her.

Morrison provides an awfully clear example of what the best woman ought to be like. She ought to be just like Claudia: carefree, curious, and vulnerable. though Maureen Peal has these characteristics, she lacks the amount of curiosity that Claudia portrays. Morrison might have told the story of Pecola from Maureen’s perspective. This novel would be destitute of the feeling and reflection that ultimately makes this a growing-up novel. Morrison chooses Claudia to narrate Pecola’s story as a result of her possessing the qualities of a healthy magnitude relationship. One will see the truth of the hardships during a perspective reserved just for the foremost innocent kids. In a way, Claudia represents the best woman as a result of she will be the best lady.

What defines a girl is her ability to know and replicate in her life. Morrison says that the best lady shows a way of maturity, community, self-ownership, and independence. most significantly the girl should be nurturing. Nurture goes in conjunction with being an honest mother who will pass her life lessons down to her kids. Mrs. MacTeer demonstrates her maternal qualities throughout the novel. She eases her daughters’ transition into womanhood. She will do this by eliminating contact with people who are selected as unhealthy influences. Mrs. MacTeer tells the youngsters that these individuals are ruined. She explains that the prostitutes are ruined however deliberately won’t say why. She sets a filter to avoid putting unhealthy concepts into her girls’ minds. Mrs. MacTeer additionally proves her standing as an honest mother by kicking the man, Henry out of the house when she finds out that he created sick contact with Frieda. Mrs. MacTeer “hit him with a broom and told him to keep the Lord’s name out of his mouth” in concern for her daughter’s prosperity (Morrison 100). Morrison makes it clear that Mrs. MacTeer thinks of her kids and family before herself. the requirement to nurture is a vital part of being a whole lady and comes from maturity.

All of the older ladies within the novel apart from Geraldine share the expertise of maturing to become a stronger person. With maturity comes obligation and responsibility. This comes from the reflection of oneself. Morrison employs Mrs. Breedlove to indicate maturity. Mrs. Breedlove takes a strict business approach toward life. She takes care of labor before the rest as a result she understands that’s what is going to procure family expenses. She is aware that her responsibility is to take care of a gradual financial gain. Her family, however, becomes a liability and as a result, not necessary to her. She eventually takes a lot of pride in serving the white family rather than payment time along with her blood. Mrs. Breedlove, like her girl, longs for the best life even though it ends up in a loss.

Ironically, Morrison gave the 3 most shaping traits of being a girl to the characters with the smallest amount of noble occupations. The sole ladies within the novel who have power are the prostitutes. They’re not mothers or wives, however, they have all the qualities of the best lady. They are the balance between independence and community. Maturity is simply the coating of understanding one’s life. All of the ladies in this novel consider men to take care of a running home. The prostitutes solely consider the men’s capital however are continuously up to the mark of the link. Morrison says that all the men “came under their jaundiced eyes and were the recipients of their disinterested wrath” (Morrison 56). By doing this, therefore, they need a way of identity and independence. they are not going to adhere to a different person’s rules. They respect themselves and are proud of the facility that they need. This sense of identity and independence is balanced with the integrated community they share. Being a part of a community permits a bigger probability of prosperity. By taking recommendations from others within the cluster and acting as an extra family, communities are continuously protected. Females create a community that can live a life outside of their everyday family and create friends. The cluster that the prostitutes are a district of is particularly effective. Even though society encompasses a negative angle toward their occupation, the people within the cluster are more contented in terms of quality of life. Similar to Claudia being Morrison’s ideal woman, the prostitutes exemplify who Morrison would presumably contemplate as the best lady. The prostitutes have all of the qualities of ideal ladies and most significantly they perceive this. In contrast to the opposite ladies in this novel, the prostitutes are up to the mark of their destiny. They are doing not have a person who takes them downhill like several of the opposite ladies. The fortification particularly becomes a woman towards Pecola. Pecola enjoys being with Miss Marie as a result of the love she is given. While not their company, Pecola would be an afterthought for her mother. Even though the prostitutes don’t seem to be mothers in the literal sense, they’re maternal figures in Pecola’s life. They perceive their individuality and their role in society. Their power comes from utilizing what makes them adults, the flexibility to reason. By no means do they assume that marketing their bodies is noble, however, they are doing it to measure another day of freedom. The 3 ladies recognize that sacrifice involves profit. Morrison gave ladies just like the prostitutes and Mrs. MacTeer qualities of the best lady and stripped a number of these qualities from ladies like Geraldine and Polly. She needs the reader to be told that ladies| and girls with sensible transitions find themselves as ideal women, whereas those with unhealthy transitions tend to rub the negativity onto their kids.

Morrison permits the reader to assume that each of the prostitutes and Mrs. MacTeer were able to realize the correct methods of womanhood. These characters have sensible nurturing capabilities, they need a network of friends that assist them, and most significantly they need to be created by the transition from being a lady in a family to being a girl in society. This transition from childhood to adulthood is often simplified into the evolution from being vulnerable, worry-free, and curious to a way of community, maturity, and therefore the ability to nurture others. A girl isn’t prone to the negativity that society might march on her as a result, she encompasses a community. With community comes loyalty and maturity that effectively eliminates the worry-free childhood that was. A girl has the responsibility to be loyal to the community that she builds. All of this equates to a nurturing and maternal lady. The ladies within the Bluest Eye fight through all odds to become the most effective they will be. Their goal isn’t to create a reputation for themselves, however, to instill similar values that they abide by in kids who find to them for steering. Oftentimes, this path is full of dangers that young women cannot escape. The females who fail to progress manage to deal with reality as their entire lives are a “puree of tragedy and humor, wickedness and serenity, truth, and fantasy” (Morrison 139).

Morrison provides several samples of women who don’t with success rework into ladies. the two best examples are Geraldine and Polly. Morrison needs the reader to simply accept each as ladies, however, she cautions that the two lack the tools to boost sensible kids. Geraldine receives an informed approach to changing into a mother. She visited college to be told a way to pay attention to her family. This backfires on her once she realizes that she doesn’t love the individuals she considers family. The deficiency taken with her husband makes Geraldine look in different places for a similar friendship. She overshadows her son Junior and passes her failure onto him. Geraldine’s setup wasn’t to “indulge him in kissing bouts, but [to see] that every other desire was fulfilled” for Junior (Morrison 86). The audience watches as Junior inevitably becomes a bully and takes a step back from being incorporated into society. it’s straightforward to check Maureen Peal following in Geraldine’s footsteps. Like Geraldine, Maureen grows up with no structure in life. Each of the characters appears to be at the surface of issues and not the middle. Polly Breedlove creates a similar feeling of instability in her girl Pecola. Deeply disturbed by Polly’s mismanaged family, Pecola becomes self-examining and fails to hitch the community just like Junior. Pecola additionally maintains the qualities of maidhood and can’t with success become a girl.

