Organizational Structure and Culture free essay sample

Organizational structure can be defined as the establishment of authority and responsibilities between different positions in the company. It can be either horizontal or vertical. Organization structure also facilitates transparency in the organization (Luthans, 1998). My organization is Saint Joseph’s Hospital, which is a leading magnet facility here in Atlanta Georgia. Saint Josephs was the first hospital in the Southeast to perform open heart surgery, the first to develop a cardiac cath lab and the first to perform balloon angioplasty. The hospital was also the first to open a pace maker clinic and the first in Georgia to implant an artificial heart. Saint Josephs is also regarded as one of Georgias early pioneers in vascular surgery. Saint Josephs is a true innovator and attracts some of the nations finest physicians, nurses and medical support personnel http://www. stjosephsatlanta. org. Patient ratings of Saint Josephs nurses are among the highest reported year after year. We will write a custom essay sample on Organizational Structure and Culture or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Therefore, organizational structure and culture is of utmost importance to our leadership. Executives, directors, managers and supervisors have the responsibility to promote a culture that supports compassion, honesty, respect, responsibility, integrity, teamwork and stewardship among employees and physicians. This requires the promotion of open communication; zero tolerance of fraud, abuse and waste; encouragement of educational and training sessions; and cooperation with requests for information on a timely basis. Each member of the management team is accountable for setting an example that supports the hospital’s culture and structure. Our facility is structured using a team-based type of structure to create an environment of ownership among the stakeholders. This structure supports our organizations plan because it relies strongly upon collaboration, shared goals, common assessments, and other aspects of cooperation to achieve its various plans and missions. It is also a structured system of tasks, workflows, reporting relationships, and communication channels that link the diverse parts of an organization. Team-based approaches benefit from the collective and shared decision-making, planning, goal setting, and overall collaborative nature. On the other hand, some negatives are that this approach is often arduous, time consuming, and even cumbersome since it takes a long time to reach consensuses. Any structure should both allocate tasks and provide for the coordination of performance results. Unfortunately, it is easier to talk about good structures than it is to actually create them. This is why you often read about restructuring, the process of changing an organization’s structure in an attempt to improve performance. Activities of an organization are the combination of some functions like planning, organizing, directing, controlling, etc. All these functions have an impact on the structure of the organization. Planning is a very important function for an organization. It is a determination of the future course of actions for the company. Planning includes determination of specific objectives, programs, policies and strategies. Structure is designed according to the plans of the organization. Any change in the plan causes a change in the structure of the organization. Organizing is the process of dividing the tasks and duties to different groups, and departments. Organizing function increases the efficiency of the organization. All authorities and responsibilities are divided in such a manner that goals of the organization can be achieved. Organizational structure is designed and changed according to the task divided among the employees. Directing is a process of communicating to the subordinates by the superiors. Each employee of the organization is directed by his superiors. Superiors give continuous guidance to the subordinates. Changes in the duties and responsibilities of the superiors and subordinates also affect the structure of the organization because directing process also includes communicating, leading and motivating process. Controlling is the process in which a manager compares the actual results from the predetermined objectives. If any variation is found, some corrective actions are taken by the manager. Corrective actions include changes in the policy, plans or any strategy of the organization. All these changes also affect the structure of the organization. Structure is changed according to new plans and policies of the organization (Prasad, 2008). During this project I discovered that the organizational chart at my facility has undergone significant change. We no longer have the traditional