NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote
Past, Present and Future Paper Past, Present and Future Paper This self-assessment, reflection and improvement paper is designed to take a snapshot of past, present and future accomplishments. It is an internal evaluation of both personal and professional development goals and objectives. Critical reflection is the process of making sense of experience (Pearson, 2000, p. 3). In order to grow intellectually, self-assessment and reflection is a tool for self-improvement. In my opinion, lifelong learning is a requirement to be a successful business professional. In this paper, I will examine my personal learning style, assess my strengths and opportunities for growth, and create an improvement strategy towards my learning and professional development.
In addition I will examine my present experiences and opportunities for personal growth achieved in University. In conclusion I would like to outline my future goals, beliefs and aspirations concerning life and career. Past Learning is a continuous process that requires commitment and dedication. To enhance my learning, we need to understand my individual learning style.
This pursuit began with an online assessment, where I took a learning style survey. The survey consisted of over 50 questions. According to the survey, I am predominately a tactile / kinesthetic learner. Kinesthetic learners are dynamic learners and learn best when physically engaged in hands on activity.
They learn by doing. I had a feeling that that I would fall in this category. While playing college basketball I learned the plays by actively practicing the game versus watching videotape replays. This learning style enables me to take an idea and put it into a plan of action. (Jester 2003) I had good oral communication skills. I am usually comfortable when I am standing in front of an audience to present them with certain information. I thought teaching is one of the key factors that helped me to develop this skill.
My written communication, on the other hand, required improvement. It was difficult for me to organize my thoughts when I had to write. It seemed that when I talked about a certain subject my thoughts race to produce so much information. However, when I wrote the information down, my thoughts froze. I felt as if I am groping for words. One strategy to help me overcome this weakness was writing frequently.
Thus, writing papers helped me to develop my writing skills. I have spent a great deal of time assessing my personal and professional goals. The result has been that I want more from life than what I currently have. Making the commitment to continue my education is the first step towards creating a brighter future for me. Continuing my educational learning with practical experience is the primary opportunity to grow professional and personally. My goal is constant self-improvement.
Throughout my life, I have tried to improve my situation, others, and myself. Although pursuing a career was not an option at that time, I still was able to continue to improve myself physically, through exercise; mentally, through reading, and emotionally, through helping my children develop. After going through some troubles, I was fortunate to find a position in Casino. In this position, I learned many interpersonal and communication skills. I then went on to supervision.
While in the supervision position I realized that I would need to a different level of understanding and would be doing a disservice to the people I work with. In the highly competitive industry that I worked in, effectively managing, the process of change was an opportunity and challenge. Professionally, I had to develop flexible opportunities as well as possess the patience and confidence to stay the course and see it through to the end. My strengths lay in providing management services to improving other people opportunities. I excelled when teaching, training and influencing others to improve performance.
I wanted to improve my oral and written communicational skills thereby increasing my confidence. I wanted to remain competitive in the management market and further develop my professional teamwork skills. Once I felt that I now had the time, money and support system in place to allow for my degree pursuit, I simply needed to understand how I would go about choosing a school and degree program. I decided to research the place that would cater to my learning preference and choose a degree program that would further enhance my current career goals as a Management Professional and my long-term career goals of being a Business Leader or Management Consultant. I decided to pursue a degree in Business Management at the University of Phoenix because one day my intuition had whispered and I decided to reset goals to pursue it. Choosing the University of Phoenix to further my self-improvement goal was the logical choice.
The programs are set up to help the returning student achieve whatever goals they have set, complete them in achievable time frame, and enjoy themselves while doing it. As I have stated, I feel one should always be seeking to better themselves in every situation. This program will allow me to do just that. With so much more than just a piece of paper, my Bachelor degree in Business Management/Administration will allow me to continue my life-time goal of self-improvement. Owning a degree will help me excel in my career. My ambition is to move up the ladder in my company by acquiring a management-level position.
Present The University of Phoenix's team learning concept has helped to improve a lot of my skills. Based on the results of my self-assessment and reflection, I realized that I must implement a plan for professional development. Striving for a Bachelors degree is the first step in improving my learning. I also intend to enhance my learning by experimenting with other learning styles.