Another hamper on the transition from woman to lady is rape. Characters like Soaphead Church and Cholly Breedlove make the most of ladies at a vulnerable stage in their lives. Soaphead Church believes that his work helps young women mature. Morrison needs the reader to know that Soaphead will do the opposite; he stops the transition altogether. Cholly equally ends all possibilities of Pecola changing into a girl. Rape from a male could be a trope for the dearth of nurture from a feminine within the Bluest Eye. Morrison explains that people who cannot transition into adulthood greatly risk their kids by failing to create the transition  All of that is attributed to the cycle that keeps several families out of the characteristics of a community.

The Bluest Eye focuses on the difficulties of transitioning from kid to lady. Morrison says that the best kid is worry-free, vulnerable, and curious by introducing characters like Pecola, Claudia, and Jane. She contrasts the women by giving adult qualities of maturity, the flexibility to nurture, independence, and community bonding. within the sort of rape or an absence of interest from mother figures, the sensation of being despised is prejudice to ladies in their transition. To create the transition, a girl has to realize herself through community and family. Morrison reminds America that essentially the very important transition from childhood to adulthood is full of barriers that a lot of fail to beat.

Growing up on a farm in the tiny town of Martinsville, Indiana life was fairly boring and routine. We had the cows to tease and run around with, and the golf course across the street where we would occasionally trick golfers into believing they had gotten a hole-in-one. However, this often got old and I found myself spending most of my childhood with my family members either at my house or close by. While there was little to do but let our imaginations run wild, there was one thing that made growing up here truly special and unforgettable, the Sunday family feasts.

My family and I were next-door neighbors with my grandparents which meant that every Sunday we would get together to cook and eat all day. These Sundays spent with my parents, grandparents, and younger brother were the highlight of my childhood and made growing up in a boring, small town so much better. A functionalist would say that this custom, created within my family, serves a biological purpose. Malinowski would argue that this custom works towards “satisfying the basic seven needs of humans” and is essential to the well-being of our family. I find this to be the case and definitely believe that these Sundays spent together were an essential part of growing up and shaping me into the person that I am today.

Now, these family meals did not consist of my mother and grandmother doing all of the work, each member of the family had a certain job to fulfill. I had a great amount of pride in my job, which was mixing and rolling out the dough for my grandmother’s famous noodles and gravy. This dish was easily the family favorite and a staple of our family gatherings. A structural functionalist, such as Radcliffe-Brown, “saw social systems almost like an organism where the different parts of a living being do their functions in order to keep the whole working.” They would say that each member of our family played a role and that without each of these roles we would not be able to enjoy our meals every Sunday.

Both functionalism and structural functionalism explain the reasoning behind gathering my family every Sunday to dine together. Not only do these meals help to satisfy the needs of human life, but they allow each member of my family to work together to achieve a common goal. While I lived in a rather boring, small town I wouldn’t trade my childhood experience for anything in the world. These Sunday dinners provided me with some of my most fond memories and were an essential part of my upbringing and shaped who I am today.

The novel ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ written by Harper Lee, accurately displays the racial injustices and prejudice prevalent to the people in the south, during the 1930’s. The text explores themes of prejudice, growing up and courage, in which is further developed throughout the novel and within the characters. ‘Scout’ Jean Louise Finch and ‘Jem’ Jeremy Finch, alongside with their father Atticus Finch defy the traditional norms in their society and fight for equity, for the coloured people of Maycomb. With the use of metaphor, motif, personification, colloquialism and symbolism, the novel truly captures the deep south in the 1930’s.

Maycomb is an old fictitious town that is affiliated with racial segregation, economic depression and prejudice against African-American people. It was based on Harper Lee’s hometown in Monroeville, Alabama and the characters within the novel reflect the personalities of those who surrounded Lee, during her childhood. The people in Maycomb are segregated into clearly defined groups, with the coloured folks placed at the bottom of the social strata and the whites on top. Which expresses the apparent ‘White-superiority’ that occurred during the 1930’s. The general populace are also heavily religious and are generally poor, illustrating the impact of the ‘Great Depression’ from 1929 to the early 1940’s. However, prejudice is also shown in the women of Maycomb. They are regarded as ‘unequal’ to men and are therefore not permitted to sit on the jury and must behave or dress a certain way. It is evident that Maycomb is entrenched with racial segregation, economic depression, prejudice and accurately displays a town within a ‘white-supremacist’ society.

Prejudice is the most recurring theme in the novel and is one that affects all and everyone who refuses to conform to the expected behavioural norms in society, at that time when the book was written. The concepts of fear, rumour and superstition feed prejudice, which is then embedded into the minds of Maycomb. This relates to the racial segregation that occurred between the ‘blacks’ and the ‘whites’ during the 1930’s, due to the belief that the ‘whites’ were superior. Prejudice is evident at Tom Robinson’s trial where although he is innocent, is falsely charged for rape and is therefore convicted. “Tom was a dead man, the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed.”, the metaphor ‘dead man’ refers to how Tom’s conviction was rather inevitable; as a result of Maycomb’s deeply rooted social and racial values and unjust treatment of African American people at that time. Additionally, Atticus is also degraded by the ‘white’ community in Maycomb for defending Tom in the trial. Mrs Dubose states “Atticus is not any better than the trash he works for.”, the personification of ‘trash’ represents the ‘black’ community and the statement regards Atticus as unequal and a disgrace to the rest of the white folks in Maycomb. The statement also discredits his hard work and compassion towards African American people, that are facing racial injustice. Both Tom and Atticus are prime examples of the few ‘Mockingbirds’ in the novel. Atticus preaches, “Shoot all the bluejays you want if you can hit em’, but remember it’s a sin to kill a Mockingbird”, the motif of ‘Mockingbird’ symbolises innocence and correlates to the unjust situations Atticus and Tom had to endure, in the long battle for equity. The revolting acts of racial prejudice is demonstrated through Tom Robinson’s conviction and Atticus’ abuse via metaphors, personification and motifs; in which both of these characters demonstrate a prime example of innocent ‘Mockingbirds’ scattered throughout the storyline.