organizational chart which is best illustrated by the shape of a pyramid with board of trustees on top, CEO, CFO, COO then upper management, followed by middle management, then front line people and at the bottom with the argest area, the customers. It shows that top management has the power over those situated below it. Now we have a modern customer-oriented organizational chart, that is an inverted pyramid where the customers are on top occupying the largest area followed by the front line people, middle management and at the bottom, the top management with the smallest area. There are arrows pointing upwards showing that customers are now the primary focus of the organization hence, it is customer-oriented. I have learned that an organizational chart for our unit shows us the division of work via positions and titles which show how work responsibilities are assigned. Supervisory relations with levels of management, let staff members know who reports to whom. Communication channels direct the formal reporting process through the chain of command. Whenever someone speaks of the way we do things here, for example, they are talking about the organizational culture. Although culture is not the sole determinant of what happens in organizations, it is an importance influence on what the members accomplish and how. Therefore, internal and generational differences have the potential to shape attitudes, reinforce common beliefs, direct behavior, establish performance expectations, and create the motivation to fulfill them. In my facility the younger nurses have varied beliefs whereas the older generation pride themselves on their core beliefs about the right way to do things. They have different ways of looking at things based on their traditions and values. They dress differently and express themselves in different ways. I enjoy the cultural differences of my workplace environment but I’ve come to discover that I’m managing the diverse needs of our employees, not their cultural differences. Diverse, yet very common needs, such as child care, flextime, working at home, leave to take care of elderly parents, paternity leave as well as maternity leave. Those needs are in the workplace, and it has nothing to do with a persons cultural difference. Collectively these differences and similarities all influence the organizational culture of the workplace. In conclusion, the potential advantages of team structures begin with better ommunication across all disciplines. Teams are the building blocks of the new and more horizontal organizations. Our organizational structure formally designates and uses permanent and temporary teams extensively to accomplish tasks. References http://www. stjosephsatlanta. org/ Luthans, F. (1998). Organizational Behavior, (8th Ed. ). New York: Irwin McGraw-Hill. Pras ad, L. M (2008), Organizational Behavior (3rd Ed. ), New Delhi: Sultan Chand and Sons. Sullivan, E. J.. Decker, P. J. (2009). Effective Leadership and Management in Nursing (7th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Rappaccinis Daughter Fall From Grace Essays - Bereshit, Free Essays

Rappaccini's Daughter Fall From Grace Essays - Bereshit, Free Essays Rappaccini's Daughter Fall From Grace Analytical Essay: Rappaccini's Daughter In the literal sense, Nathaniel Hawthorn's Rappaccini's Daughter is the story about the rivalry between two scientists that ultimately causes the destruction of an innocent young woman. However, when the story is examined on a symbolic level, the reader sees that Rappaccini's Daughter is an allegorical reenactment of the original fall from innocence and purity in the Garden of Eden. Rappaccini's garden sets the stage of this allegory, while the characters of the story each represent the important figures from the Genesis account. Through the literary devices of poetic and descriptive diction, Nathaniel Hawthorne conveys the symbolism of these characters, as well as the setting. The story takes place in mid-nineteenth century in Padua, Italy and revolves around two major settings; the mansion of an old Paduan family, and Rappaccini's lush garden. The mansion is described as, high and gloomythe palace of a Paduan noble desolate and ill-furnished This description establishes a dark mood throughout the story. Hawthorne writes, One of the ancestors of this familyhad been pictured by Dante as a partaker of the immortal agonies of his Inferno The allusion of Dante refers to The Divine Comedy and the Inferno describes the souls in Hell. Furthermore, Baglioni converses with Giovanni in this mansion chamber and tries to manipulate him in his attempt to destroy Rappaccini. In a sense, the dark and gloomy mansion symbolizes the domain of evil. The second major setting is the garden. The author uses poetic diction to describe Rappaccini's garden. Hawthorne writes, There