Essays for General Education Course

Answer

Hybrid vs. Traditional Vehicles

Traditionally, there only existed diesel and gas motors on the roads, though just as periods have changed, so has the automotive industry evolved. Hybrid cars are ones that use both electricity and gasoline and essentially differ from the traditional ones, ones that exclusively use gasoline. The main difference comes from the way their engines are designed to operate. While a hybrid car combines a gasoline-powered engine with an electric motor, a traditional motor exclusively gets its power from an engine. This paper assesses how hybrid cars differ from traditional cars.

In a hybrid vehicle, the engine and motor are managed by a complex system of mechanical and electronic controls in order to attain the best efficiency for various driving conditions (Capasso & Veneri, 2015). Basing on the vehicle complexity, hybrid cars exceptionally rely on computerized controls for switching between the motor and engine, perform several complex tasks and further maintain battery charge. For instance, a system by the name regenerative braking utilizes the motion of a vehicle to generate electricity, and in turn recharge the battery (Rahman et al., 2016). When a hybrid motor stop moving at a traffic light, it temporarily turns off the engine to save fuel. Contrarily, modern gas-powered vehicles have sophisticated electronic control systems. The most basic components that are necessary for operating a gas-powered care include an internal combustion engine, an alternator, an automatic or a standard transmission, spark plugs, a battery, a crankshaft as well as a carburetor or fuel-injection system (Capasso & Veneri, 2015).

With regards to fuel efficiency, not all hybrid motors work with a fuel efficiency goal. For instance, the LaFerrari sports car consumes motor/engine combination for high-performance reasons. However, a good number of the hybrids do not basically capitalize on the energy efficiency of an electric motor to boost and improve fuel economy. When a car is operating on motor power, it does not consume any fuel totally. Basing on the consumer reports tests, a good number of the hybrid motors have a better fuel economy as opposed to their gas counterparts. For instance, The Hyundai Sonata hybrid succeeded 33 MPG equated to the Sonata SE’s 27 MPG, the Ford Fusion hybrid accomplished 34 MPG in contrast to the SEL’s 24 MPG, and the Honda Civic hybrid model ranked forty miles per gallon (MPG) contrasted with the customary Civic’s 29 MPG (Capasso & Veneri, 2015). Due to the absence of a regenerative braking technology, it is confirmed that gas cars tend to consume more fuel after subjection to frequent acceleration and braking. This is a common trend on city roads.

As opposed to traditional models, typical hybrid care is capable of producing 90% fewer tailpipe emissions. When operating on an electronic vehicle, the motor does not have any emissions at all. Additionally, hybrid cars majorly rely on the vehicle in slow traffic, while eliminating emissions in high congestions and under stop-and-g conditions. Owing to the greater complexity and comparatively elevated costs of rechargeable batteries, hybrid motors are associated with a greater command of a premium of at least limited thousand dollars (France et al., 2018). This is in contrary to their conventional counterparts with regards to initial purchase prices. Nevertheless, still basing on the consumer reports, a good number of the hybrids make up the total price difference within a year’s worth of driving because of savings made through fuel efficiency (Capasso & Veneri, 2015).

In conclusion, the factors of vehicle complexity, fuel efficiency, purchase piece, and tailpipe emissions are among the main points of consideration when understanding the differences between hybrid cars and their traditional counterparts- gasoline cars. Bottom line, hybrid cars turn out to be more fuel efficient and environmentally conducive than gas cars. Nevertheless, they are still more expensive. As a consequence, it is up to the consumers to become enlightened clients with an objective to select a car that is more favorable to them.

Capasso, C., & Veneri, O. (2015). Experimental study of a DC charging station for full electric and plug in hybrid vehicles. Applied energy, 152, 131-142.

France, D. M., Yu, W., Singh, D., & Zhao, W. (2018). U.S. Patent Application No. 15/793,548.