Innocence is a pivotal aspect of being a child, however, growing up in a society where acts of cruelty and injustice aimed at a particular race are normalised, both Jem and Scout learn many notable lessons. Scout is a character that is both precocious and naive and by the end of the novel evolves into a person that is able to view another person’s perspective. The quote “Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough.” The metaphor “you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them.”, demonstrates Scout’s maturity and empathy for Boo Radley, a character who is highly prejudiced by the whole Maycomb community. In which, Boo Radley’s negative reputation is synonymous to the hatred of the ‘blacks’ during the 1930’s, as they were believed to be lacking in social status or morality. Scout’s self awareness is projected when she is rescued by Boo Radley from Bob Ewell’s attack, stating “I’d be sorta like killing a Mockingbird”. The motif of ‘Mockingbird’ symbolises innocence and implies that convicting Boo Radley as a result of killing Bob Ewell, would be morally wrong, as he simply wanted to save the children. Jem is a courageous and calm boy and later learns the racial injustices that are inflicted against the ‘Black’ people within his town. Loss of childlike innocence is illustrated when Jem is seen crying after Tom’s conviction, muttering “It ain’t right, Atticus.” The colloquial language of ‘ain’t’ emphasises his disgust and agony towards the judge’s unjust ruling and sparks his disbelief on how an innocent man could be imprisoned purely based on the colour of his skin. The theme of ‘Growing up’ is depicted by the use of colloquialism, metaphor and motif, through Scout’s ability to understand another person’s point of view and Jem’s loss of innocence after hearing Tom’s conviction.

The idea of courage is proven to be fundamental in the novel, to conquer all the evil and prejudice that exists within the close-minded town of Maycomb. The theme of courage profoundly correlates to the ‘Montgomery Bus Boycott’ incident enacted by Rosa Parks in 1955, where she firmly refused to abide by Montgomery’s nonsensical laws against ‘black’ people. Atticus is a rational man in a highly emotional society and is a prime example of courage. When Atticus is confronted and humiliated by Bob Ewell’s question “Too proud to fight? You nigger loving bastard?”, he simply responds “No, too old.” His reply demonstrates a high level of resilience and shows that he is the ‘bigger’ person in petty situations. Another character who displays tremendous acts of courage is Mrs Dubose. Though she is depicted as being an incredibly mean and nasty old woman, she conquers her drug addiction as she states “Leave the world beholden to nothing and nobody.” The metaphor “Beholden to nothing and nobody” portrays her determination to leave the world ‘clean’ from her morphine addiction, resulting her as the bravest person Atticus has ever known. Boo Radley is also a name that is highly feared in the town of Maycomb and is the centre of children’s jokes, games and gossip. Despite the fact that he is associated with an evil persona, he remains a gentle and kind person; therefore making him one of the most courageous and bravest characters in the novel. When Boo Radley saves the children from Bob Ewell’s attack, Scout states “He was real nice.” the description of ‘real nice’ emphasises how Boo Radley’s personality is completely misunderstood by the whole town and completely eliminates the negative stigma that surrounds him. Through thorough analysis, courage is proven to be an essential ability needed to destroy the prejudicial barriers in society, which is displayed through; Atticus’ resilience from Bob Ewell’s harassment, Mrs Dubose’s determination to abandon her drug addiction and Boo Radley’s persistence to remain a kind person.

To conclude, the novel ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ written by Harper Lee entails a fictitious storyline and incorporates the realistic themes of prejudice, growing up and courage. Through an astounding array of character development, the narrative exceptionally conveys the impact of the Great Depression that occurred in the Deep South. Furthermore, the clever use of colloquialism, metaphor, motif and symbolism help project these concepts, in which is heavily influenced by the context of that time. Therefore, the novel truly captures the prejudicial barriers and societal norms prevalent to the people of the south, during the 1930’s.

I am Sampathawaduge Anthony Mendis. I like to think I realize what you’re thinking right now, but it’s tough. Some individuals love my first name, some think it’s bizarre. Well, you’re not alone, I get tongue-tied trying to utter it myself, but from a cultural aspect, I adore it. My awesome long first name aside, I go by my middle name ‘Anthony’ nowadays. Aside from that, let me introduce myself appropriately. I was born on the little island of Sri Lanka in the beautiful city of Colombo. I was raised speaking 2 languages, which were English and Sinhala. At age 6, I began attending a private school, Lyceum International School, where the language of instruction was English. Hence, English became my first language and became a fairly eloquent language in my household. Sinhala, the native language of the Sinhalese people, was still a class I took in school, but was only intermittently used by me to respond to my parents’ occasional yak.

Sri Lanka, the pearl of the Indian Ocean, is located in the heart of Southeast Asia, making it a magnificent island filled with rich culture, endless beaches, timeless ruins, hospitable people, oodles of elephants, fun trains, renowned Ceylon tea, and irresistible flavorful food. Whilst I’ve been privileged in many ways, I have had my share of trials and tribulations growing up in Sri Lanka. Ever since 2005, when I first started school, I slowly but surely started witnessing the treacherous effects of the ongoing civil war. The civil war broke in the north of Sri Lanka, Jaffna, resulting in the dislocation of hundreds of thousands of people island-wide. Hearing the bombs and seeing the images of destruction around me certainly impacted me. Nonetheless, the grander impact was working with my uncle to distribute essential aid to homeless families and refugees. I still reminisce about visiting one establishment where two families were confined to one small room but still managed to make the best of the situation by playing checkers and consoling each other. Working with these families was a wake-up call to how fortunate I was to be living in a two-story house at that time, free from peril and war around me. It was gratifying, and their suppleness was stimulating to 12-year-old me. It was inspiring yet eye-opening to see my uncle be such a role model. Our acts of kindness helped these families return home, and the destroyed areas were eventually reconstructed. This experience showed me the power of what a remarkable duo my uncle and I were to these lost souls. To this day, I take great pride in this act of generosity and charity I performed. I’m extremely proud of myself and who I turned out to be.