was one shrub in particularthat bore a profusion of purple blossoms, each of which had the luster and richness of a gemseemed enough to illuminate the garden, even had there been no sunshinesome crept serpentlike along the ground or climbed on high In this passage, the author depicts the liveliness and beauty of the garden in an almost fantasy-like way, a fantasy too good to be true and destined to end tragically. Hawthorne directly compares this beautiful garden to Eden when he writes, Was this garden, then the Eden of the present world? Thus, Rappaccini's garden symbolizes the setting of the initial fall of man. In Rappaccini's Daughter, the original sinners, Adam and Eve, are represented by Giovanni Guasconti and Beatrice Rappaccini. Giovanni symbolizes Adam in the sense that he is shallow and insincere. When Giovanni first sees Beatrice, he is love struck. Hawthorne uses poetic diction when he writes, the impression which the fair stranger made upon him was as if here were another floweras beautiful as they, more beautiful than the richest of them. This passage describes Giovanni's feelings towards the beautiful Beatrice. However, later we see that Giovanni's love was actually lust when the student discovers that he has been infected by Beatrice. The author writes, Giovanni's rage broke forth from his sullen gloom like a lightning flash out of a dark cloud. 'Accursed one!' cried he, with venomous scorn and anger Giovanni becomes enraged and blames Beatrice of this accidental infection. Similarly, Adam blames Eve of their disobedience when he is confronted by God. Adam does not show compass ion towards his wife but instead, like Giovanni, lashes out with anger against Eve. Hawthorne's critical and unsympathetic tones toward Giovanni are evident when he uses descriptive diction to explain him. Hawthorne writes, his spirit was incapable of sustaining itself at the height to which the early enthusiasm of passion had exalted it; he fell down groveling among earthly doubts, and defiled there with the pure whiteness of Beatrice's image. In this passage, Hawthorne shows that Giovanni's love was actually lust and his tone toward Giovanni is critical. In contrast, Hawthorne portrays sympathetic and reverent tones towards Beatrice. The author uses poetic diction to describe the beautiful young woman. He writes, arrayed with as much richness of taste as the most splendid of the flowersbloom so deep and vivid that one shade more would have been too muchredundant with life, health, and energy Beatrice is described as a part of nature and vivacious. She has been isolated from the wo rld and the world she lives in only consists of the garden. She has a child like innocence and is very nave. She even states, I

CASE 7 Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

7 - Case Study Example tead of passenger shippers to ensure that the nighttime services offered by the cargo shippers coincided with later afternoon pick-ups and next-time deliveries (Hill, 2011), which were actually the choice of customers. Again, Federal Express took much responsibility of the services it offered to customers and this has remained till date. This is done by ensuring that even in the case of door-to-door deliveries the company uses its internal delivery agents instead of relying on external third party companies. With this, customers are assured to guaranteed delivery and are well informed of whom to go to when the need arises. Computer companies that follow different business models are Apple and Dell. Apple follows a cost leadership strategy emphasizing quantity over quality with its Big Bell Value menu. With this, the company perceives growth from a perspective where every individual entering the premises of the company can get as many information and communication technology tools as possible. As more people are served with various hardware and software, even at lower prices, the accumulated revenue increases. Dell follows a focused differentiation strategy with its limited hardware manufacturing. Unlike Apple, there is total absence of software manufacturing. With this, there is a belief in the need to specialize in one area only so that with the provision of quality products, costs can be increased to meet expected revenue