I also need to monitor current trends within the management education. This gives me new insight as to what is happening in my profession. (Tools for Teams) There are several qualities that I possess and can be considered as being my strengths. I am a goal-oriented person and I like to finish what I start. I am usually good about setting goals and mapping a clear plan on how I plan to meet that goal. I like learning new things and teaching others what I know.
This quality has been instrumental in my being a good team player. There are other strengths that I can and will bring to my future classes. Some of these include motivation, creativity, organization, discipline, compromise and the ability to be a team player. I feel that each of these qualities will be beneficial to me as well as my classmates.
Classes will become more involved and intense as time progresses and I will partly rely on my strengths to get me through the tough times. One of my more valued strengths is discipline. Sometimes taking classes outside of the classroom setting can be challenging because of the level of freedom. But because I am so focused on my goal of completing the degree I have disciplined myself. What I have simply done is made an outline of my daily activities and have assigned a time to each task. This may not work for everyone but it works for me.
And let the truth be told, it does become tempting to watch television or go shopping or stay late at work or go on a weekend getaway. But my discipline allows me to set boundaries and abide by my guidelines so that I remain focused. It is very easy to put off assignments until later and tell yourself you will do it when you get home or you will go into work early and complete the assignment and end up never getting it done. So discipline to me will be instrumental in me successfully completing the program. Throughout my professional work experience, especially in areas related to managerial skills, I was able to develop excellent leadership, teamwork, problem solving, and organizational skills.
I tend to take immediate charge and assume responsibilities for the group work. I am able to delegate tasks to team members based on their skills and knowledge. I have excellent influencing, negotiation, and assertiveness skills to get the job done on time. I do very well in goal setting and project management. In order to ensure a project is on the right track towards completion, I develop a time-line and continually assess project development status. I prefer to take time and critically think ahead to prevent conflicts and make good decisions.
However, in todays market place, it seems that there is not enough time to think strategically. Then there are my weaknesses. I think that the areas that I have the most room for improvement are patience, leadership and verbal communication. I feel that these areas will be developed with time and as I become more experienced. I am still somewhat in my youth and tend to react or resolve issues in a youthful manner. I am not a child, but I am not a veteran in the employment arena.
I have been on my job for 10 years, so I am still learning my way in a sense. The areas that I have listed for improvement are pertinent areas to career success. I wouldnt say that I dont possess the qualities at all, I just need to improve them. I have patience, but sometimes I get in a hurry and because I have so many deadlines to meet I get to the point where I pushing and have no control over the situation. When this happens it tends to get me frustrated and I take it all out on myself. I simply just need to calm down.
Learning through teamwork has been a personal goal. I never have had an opportunity to participate in teams and have wondered what it would be like. The University of Phoenix stresses this type of learning. I will become adept at this type of learning before I finish my bachelors degree.
It is very important to me that I present myself as a competent, intelligent employee. I respect those who can communicate what they want and what they need. One of the programs I have been attended was Leadership course. Leadership is an important quality to possess when you are looking to advance your career because that advancement will more than likely put you in a supervisor / managerial role. Organizations are seeking high-potential managers and are better preparing them for the role by developing leadership programs.
I do have the ability to be a leader, but I find myself passing the torch on to someone else because I think they are better equipped or have more knowledge. I am leading out in some activities, but I think that I should take on more responsibilities because I have just as much to offer as others. Understanding leadership enables not only the leaders, but also the subordinates to know and understand what their roles are within any organization. Having this knowledge provides a leader with the necessary guidance for accomplishing any job in a professional and effective manner.
In Addition, I attended gaming conferences to stay up to date with the gaming laws. These skills will be very useful for my job. I work for Cypress Bayou Casino and I have work there for 10 1 / 2 years. My job title is manager on duty. I have held this position for 3 years.
I feel very fortunate that I am an employee for Cypress Bayou Casino. It offers its employees many learning possibilities. I have had the opportunity to participate in different classes, lectures and professional workshops conducted by various organizations throughout Cypress Bayou. Presently on my job I have to complete so many hours of training per year.
Most, if not all, of the...
Free research essays on topics related to: bachelors degree, career goals, past present and future, university of phoenix, learning style
Research essay sample on Past Present And Future Part 1