It was the year 2012, I was 13 at the time when I started hearing chitter-chatter about how proactive it would be for our family to migrate to the United States of America. The civil war had ended, but it had propelled the economy of the country to the utmost ground. Migrating to America seeking better opportunities and an improved lifestyle for lack of better words sounded prodigious. Consequently, me and my family migrated to America on November 3rd, 2014. It was exciting, it was a new beginning, and it was enthusing to a fellow xenophile such as myself. I’ve always been one to learn about various cultures and entice in the marvels of foreign people, manners, and languages. I had my fair share of culture shock as every other immigrant kid, it truly was a startling feeling because of how attached I was to the place that I came to know and love. Fortunately, I was blessed enough to speak English pretty well and understand the American culture, I won’t say it didn’t take time, but I’m delighted to be living the American dream. I believe the United States, more so than any other country, can offer a challenging, engaging, and rewarding college education with opportunities for exposure to a diverse range of students from across the globe, no matter what their life story is. And although the place of my growth is Sri Lanka, America is becoming my second home, the place of my further personal growth.

Executive Summary

This course honed in on the information and integration of creativity in implementing effective teams. Everything starts from the top down. Awareness and innovation are created by leaders with innovation.

My eyes have been opened up to the ways of cultivating a culture of innovation in my current and future companies. The first assignment had me thinking of my creative thinking abilities through a profile, to every discussion, each assignment involved adding elements of the creative process which are: problem clarification, idea generation, potential solution development, and plan implementation (Puccio, n.d.). Looking at the interrelation of foresight, creativity, and innovation in the workplace; barriers to team creativity and the strategies created through diverse thinking styles, the organizational principles that foster creativity in the workplace, my creative process as a leader and manager, is challenging me to seek organizational success is based on diverse input (Grivas & Puccio, 2012;Brown, 2008).

Assignments and group discussions have opened my thought process to promoting creativity in the workplace. All the assignments and shared discussions have impacted my approach to promoting creativity in the workplace. The two subjects that are the most jaw-dropping are the Four sight preferences and Pixar’s principles of managing creatives. These subjects both highlighted complex problem-solving. Puccio talks about the stages of the creative strategy as a process of finding clarity which leads to problem-solving and actual development. Using one idea over another, Puccio says that clarifying, ideating, developing and implementing are useful approaches to figuring out complex processes. According to what the author said,This makes me as an Ideator, meaning that ideas come easily, my ideas generally lack strategy. I am an ideator and clarifier which sometimes puts me in trouble. As a clarifier, I tend to want to ask 100 questions to get to the point of something before I jump into it. This can be an issue when a project is needed to be implemented fast. Sometimes, as a clarifier and ideator, I think of tons of ideas that I want to be verified before I make one step.

This class opened my thought pattern to the need of being a manager and how diversity plays a role in creativity creation. As a Manager, I did not completely understand the reason for knowing the strengths and weaknesses of each team member and establishing a group alignment. This would alleviate workplace conflict as it relates to Change Management and introducing creativity and innovation into business processes(Puccio, Mance & Murdock, 2011). As a leader, I will come to interactions with my team with mindfulness. Being mindful of others’ opinions and ideas and providing an atmosphere of freedom can direct positive interactions and can minimize creative stifling according to Puccio et al (2011).

Within this point, I learned that diversity within a group creates a synergy and is an essential of the creative process (Prichard, n.d.). The class talked about the need to look at loopholes and open gaps in an organization that stifles creativity. The stifling of creativity hurts the developing and implementation phases. This class showed that I am a clarifier and ideator. The course revealed to me I always assume the role of clarifier when its ideas that were not mine. I do hold team members accountable to participate in the creative process as Grivas & Puccio (2012) recommends. With this practice, My team members may feel a need to follow my past team achievements from other teams. Creating a workplace environment that supports communication is the result of comfortableness in sharing ideas

Prichard, n.d.) The empathy maps of the four sight preferences can be helpful in helpful in allowing me to think of different career options I am thinking of. The Pixar’s principles bring up an approach based on the notions that employee contributions add to the overall creativity flow in the workplace. An organizational goal to be introduced is one of empowering creativity by creating a peer culture and learning environment that demonstrates open communication (Catmull, 2008). I try to keep business and family communication separate but it is sometimes really hard in this world of social media. Our past communication failures can be addressed by creating a safe and honest environment (Catmull,2008).

Keeping the main thing the main thing is always important to keep creative thinking on one accord. As this test proved, I am an Ideator and Clarifier this frustrated my last team at the time of implementation, I was on a team with a bunch of developers. As a team, I may have to look to an alternate way to make decisions to process the implementation phase of new and existing projects. Based on the Innovator’s DNA, transforming myself from being a good leader to a better leader involves developing the necessary skills that communicate and promote teamwork and cooperation (Dyer, Gregersen, & Christensen, 2009).

Weeks four, five and six recalibrated what I think of innovation. Adapting to work rather than changing my own creative style, conversations reminded me that work can be fun and productive in a relaxed setting. Finding that “flexibility is important and risk- taking is essential and mistakes will occur, It is good to encourage a carefree work environment (Puccio, et al., 2011,p.4). In looking at this information, I have thought about creating a workspace for myself at this apartment. To enforce the concept of group togetherness as

Puccio, et al. (2011) suggests I will make my office accessible by moving it to another location. At the end of the day, I think this course will allow me to become an innovative leader. This class gave me an excellent understanding of how to sell my new ideas to my team and how to use theirs.

Strategy for Professional and Personal Life

To become an effective innovative leader, there are some grey areas in the life of every professional that crosses path with his personal life. These areas of intersection include Education.

Keeping maximum focus and concentration on my studies and education will convince my family that I’m competent and goal-driven towards having a successful career. Proceeding in my education to obtain an M.B.A degree will fortify me with necessary skills to make an effective leader. As with each course I take, I hope to utilize its knowledge in improving myself. I hope to improve my communication skills (oral and written) – as that has been my weakness. I’ll test my managerial skills and development by organizing team meetings regularly. The meetings will include a brainstorming session for all team members (weekly) that are engaged in customer/client services.