Cyberharassment Laws Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Cyberharassment Laws - Thesis Example the most imperative issues with the manner these laws have been implemented is the fact that each state has a certain level of uniqueness in relation to the manner these laws have been implemented or applied for instance: In the United States, the penal code in relation to cyber-harassment in Alabama is quite different with cyber-harassment penal code in Alaska. This simply means that these laws differ on their efficacy as well as challenges (Sternberg, 2014). Apart from the United States, other countries that have also implemented cyber-harassment laws, identifying it as a criminal offense is the Republic of Philippines, Canada as well as Australia. It is quite an important issue to investigate in the contemporary society with a purpose of eliminating possible flaws that may be associated with these laws, taking into consideration that communication technologies are replacing traditional modes of communication at an increasing rate (Sternberg, 2014). The concept of cyber-harassment has been described has an act of repeated electronic contacts, driven by the purposes of creating distress on the targeted recipient (Easttom & Taylor, 2011). However, in order to clarify such acts as harassments, most law-makers claim that a reasonable person, possessing similar information, must consider it sufficient to create distress on their targeted recipients. There are certain considerations that have been given a high sense of priority in relation to cyber-harassment. To begin with, targeted victims of cyber-harassment may not even be in a position to determine that they are being subjected under harassment. Additionally, cyber-harassment is usually accomplished through the use of communication technology, mostly through social-communication technologies; this may be undertaken by a group of individuals or in some cases just an individual (Easttom & Taylor, 2011). Sociologists have claimed that actions considered cyber-harassment are inclusi ve of; destruction of data,

Need of HRM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Need of HRM - Essay Example Need of HRM: It is studied over the years that the Industrial relations in countries and regions have come under the influence of various situations and players such as economic imperatives, political philosophers, the role played by state in determining the direction of economic and social development, the business communities and the unions, the role of the colonial governments and their legacies. The objectives of the labour welfare have been achieved via freedom of the unions, right to strike and collective bargaining. (Syrian Desilva) Industrial relations shall influence the employers and employers’ organizations, so as to make them aware of labor law, labor welfare and the industrial competitiveness. Many of the organizations in Asia-Pacific are poorly equipped with this type of knowledge which can make valuable change in their policy decisions. These facts suggest that the employers’ organizations has to develop planned Industrial relations in order to nurture th e growth of Human Resource Management (HRM) policies for augmenting the competitiveness. It becomes a matter of debate that in view of HRM policies whether the labour markets are to be deregulated or not. The objectives should be properly understood and legitimate areas of legal prescription are to be carefully identified. In the Industrial relations the efficiency of the labours plays a vital role. Inequality makes the labours inefficient.

Entomotoxicology in Forensic Science

Entomotoxicology in Forensic Science ENTOMOTOXICOLOGY: A POWERFUL TOOL FOR FORENSIC SCIENCE For many years, forensic science have known that insects and their larvae hold answers to deaths that are not quite clear in terms of their actual timeframe or situations surrounding them. Now, a branch called entomotoxicology is helping those who work in forensic science find new answers to the questions that have remained in certain cases. This paper examines the role and science behind the advancing field of entomotoxicology in which toxins and drugs can be measured in the insects and larvae that infest even the most decomposed body. Before understanding this branch of forensic science, it is important to understand how bodies decompose and how insects become a part of the transformation of a human body once the person has died. It is important to study the decomposition process as part of a crime scene because it helps determine the victim, how they died, and when and where they died (Vass 2001: 192). Other factors, such as the presence of melanin can help investigators find out the race or ethnic background of the victim (Vass 2001: 192). Additionally, â€Å"knowledge of any trace amounts of chemicals, drugs, medications or toxins present in decomposed tissue may also be of help to investigators in attempting to determine the cause of death† (Vass 2001: 192). Having said that, it is then important to understand what is generally involved in the decomposition process. The start of the decomposition process has been clocked down to four minutes after death has occurred (Vass 2001: 190). The putrefaction process is where the body’s soft tissues are destroyed by micro-organisms, such as bacteria, fungi and protozoa (Vass 2001: 190). Part of what