Personal Reflection Paper on The Self Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Personal Reflection Paper on The Self - Essay Example My self-concept derives from a whole host of such factors, not the least of which is what others think about me. I have always had a great interest in music and I have a very good singing voice, which has made me popular with my friends: so I consider music and the capability of rendering it is an integral part of my self. The awareness of my gender has led me to see what women the world over go through in terms of greater struggles for freedom and rights. My self-concept thus wraps around my identity as a woman as someone who has to struggle with the everyday realities of being a woman, and also involves an acceptance of the fact that I have an average appearance. Add to that my identity as an African-American, and the picture is complete in a social context. People around me see me as a normal, well-adjusted, average-looking African-American woman and also as a student who sings well, and so it becomes an important definition of my self-concept in the social context. My concept of self contributes to my self-esteem, my idea of what I am worth, of what I am capable of contributing to the society, and the respect of choices and rights that I feel I deserve. My singing abilities and my accomplishments as a student provide a boost to my self-esteem, because they bring me recognition and applause in my community, especially in my church where I lead the choir. My self-esteem lets me perform well and gives me the confidence to move about in a social context, comfortable in the knowledge that I am likeable and welcome. I feel that my accomplishments more than make up for my lack of physical attractiveness, and it does not significantly detract from my sense of self-esteem. My self-esteem leads me to believe that I can make informed choices about my own life, and indeed have all rights to do so. In the social arena, my self-esteem helps me perform at a high level of self-efficacy. Based on my concept of self and self-esteem, I am able to form an estimate of how effective I am as a person. There is no hesitation in attempting a new challenge, because my sense of self-efficacy tells me that I am more than likely to succeed. In my point of view, my sense of self-efficacy increases if the challenges belong to my comfort zones, namely singing or academics, because it is very well accepted by those around me and myself that these are the areas I am easily able to excel in. This is the reason why I am comfortable taking part in community events which involve singing. One of my earliest and most significant memories is of being sent on stage by my mother to sing a small hymn at a church event. After my singing ended, there was loud and continued applause, and I could see the smiles of approval on the faces of all the people in the audience which included my parents, relatives, friends and neighbors. This gave my sense of self-esteem a major boost, and whenever I now feel nervous about going on stage, I recall that moment in my childhood when I first heard the applause of the people around me. It gives me a feeling of rise in self-confidence, and my concept of self-efficacy is restored: I do not feel nervous or panicky any more and am able to get on the stage and

Discuss the Ability of Private Individuals to Seek Damage for Breaches Essay

Discuss the Ability of Private Individuals to Seek Damage for Breaches of EU - Essay Example The outcome of the comparative report has enabled the European Commission to know the hurdles in the path of activating the private application of competition law within the Member States and discuss the ways by which a more dependable system of private antitrust enforcement could be created. The relative analysis of the various legal systems in the EU indicates a huge difference in the member states handling of competition law claims. Process-related differences between national legal systems in the EU are turning in favour of forum shopping in inter-state cases. Before taking an action, applicants involved in inter-state process can check the benefits and disadvantages of national jurisdictions before furthering an action for losses in one or many member states. The EU member states are expected to adhere to EC law, but the processes they follow for private enforcement cases are controlled at a national level. Changes to national law in one member state, like it happened in Germany , do not impress other member states. This gap between national process of the law and EC law needs to be settled for adopting an EU-wide universally dependable system4. This paper will discuss some leading trends in three of the Member States including Germany, UK and Italy. The role of European Commission in making the EU competition law very efficient on the private enforcements would be discussed. European Commission attained this aim by issuing the Green Paper in 2005, which was followed by the White Paper in 2008. The Courage5 verdict by the European Court of Justice (ECJ), brought more in focus the right of private individuals to fight for losses as an outcome of violations of EC competition rules, (specifically losses caused from breaches of Art 101 and Art 102 TFEU). One of the most significant reasons of the long ignorance of the private antirust from the competition policy is the distinct European system. The European Commission and European Courts impact private antitrus t cases as they have registered their attendance in public competition law enforcement. Furthermore, the European Courts are not competent enough to decree on private enforcement of EC law infringements. The European Court of Justice only considers preliminary references by national courts of the Member States such as Courage and later Manfredi6 cases. Only in select cases the ECJ has taken a stance, as Courage and Manfredi cases have huge impression on the competition law policy7. The fight between Entrepreneur Estates (previously Courage) and MrCrehan over a beer tie agreement prompted the ECJs Courage decision in 2001. The Court said that â€Å"[...] the practical effect of the prohibition laid down in Article 85(1) [Art 101(1)] would be put at risk if it were not open to any individual to claim damages for loss caused to him by a contract or by conduct liable to restrict or distort competition†8. This personal right to seek reward for the damage caused by infringement of competition rules was again reasserted in Manfredi case in Italy9. The ECJ stated as based on the principle of effectiveness the national courts o