While utilizing the opportunity to grow and develop personally, I would recommend personal and professional development for our contractors and employers. As motivation can also improve creativity and productivity. As an innovative leader who has a keen eye for trending innovations, I am curious and interested in new product development and the next ‘big thing’ (Brown, 2008; Dyer et al., 2009). Having realized my strengths and weaknesses; knowing fully well that networking is one of my weaknesses, but my sisters’ strength. With the help of my leadership skills, I will be able to leverage on their strengths in gaining business relationships. I will continue to develop myself in this area till I master the art of networking. I won’t hesitate to look for opportunities to form business connections outside my comfort zone. As I have realized that; networking is an effective means of exhibiting the traits of any business or organization in revealing that it embraces teamwork, collaboration and also rewards creativity. Therefore, network building has become paramount in the process of becoming the innovative leader, community organizer and social change agent I craved for. According to (Zenger & Folkman, 2009), successful teams offers endless exchange of ideas and insights required to make a project successful.

The networking knowledge and skills developed will however, help me assess my progress – so that I can make the necessary adjustments wherever required. Dyer, et al., 2009, explained networking to be based on knowledge and a disciplined approach to effectively communicate with groups and individuals.

Networking

In my development process, the aspect that I would like to improve more is to develop my networking skills. Being more or less an introvert, trying to build my networking skills will require me to come out of the shell and talk to people. I selected this developmental goal having known that communication is not my forte. Unlike my two sisters, cold meetings are one of my worst networking moments. Based on my communication experience, I’ll honestly characterize myself as a speaker short of confidence.

As part of my development process, I have decided to take a communication classes in the summer, engage in women’s Retreat and Empowerment seminar. I will continue to seek improvement, take self-evaluation in my development areas of leadership communication and teamwork. As an entrepreneur and a leader, I have to keep improving myself – especially my networking and communication skills.

While struggling to cope with various communication and styles of creativity, I would like to be free from anxiety, stress, or frustration at work. To realize my goal of creating an explicitly creative work environment, I would still continue to develop professional confidence, business networking, leadership and communication skills. Also, to achieve my networking goals, I have stated my primary objective to be broad-minded and to embrace the possibility of floundering during the development process.

As the second goal is to improve my networking skills – through improving my communication skills while also encouraging interactions and business opportunities. As a leader and manager that welcomes creativity, I will consider setting up my office in an informal work setting. That is because I would like all my team members to be around those things that remind them of the value of teamwork (Amabile & Kramer, 2012). During meetings, sometimes I won’t hesitate to appoint the best supervisors to coordinate brainstorming meetings (Catmull,2008). Dyer et. al, 2009 define networking to be another method of finding and testing ideas and concepts. Meanwhile, Zenger & Folkman, 2009 sees networking to be a team approach that enables ideas to be presented in the course of the project without interfering in the daily work flow.

Ideas that are harmful or negative can appear to be challenged by the supervisor or team (Dyer et al.,2009).

Conclusion

Prior to my enrollment into the development program, I have taken some decisions out of ignorance which has hurt the organization and my personality. Having realized the impact, I’ll start promoting the principles of teamwork and eliminating all activities that do not foster team cooperation, positivity and communication. As a Creative leader therefore, it is important to learn, respect and network with various individuals or teams with similar or different creativity measures. The course readings offer various approaches and techniques that can be applied to deal with various complex working environments or innovation-driven organizations. This will assist in strategically accomplishing the goals of the organization. Lastly, I’ve come to the understanding that various business practices whose core values promotes respect, teamwork and understanding begins with great leadership understanding of different capacities of how each team member engage in the creative process.

References

1. Brown, T. (2008). Design thinking. Harvard Business Review, 86(6), 84–92. Retrieved from https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu
2. Catmull, E. (2008). How Pixar fosters collective creativity. Harvard Business Review, 86(9), 64- 72. Retrieved from http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu
3. Dyer, J. H., Gregersen, H. B., & Christensen, C. M. (2009). The innovator’s DNA.
4. Grivas, C., & Puccio, G. J. (2012). The innovative team: Unleashing creative potential for breakthrough results. Retrieved from http://www.vitalsource.com
5. Prichard, S. (n.d.) ‘What creative style are you?’ Retrieved October 5, 2013, from http://www.skipprichard.com/which-creative-style-are-you/
6. Puccio, G. J. (n.d.). Tapping into our creative thinking skills to manage complex problems [PowerPoint. slides]. Retrieved October 14, 2013, from https://www2.rit.edu/fitl/presentations_2006/TappingIntoCreativeThinkingSkills.pdf
7. Puccio,G.J., Mance, M., Switalski, L.B., & Reali, P.D. (2012). Principles for divergent and convergent thinking: becoming a better creative thinker. In Creativity Rising: Creative thinking and creative problem solving in the 21st century (pp.51-70). Buffalo, NY: ICSC Press
8. Zenger, J. & Folkman, J. (2009). Ten flaws that derail leaders. Harvard Business Review, 87(6) 18. Retrieved from https://hbsp.harvard.edu/tu/f5047099

From birth to death, there are bound to be some ups and downs and this is how life works its ways into everyone. Experiencing pain and happiness is basically almost an everyday routine just like how a child grows from young to old. All of these happen naturally and are unavoidable and this is a gift of nature to us. All of us have to experience different stages of life at certain times like from a kid to a teenager to an adult to an old man. In the process of growing, education is important towards a child as it will determine his/her future. If I become a parent one day, my plan for my child is for him/her to read Text 3 during kid stage while Text 2 should be read during teenage stage and last but not least Text 1 during adult stage.

How a kid grow will determine his/her future. Therefore, early education is very important. When young, the child is pure and innocent and therefore it is easier to shape and change them. A child’s imagination can be stimulated through reading the inventions of Newton. Imaginations are important as a human being as it will lead to elaboration of theories and creations. Besides that, by introducing Laws of motion to the child, he/she will have a better understanding on how the world actually works. Phenomena that happen in daily life can be explained by principle of Physics and therefore the child’s curiosity can be cured. The curiosity and determination to find the answer demonstrated by Newton can be a good role model towards the kid. Teaching them besides asking, they should find the answers themselves just like how Newton created formulas and equations with references from his predecessors like Galileo, Kepler and Aristotle to prove the existence of different laws. By giving them a better understanding of the basic principle of physics is a good foundation for the kids to pursue in careers that are related to science in future.