happens to a decomposing body is a mummification process (Anonymous 2007: 2) that is called adipocere, which is â€Å"insoluble fatty acids† that are left behind from â€Å"pre-existing fats† that forms within a month of death but can remain as part of the cadaver for literally centuries (Wikipedia 2007: 1). Created from bacteria that convert a body’s fat, adipocere is the formation of soap from this fat is also known as saponification and appears in the form of a â€Å"yellowish-white, greasy, wax-like substance† (Voss 2001: 190). This substance can slow the growth of bacteria and can protect the body from further decomposition (Wikipedia 2007: 1). Adipocere also â€Å"forms through hydrolysis† so it is more common in humid environments or when a body is found underwater (Wikipedia 2007: 1). It is also interesting to note that adipocere also seems more common on corpses that are clothed in synthetic materials versus natural materials, such as cotton (Anonymous 2007: 3). Additionally, soils that are highly alkaline contribute to adipocere formation (Anonymous 2007: 4). This is because the alkaline source hydrolyses the corpse’s fat, turning it into the aforementioned soap-like substance (Anonymous 2007: 4). The deposits of adipocere are beneficial in determini ng the weight of an individual, which may then lead to the identity of that person (Vass 2001: 192). Insect activity, including laying eggs, eventually becomes part of the process – sometimes as soon as the onslaught of rigor mortis (Anonymous 2007: 2) – and leads to a significant decline in the condition of a corpse (Vass 2001: 190). Injuries, such as wounds and other instances where the dead person previously bled before dying can increase the onset of insects and bacteria (Voss 2001: 1919). Along with adipocere in a decomposing body comes the infestation by maggots and bugs, which are interrelated due to the amount of adipocere and climate conditions of the area where the decomposing body is located. Insects – especially arthropods – have played a significant role in forensic science because they, including larval and mature forms, like to feed on organic substances (Tuzun and Acikgoz 2007: 1). They feed on wounds and decomposing bodies, subsisting on â€Å"the nostrils, sinuses, stomach, bowels, ears, vagina and anus part from the skin† (Tuzun and Acikgoz 2007: 1). Forensic entomology has been used for years to help calculate the time of death of a body as well as â€Å"who was the killer, whether a killer had been in a particular spot or not, which was the murder weapon, in what manner a person had been killed and so on† (Aggrawal 2001: 1-2). The exact science really uses an estimate of â€Å"the period of insect activity on the dead bodyà ¢â‚¬  (McKenna 2003: 3). There can be outside factors, such as â€Å"weather conditions, placement or concealment of the body, or other factors† that delay the arrival of insects (McKenna 2003: 3). For example, one noted forensic scientist who specialises in studying insects on bodies pointed out that â€Å"insects will begin to colonize an exposed body within minutes following death† in warm climates like Hawaii but may take longer to appear in more temperate climates (McKenna 2003: 3). However, what becomes hard to gauge is the effect of substances, such as heroin and cocaine, play on a person because it can be difficult to measure the toxicity level of these substances in the body once blood and certain tissue is no longer in a form to be accurately analysed (Tuzun and Acikgoz 2007: 1). Sometimes, it is not clear whether or not there might have been an â€Å"accidental or suicidal consumption of toxic substances† (Tuzun and Acikgoz 2007: 1). For example, in researching the subject of entomotoxicology, it is clear that it is only in recent years has it become a well-utilised facet of forensic science. An article from a 1998 Journal of Forensic Science had a case that described the suicide death of a heroin addict (Benecke 1998: 3). While the body showed signs of masses of eggs that were first and second generation cheese skippers, which helped the forensics team that the woman had been dead about four months, there were other unanswered questions in regards to the level of heroin in her body (Benecke 1998: 3): â€Å"This case indicates that P. caset does not shorten its development significantly under the influence of heroin as was observed for some arthropods. However, the exact concentration of heroin could not be determined because of the severe decomposition† (Benecke 1998: 3). In a similar case with another heroin addict, those investigating the death admitted that the â€Å"influence of drugs in corpses to the insects feeding on them is still in progress† and there was still no conclusive way to indicate the quantity of drugs in the body of the drug user (Benecke 1998: 5). This is where the