Thanks for the input guys! It really helps. I'm not going to fret over it too much, I'm already stressed to the max with the other stuff.
Was wondering if you guys could tell me how I did with these two prompts from AAMC CBT8, when you guys get the time. Feel free to leave any comments/suggestions. 🙂
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In a democracy, the successful politician resembles the ordinary citizen.
In general, stable democracies are run by politicians who share the same anxieties and encompass the same goals as the citizens of society. These politicians always seem to thrive and get re-elected for future terms. Although, it is preferable to please one's citizens as much as possible, it can often times be very challenging. Being in high positions of power, politicians have to formulate an overall plan that protects and nurtures the interests of society in the long run. In doing so, they may not be able to reflect the common feelings and goals of the ordinary citizen as they have to consider the well-being of the entire society in the eyes of the rest of the world. However, for the most part, successful politiicans are able to find a solid medium where they are able to protect the interests of the government as well as address the fears/problems of the citizens that elected them.
As an example, at my public institution (UC Irvine), student's are constantly complaining about the fact that they are struggling financially and find it difficult to attend college. The fact that tuititon is rising and grants have been sparse, has not helped matters. There is always protest about the fact that our school prioritizes funding for research over that of investing in the overall educational experience for students. Often times, students are annoyed by the fact that they are in 300+ student classrooms with only one post-doctoral research professor teaching, whose main priority is his/her research as opposed to teaching a class 3 times a week.
What the students don't understand is that in order to fund the university in these difficult times, developments in research produce funds that often times outweigh the inital cost to get the research projects started. Often times, the student government elected by the students, is in a tug of war with the academic senate to try and address the concerns. These student government leaders are occasionally criticized for not being receptive to the needs of society, but often times they do a good job of balancing both what is practical and what the concerns of society are. For instance, these leaders are often the ones who ensure free tutoring services, computer programs and extended library hours in order to resolve the fact that our school doesn't have professors whose main priority is teaching.
As the saying goes, "I don't know the way to success, but the way to failure is trying to please everyone." This is clearly the case when referring to the officials who constitute the government we know of today. As seen with the above examples, successful politicians are able to utilize democratic people skills and amplify them to an extent that they can maintain a stable government.
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Advancements in communication technology have reduced the quality of human interaction.
In today's fast-paced society, people are constantly involved in work and errands. It gets very difficult to find time to set aside to do things for the sake of happiness and nostalgia. This is clearly represented when it comes to interacting with others, particularly our loved ones. As a solution to this lack of time, many technological and computerized advancements are constantly being developed. These enhancements can at times cause us to loose the joy of physically being present with those who we wish to communicate with, to varying degrees of course. Depending on the frequency and types of communication innovations one uses, it is still possible to maintain the quality of human interaction.
For example, the use of e-mail/on-line chatting is a very convenient method to use for work purposes as well as personal contacts. It makes it easy to keep in touch with your accountant as well as your brother who lives on the other side of the county. However, if it is used continuously to interact with people who you share a personal connection with, it can potentially lead to a sense of nostalgia and disattachment from them. Thus, it is important to monitor and control the amount of times you e-mail your aunt as opposed to the times you actually call and visit her.
On the other hand, there are advancements such as Skype and other video-chatting softwares that make the task of communicating easy while at the same time maintaining some sense of visual human interaction. I think that is especially useful in staying in touch with family as it gives one the idea of what a loved one looks like, and one might be able to construct a schema of how facial expressions relate to what a particular person is saying. This trait is especially valuable in real life situations.
I believe that individual humans are the ones that need to manage their time in such a way that they do not get carried away with communication advancements. Depending on the frequency of usage of the above mentioned sources, the quality of human interaction is affected. It is important to be balanced when maintaining human interaction as it is useful to develop good interpersonal skills.