During teenage stage, the child has grown to be rebellious and easily influenced by his/her peers. This is the time when the child ‘inside the cave’ which is innocent and immature starts to feel curious about the outside world and could not wait to walk out from the cave. He/she thinks that he/she is ready for it but what he/she don’t know is that once he/she is freed, obstacles and challenges are awaiting like “the person who is dragged outsides towards the light will be painful” (Plato 3). Therefore, this is the stage where he/she needs time to get adjusted through proper education. Knowing the meaning of education and letting him/her to find out that him/her is not mature enough to step into the real world is very crucial. This is the stage where it will determine the direction of his/her life, if he/she choose the wrong road, then he/she might be wrong forever but if he/she chooses the correct road, he/she may be successful one day. He/she should know that they are like living in the cave and being protected by his/her parents and teachers. He/she does not have many experiences about the outside world. In fact, he/she haven’t seen the true colors of the outside world. He/she is innocent that he/she do not suspect that these shadows are but imperfect images of objects which he/she cannot see, and consequently mistaken the shadows for the real (Plato 8). To Plato, the world was like a cave, and a person would only see shadows cast from the outside light, so the only reality would be thoughts.

The last stage which is the adult stage is the hardest stage as this was the time where all the parents have to let go of their child’s hands and let them face reality. In order to step into the adult world, the child him/herself must have a lot of knowledges. Knowledge is thus gained by a process that begins with experience which would form the basis of knowledge (Lindberg 21). As an adult, he/she must know how to control his/her senses as senses could fool a person. Senses were needed in order to properly determine the reality. Besides that, he/she must not easily believe in others through listening. In fact, he/she should find the answer by him/herself through looking or touching it. The adult him/herself must be convinced that they are not living in a cave anymore where they rely on shadows but in fact they are living in a real world where proofs and facts are the start of everything. The real world is which everything is made up from facts, truth and explanations. Through the Aristotelian method, the only way to experience the real world is to walk out from the cave and experience the truth, rather than relying independently on indirect experiences like how Aristotle demonstrate hands-on experiments rather than imagining.

In conclusion, parents who had been through a lot of obstacles and challenges should act as a guide to his/her child by giving them useful advice and recommend them to read different texts in different stages of life. By exploring the philosophy of Plato to Newton, the kid should have a better insight about the future. From Plato to Newton is just a journey of life of how a kid grows from an immature and innocent child to an adult who carries a lot of responsibilities and still manages to live on even after going through storms and stresses.

Personal development skills represent what is an individual’s personal maturity levels, how much of clarity the athlete has on self -identity, interpersonal competence, sense of relatedness, overall personality, well- being, discipline, dedication and determination. Personal development skills also include mutual trust in the form of empathy, tolerance, appropriate communication and unconditional acceptance of others. By developing personal development skills, athletes express their values, beliefs and response to a situation.

This helps to improve one’s own understanding and concerns, improve quality of communication and interaction with others. The understanding of self and mutual reinforcement lays a foundation for well-being and healthy personal and professional relationship. When athletes develop personal development skills, they are able to improve their comfort levels and skills in interpersonal competence and identity achievement.

When athletes engage is personal development skills they are able to capitalize on their own strengths and develop plans for improving or compensating one’s limitation. When athletes are engaged in self-improvement, it is an indication of willingness to learn and grow. This demonstrates the likelihood of being able to develop close relationships and success in increased interaction. Personal development is a key factor is psychological skill training which helps to verify and refine one’s own beliefs, affirm one’s self-concept and validate one’s own perceptions.

This can help to maintain perspective even when athletes are going through a hard time in their career and it gets ingrained in one’s personality traits. These enduring characteristics form an athlete’s attitude and action tendencies in different situations. While some personality traits are inherited, some factors can be modified through training, experience and a conscious attempt to change. By understanding our inner core and confronting our biases, an athlete can increase the level of self-understanding and that of others and their perspective. This would enable the athletes to feel better equipped to embrace new demands in the sporting context.

Introduction

Throughout recent years legalization of marijuana became well-discussed topic. However, this prompted a question of whether or not it is beneficial from economic point of view, since previously illegal drug freely entered the market for recreational use on January 1, 2014. In 2012 residents of Colorado approved Amendment 64, which legalized retail marijuana, with 55.5% vote. Colorado is one of the four states which legalized marijuana and was the first to do it. Although legalization is still controversial topic, benefits outweigh social costs in a long run. In addition, legalization allowed government to control the market, as previously illegal cannabis contributed to rapidly growing black market for drugs. Also, due to legalization consumers can be confident that drug is not laced with any other addictive drugs. Marijuana reform in Colorado did not only create a new industry and significant amount of job opportunities, but also introduces notable research opportunity for each major discipline such as agriculture, medicine, social work, etc. Legalization of marijuana directly contributes to the economic growth and development, new social norms that were introduced in different spheres like public safety, public health and overall consumption of cannabis.

Marijuana can be considered a demerit good and it creates negative externality of consumption, because private benefits outweigh the social benefits. Demand for demerit goods is inelastic, usually due to addiction of the consumers, however it could lead to expansion of black market. Therefore, to prevent it, government legalized marijuana. Although, legalization of cannabis shortened demand for marijuana at the black market and brought government revenues, it created a negative externality of production due to social costs being bigger than private costs.

I am interested in given topic due to its effects on economy and society’s lifestyle. As many new drugs continue to enter black market, it is an interesting to observe how government of Colorado uses cannabis to increase economic growth and development. Before marijuana was legalized it contributed to increase of the revenue on the black market due to inelastic demand for it amongst consumers. Also, cannabis sold illegally usually was laced with other addictive drugs, which amplified an addiction crisis. However, once government legalized the drug it became one of the most controversial yet lucrative industries. Although Colorado government receives new taxation revenues from newly developed legal industry and provides thousands of people with new jobs, I would like to investigate the research question “To what extent has the legalization of marijuana increase economic growth and development in Colorado?”

Theory and analysis

Since introduction of cannabis to the legal market economic growth and development should have risen over the years. Economic growth, which is measured in percentage rate of increase in the real Gross Domestic Product (rGDP), should have escalated due to increase in components of GDP, such as consumption of households, investment, government spending and difference between exports and imports.