relatively new science of entomotoxicology becomes an important and vital way to find solutions to certain cadaver issues related to drugs and toxins. Going beyond just studying the insects found on corpses to gain insights into what may have happened to a person, entomotoxicology includes â€Å"the post-mortem toxicological analysis of carrion-feeding insects in order to identify drugs and toxins present on intoxicated tissues† (Tuzun and Acikgoz 2007: 1). This branch of forensic science â€Å"also investigates the effects caused by drugs and toxins on arthropod development in order to assist the forensic post-mortem interval estimates† (Tuzun and Acikgoz 2007: 1). What happens is that â€Å"insect larvae eat the flesh of a person and based on the drug content of the insect, drug intake of descendent can be determined† (DeBoeck, Wood, and Samyn 2007: 14). The drugs or toxins become concentrated in the body of the insect tissue and may stay ther e based on the level of concentration from the cadaver (McKenna 2003: 4). As a particularly effective tactic during the autopsy stage, entomotoxicology is an incredible process that puts the amazing powers of insects to work: Diptera and other arthropods can be reliable alternate specimens for toxicological analyses in the absence of tissues and fluids normally taken for such purposes. Insects can be analysed quite easily after homogenisation by common toxicological procedures such as radio-immune analysis (RIA), gas chromatography (GC), think layer chromatography (TLC), high pressure liquid-mass chromatography (HPLC-MS) and gas-mass analysis (GC-MS). (Tuzun and Acikgoz 2007: 1). Previously, the methods used were â€Å"time-consuming and labor-intensive† (DeBoeck, Wood, and Samyn 2007: 5). The new methods incorporated into entomotoxicology utilise tandem mass spectrometry and multiple reaction monitoring to identify low levels of compounds â€Å"in complex biological matrices† (DeBoeck, Wood, and Samyn 2007: 6). Diagnosis allows for an actual analysis of the â€Å"metabolites of drugs† and helps differentiate â€Å"between prescription and non-prescription derivatives of drugs† (DeBoeck, Wood, and Samyn 2007: 6). To better understand how insects that have ingested toxic human flesh can help forensic scientists, it is best to examine a specific experiment that utilised the Black Blow Fly which had ingested Carisoprodol, a muscle relaxant sold by prescription only (Monthei 2007: 1): Even though Carisoprodol had no effect on the fly’s life cycle, the experiment is significant because a carbamate like Carisoprodol has not been tested before in this manner. This experiment could be done with another species of fly and have different results. Also, another person doing an independent study could take the maggots that I collected and determine if Carisoprodol accumulated in the maggots or if a metabolite of the drug is present. The presence of Carisoprodol would be significant to a toxicologist because if a body found at a crime scene was devoid of tissue, the toxicologist could use the maggots to determine if the deceased had Carisprodol in his or her system. My study showed that a forensic entomologist would not have to adjust the PMI based on the presence of the drug because this insect’s life cycle is not changed due to the drug (Monthei 2007: 1-2). Similarly, if a person was killed by morphine and the body ended up becoming infested by maggots during the decomposition process, the morphine can now be detected by analysing the maggots and the larvae (Aggrawal 2001: 1). What’s interesting is that, as the maggots â€Å"metamorphose into pupae, this morphine gets incorporated in their walls (Aggrawal 2001: 1). This means that, even years later, a skeletonised body could be tested and found to have died from morphine by testing pupae shells around the skeleton since morphine is impossible to detect by studying human bones (Aggrawal 2001: 1). The book entitled, A Fly for the Prosecution, goes into great detail explaining how entomotoxicology works. The author describes a paper published in 1990 by Pascal Kintz that describes how he tested for five drugs in both a cadaver’s organs and the maggots that were found and while the organs only tested positive for four of the drugs, the maggots had all five, including an insecticide known as malathion (Aggrawal 2001: 3). Interestingly enough, â€Å"in the case involving malathion, his conclusions regarding the time of death were a bout five days, while other evidence was pointing towards eight days†¦.Malathion had failed to kill the maggots†¦but had delayed their maturation by 3 days (Aggrawal 2001: 3). The level of malathion would have killed them if they had been adult flies instead of maggots (Aggrawal 2001: 3). As forensic science progresses, more advancements have been made, particularly in the areas of DNA