Ideally increase in GDP should be presented through shift to the right of LRAS, AD and SRAS curves to LRAS1, AD1 and AS1 respectively, setting new equilibrium. Due to legalization aggregate demand increased, which forced short- run aggregate supply to follow, because producers want to increase their revenues on new industry. As there is no further information on criminalizing cannabis products in Colorado long- run aggregate supply will, also, shift to the right, showing an increase in GDP. Due to increase in demand for retail marijuana in September 2015 an in-state production increased by 81.5 tons. Therefore, with the increase of an aggregate demand, followed by increase in aggregate supply, Colorado’s GDP has risen in 0.3 percent, which equates to $725 million in estimated new sales. However, Colorado’s production rate has to be maintained at new equilibrium, so that LRAS curve would shift, however, due to easy access to black market, which can decrease consumer demand.

As GDP= C+I+G+(X-M) 5 components of the economic growth contribute to increase in GDP. First and foremost is consumption and household expenditures on the product. The total of $236.3 billion were spent for personal consumption on all goods and services in 2016 in Colorado. 0.55 percent of all personal consumer expenditures equaling to $1.3 billion were due to marijuana sales in 2016. By comparison, 7.2 percent of personal consumption expenditures in Colorado were dedicated to food and beverages purchased for off-site consumption.

Since marijuana was legalized major increase in sales is visible until today. Increase in marijuana sales led to abrupt increase in the marijuana related facilities and businesses. Although there is an increase in GDP, economic and social costs of legalization exceed the benefits of the industry as Colorado citizens spent approximately $4.50 for every dollar gained in tax revenue .

A small portion of the remaining demand for illegal marijuana was met by organized, illegal production within Colorado. Gettman’s (2006) estimates of marijuana production by state indicate that Colorado accounted for 0.03 percent of the nation’s illegal marijuana growth, against 1.75 percent of total consumption, meaning that 98 percent of illegal demand was met through imports. Accounting for medical marijuana supply, less than half of Colorado’s demand prior to legalization was met through in-state production. because the revenues that come from the new industry should have been invested further into the development of the state.

Economic development refers to a process that leads to improved standards of living for a population as a whole. Economic development can be defined as a process where increases in real per capita output and incomes are accompanied by improvements in standards of living of the population and reductions in poverty, increased access to goods and services that satisfy basic needs (including food, shelter, health care, education, sanitation and others), increasing employment opportunities and reduction of unemployment, and reductions of serious inequalities in incomes and wealth.

Human development

Thinking about development has progressed further in more recent years, building on an even broader interpretation of development that was provided by Denis Goulet as early as 1971. Goulet defined three core values of development: life sustenance, self-esteem and freedom:3 Life sustenance refers to access to basic services (merit goods) such as education and health care services, as well as satisfaction of basic needs like food, clothing and shelter.

Self-esteem involves the feeling of self-respect; development is desirable because it provides individuals with dignity, honour and independence. Self-esteem is related to the absence of exploitation and dominance associated with poverty and dependence. Freedom involves freedom from want, ignorance and squalor; it is freedom to make choices that are not available to people who are subjected to conditions of poverty.

These immediate-term substitutions concern the short- term effects of economic development, commonly represented through measures of industry employment and output. However, the second set of hypothesized consumption shifts manifest in terms of long-run development. Places with distinctive consumption practices grow and change differently over the long term. Over the past fifty years, population migration into the Mountain West and Pacific coast reflects both conventional measures of economic opportunity (jobs, income, real estate) and the valorization of natural, urban, and cultural amenities by mobile professionals (Busch 2015; Jurjevich and Schrock 2012). Western states have also drawn on residents’ enthusiasm for beer, wine, natural foods, and outdoor recreation to develop nationally leading industrial concentrations in brewing, distilling, natural foods, and outdoor apparel (Clark 2013). Here, cities and urban regions benefit from the co-location of production and consumption, which mutually strengthen one another by allowing firms and product developers to test emergent innovations easily and quickly (ibid.).

Supply and demand

Prior to 2012, Colorado was a net importer of marijuana from climates better suited to the plant’s growth. However, the legalization of medical marijuana production in 2000 created a significant amount of licensed in-state production, totaling 60.4 tons on the eve of legalization (Table 2). Additionally, an estimated 3.9 percent of users met their consumption needs from homegrown supply.

The size of this increase is equivalent to the combined size of Colorado’s primary metals and electronic equipment industries (US Bureau of Economic Analysis 2013). While the absence of input–output data on the industry make the calculation of an economic impact multiplier impossible, the man- date to produce in-state ensures nearly zero leakage on backwards demand for the product.

To the extent that it simply reflects the legalization of existing demand for marijuana, the growth of marijuana retail sales does not come at the expense of reduced consumption of other consumer goods. In fact, early studies of consumer spending in Colorado suggest that the net out-of- pocket amount spent on marijuana decreased between 2014 and 2015, because of the high intoxication content and comparatively low-price points of legal marijuana (Light et al. 2014). Among new consumers and tourists in particular, consumer-spending surveys suggest that marijuana consumption leads to at least a partial reduction in spending on alcohol, as well as decreased spending on pharmaceuticals. These substitutions will partially mitigate net growth in Colorado economic output, but with limited effect: The mandate for in-state marijuana production ensures that sales in the industry will have a larger economic impact than any other consumption option, including brewing, natural foods, and other goods for which large portions of demand are met by in-state supply. –

Increase in sales and regulation

After Amendment 64 passed in November 2012, recreational marijuana stores in Colorado opened Jan. 1, 2014. Although marijuana is legal in all of Colorado, each local jurisdiction can decide whether to allow medical or recreational marijuana retail stores. As of June 2017, 65 percent of Colorado jurisdictions (out of 320) had banned both medical and recreational stores, 4.7 percent had allowed only medical stores, 3.4 percent had allowed recreational stores only and 26.6 percent had allowed both recreational and medical marijuana stores.

In the first month that recreational marijuana stores opened in Colorado, recreational sales exceeded $14 million and medical sales more than doubled that amount at $32.5 million (Chart 1). Since then, recreational sales have grown sharply while medical sales have remained roughly flat. In 2014, total annual recreational sales were $303 million, while medical sales totaled $380 million. By 2017, recreational sales had grown to almost $1.1 billion, and medical sales were almost $417 million. Thus, in 2017, combined marijuana sales in Colorado exceeded $1.5 billion.