technology and entomotoxicology. In terms of DNA advances, this tactic has enabled forensic scientists to more quickly identify â€Å"early instars of the Diptera larvae, eliminating the need for time consuming rearing of the larvae to the adult stage† (McKenna 2003: 5). Additionally, â€Å"the effects of various drugs and toxins on maggots development have demonstrated the need to include these in the estimations of the periods of insects development on a body when estimating the post-mortem interval† (McKenna 2003: 5). This is just some of the many examples available on how this new area of forensic science is providing more answers for those doing autopsies or studying crimes. While insect evidence as part of forensic study became more credible in the 1980s, it has slowly become more accepted rather than having maggots removed from a body to reach the â€Å"real evidence† (McKenna 2003: 4). Now, the role of entomologists and law enforcement are becoming more comfortable with each other as the number of cases are indicating the amazing finds of both straightforward entomology forensics and entomotoxicology in particular cases. Adding the use of insect toxicology as a scientific tool to their other capabilities allows the forensic scientist to uncover further clues that might have previously gone unnoticed due to their inability to gather the evidence from a badly decomposed corpse or from mummified or skeletal remains. References Aggrawal, A. (January-June 2001). A fly for the prosecution by M. Lee Goff. Anil Aggrawal’s Internet Journal of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, 2, 1, Available at: http://www.geradts.com/anil/ij/vol_002_no_001/popular_books_002_001/page006.html. Anonymous (2007). Chemistry. Adipocere, Available at: http://adipocere.homestead.com/chemistry.html. Benecke, M. (July 1998). Six forensic entomology cases: description and commentary. Journal of Forensic Sciences. DeBoeck, G., Wood, M., and Samyn, N. (2007). Recent applications of LC-MS in forensic science. McKenna, D. (11 November 2003). A bug life: 10 questions for a forensic entomologist. Available at: http://www.courttv.com/news/2003/1111/tenbugs_ctv.html. Monthei, D. (30 March 2007). Bugs on drugs. Virginia Commonwealth University, Available at: http://www.has.vcu.edu/forensics/current_stuides/cs_ugrad_ind_voice.html. Tuzun, A. and Acikgoz, H.N. (2007). A new investigation area in forensic sciences: entomotoxicology. Available at: http://medicine.ankara.edu.tr/~acikgoz/forensicsciences2.html. Vass, A.A. (November 2001). Beyond the grave – understanding human decomposition. Microbiology Today, 28, 190-192. Wikipedia. (2007). Adipocere. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adipocere.

Human is a fallen God who remembers Heaven :: Personal Narrative Writing

Human is a fallen God who remembers Heaven "Rafal, why don't you participate in the contest that I was talking about. I think you have a chance to win" my teacher proposed. When I was in fifth grade in elementary school I had my first chance to participate in an art contest. The name of the contest was "spring," so kids had to draw or paint a picture that represents the landscape in the spring season. In school there were many kids who could draw and paint well. My friend Marcin really made better pictures then I did, so when I went home from school I didn't have enough faith to even try. I didn’t do anything about that whole day. The next day, I told my teacher that I was not going to participate because I did not feel like I had a chance to win. At the end of the class, the teacher asked me to wait because she had something for me. That day I was really surprised; she gave me brand new paint and a couple of brushes from the school supplies and told me that I could borrow these tools to do the artwork for the contest. She also added that if I won I could keep these. She really empowered me to participate, and I realized that I had nothing to lose. Running, I took the shortest way home. I just couldn't wait to get to my room and open the jars of paint. It wasn't difficult that I thought it would be. I really enjoyed painting and that was actually my first time I painted something. It seemed like I was painting before. The idea of the design came fast; I visualized one of the artworks that hung on the wall in our art classroom. I don't remember the name of the artist, but the well-composed picture showed trees and a river in bright and natural colors. So, I tried to do a similar painting. My idea was to make the river flow from one side of the paper to the other, with trees in front of the river and behind, and I added a house in the middle. It took me almost the whole afternoon and evening to finish this artwork and no one helped me. That was one of the happiest days of my life. I was very surprised what I had done.