Due to legalization of marijuana government of Colorado could regulate the use of cannabis and improve economic state through tax revenues. The sales of marijuana started to increase in January 2014 when it was legalized, due to lack of data prior to 2014, since Colorado Department of Revenue (CDOR) could not systematically track them.

In Colorado and elsewhere, marijuana laws require all retail cannabis sales to consist of plants seeded and grown in the state. Thus, calculating the net gain in local production rests on (a) estimating the geographic origin of marijuana sold prior to legalization, (b) estimating likely demand changes after legalization, (c) discounting existing medical marijuana supply, and (d) accounting for the individual-level production authorized by state law.

Impact on tax revenue

In 2015, Colorado collected more than $135 million in taxes and fees on medical and recreational marijuana. Sales in the state totaled over $996 million. A report from the Colorado State University-Pueblo’s Institute of Cannabis Research recently found that the legal cannabis industry has contributed more than $58 million to the local economy, primarily through taxes and other fees. Should marijuana become legal on a federal level, the benefits to the economy could be exceptional: a report from cannabis analytics company New Frontier suggests that federally legal pot could generate an additional $131.8 billion in aggregate federal tax revenue by 2025.

State Sales Tax: The state sales tax rate on all tangible personal property, including marijuana, is 2.9%. These taxes are charged on the final consumer purchase price. Retail marijuana and retail marijuana products are exempt from state sales tax. The tax will still apply to medical marijuana and medical marijuana products. (Colorado Department Of Revenue, 2019) State Retail Marijuana Sales Tax Rate: There is a 15% retail marijuana sales tax on all sales of retail marijuana and retail marijuana-infused products in the state charged on the final consumer purchase price.

Marijuana legalization creates at the stroke of a pen businesses subject to a range of new taxes, such as a 25 percent excise tax on producers in Washington and a 15 percent retail tax in Colorado. The variance in state-level taxation procedures signals the importance of state law in shaping the industry’s structure and trajectory. Following the US Department of Justice’s “Cole” memo, which prohibited the movement of marijuana across state lines, Colorado, Washington, Alaska, and Oregon all mandate seed-to-sale tracking systems to ensure that plants remain in-state from seed to smoke (US Department of Justice 2013). However, other regulations integral to industry structure and operation vary substantially by state. For example, Oregon and Colorado allow individual-level cultivation, which Washington law prohibits. Colorado law devolves retail licensing authority to municipalities, which have no power to deny licenses in the Pacific Northwest (Vermont Legislature 2016). Highly variable from state to state, these and other technical measures shape the industry’s growth, consolidation, and competitive standards. The industry’s primary economic development mechanisms, however, are less sensitive to place.

Public safety

The total number of marijuana arrests with legalization decreased by 46% between 2012 and 2014, from 12,894 to 7,004. Marijuana possession arrests, which make up the majority of all marijuana arrests, were nearly cut in half (‐47%). Marijuana sales arrests decreased by 24%, while arrests for marijuana production did not change appreciably (‐2%). Marijuana arrests that were unspecified, meaning the specific reason for the arrest was not noted by law enforcement, went down by 42%.

Public health

According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the current prevalence rates for marijuana usage in the past 30 days have increased significantly for young adults (18 to 25 years old), from 21% in 2006 (pre‐commercialization) to 31% in 2014 (post‐commercialization). Reported current marijuana use by adults (26 years or older) increased significantly, from 5% in 2006 to 12% in 2014.

The Colorado Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) is a statewide telephone survey conducted by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE). In 2014 the BRFFS was expanded to include questions about marijuana use. Overall, in 2014, 14% of adults reported marijuana use in the past 30 days and 33% of current users reported using daily. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment analyzed data from the Colorado Hospital Administration and categorized visits according to determine if the visit indicated possible marijuana exposure or used a diagnosis/billing code indicating marijuana.

Hospitalizations with possible marijuana exposures, diagnoses, or billing codes per 100,000 hospitalizations increased from 803 per 100,000 before commercialization (2001‐2009) to 2,413 per 100,000 after commercialization (2014‐June 2015). The period of retail commercialization showed a significant increase in emergency department visits, from 739 per 100,000 (2010–2013) to 956 per 100,000 ED visits (2014–June 2015).

The number of calls to poison control mentioning human marijuana exposure has increased over the past 10 years. There were 44 calls in 2006 and 227 in 2015.

Impact on youth

The number of juvenile marijuana arrests increased 5%, from 3,234 in 2012 to 3,400 in 2014. The rate of juvenile marijuana arrests per 100,000 increased from 598 in 2012 to 611 in 2014 (+2%).

Legalizing marijuana results in decreased teen marijuana use. Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine found that ‘the rates of marijuana use by young people are falling despite the fact more US states are legalizing or decriminalizing marijuana use and the number of adults using the drug has increased.’ Colorado teens between 12 and 17 years old reported a nearly 12% drop in marijuana use just two years after adult use was legalized, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

The Marijuana Policy Project, an organization that leads marijuana legalization campaigns, said, ‘Study after study has confirmed that marijuana policy reforms do not cause rates of youth marijuana use to increase… The most in-depth state surveys suggest modest decreases in rates of youth marijuana use in Colorado and Washington.’ Even though retail marijuana shops opened in Colorado and Washington in 2014, past-year marijuana use among teens in those states was lower in 2015-2016 than in 2014-2015.

Legalization of cannabis reckon for setting up nurseries and dispensaries. These would not only create jobs but also start economic activity in the pot industry in these areas. These jobs would likely come from the quickly growing industry. Workers would be needed to farm, process, distribute, and sell marijuana-based products. Further, there would be ample opportunities for secondary industries which are related to legal cannabis although not directly involved in its production and distribution. These might include software developers, financing services, construction companies, and many others.

First, Colorado’s status as the first state to legalize retail marijuana sales gives it the longest experience with legal marijuana, and a first-mover advantage that further magnifies the industry growth and diversification processes at issue.1 In terms of research strategy, these conditions position Colorado as a critical case—a unique intersection of the circumstances crucial to understanding both the industry and its implications for theories of consumption-driven development (Yin 2008). Second, the public, exuberant nature of legalization facilitates secondary data collection.