Rahman, I., Vasant, P. M., Singh, B. S. M., Abdullah-Al-Wadud, M., & Adnan, N. (2016). Review of recent trends in optimization techniques for plug-in hybrid, and electric vehicle charging infrastructures. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 58, 1039-1047.

A Narrative Essay

In the education journey, an internship program gives a variety of benefits for young graduates or workers who wish to broaden their chances of getting a job or jump-starting their career life. Internships are of a great significance because they grant scholars with a taste of the actual professional life, help one boost and build their resume and provide them with an enabled chance of meeting individuals that can positively help them build their career. However, the whole experience comes with personal attributes that can either help one build their reputation and vigilance positively or otherwise, negatively. Young workers should never be passive during the internship period and end up missing out on quality opportunities to expand their business background. It is essential to take full advantage of the significances of holding an internship period. This brings me to a real-life situation that positively impacted my life.

During my summer internship period which I partook in a certain public relations firm, a customer unexpectedly wanted to switch a whole campaign program strategy, two days before the launch. The customer seemed quite unpleased with the first draft that my team had presented, and so we were altogether tasked with revising, editing and redoing the entire campaign plan. We did not have a choice. Immediately, we thought of organizing a late-night brainstorm that very evening. After several hours of work, I decided to take up the lead of assembling and putting together our new deck. The task was, however, quite challenging since it was my first time trying to put together a new deck, and also a one in a lifetime chance of making the client happy again before the project was approved. I was overwhelmed. However, I overcame this challenge by reviewing the previously successful presentations for the customer, assessing and analyzing the given feedback on the initial presentation, and then incorporating the ideas presented by the team members into the new deck. Our new project was exemplary and the customer was ultimately happy with the fresh plan, plus all the new ideas that had been incorporated.

Our deck was later on approved and even the management team was impressed by our efforts. During the launch, our effort was heavily recognized and this opportunity opened better avenues for bigger projects during our internship journey. The recognitions branded our team and this further increased the likelihood of being absorbed in the firm. Although it was a one-day career opportunity, the benefits are far fetching into our career journey. Since we overcame the challenge that could possibly limit our progress, it was a great way of proving to the potential employers that we were better placed to think on our feet and work from a scratch towards solving the problem much efficiently. This is a unique skill that most interviewers look for among all candidates they seek to hire, and approaching such obstacles effectively have served us well even during the interviews for both entry-level jobs or better internship programs. Our resumes have thereafter been buttered with elaborate yet efficient skills, with approval from our overall manager.

Life comes with chances that some people take for granted only to regret later on. Out of the whole experience, I have learned to take up my projects with the seriousness it requires because with it, comes untold benefits. Some of the decisions we make might be the turning point of our lives and expose us to greater opportunities that we never thought of before. To me, this was a life-changing point that I will forever be grateful for.

Impact of Social Media on Relationships

Using social media and the internet has progressively become a lifestyle. Today, people can easily connect with their loved ones, old friends and keep in touch with several others across the world. They are in a better position to create and manage relationships with people they may never meet face-to-face. As confirmed, the increasing use of social media platforms leads to more enhanced and meaningful relationships and connections than before. Real relationships have been established through Facebook, Skype or even Instagram pages. This essay seeks to agree to the ideology that the use of social media is beneficial for creating and maintaining meaningful relationships.

Even in a professional setting, relationship building enhances the creation of opportunities for persons to idea share, collaborate, receive feedbacks and reduce stress and frustrations through social support. In the context of a successful working relationship, it is significant for all parties to feel like a valued yet crucial contributors to a relationship. Posing thoughtful questions, actively pursuing a two-way dialogue and making a conscious effort to accept and acknowledge other people’s feedback are collectively keys to establishing proper workplace relationship and as a consequence, better trusting connections can be developed (Agnihotri et al., 2016).

As confirmed, social networking facilitates the process of establishing healthy working relationships. As a package, social networks bring to table great opportunities for professionals and persons to publicly recognize the success of other parties within the relationship. Such a strategy boosts the party’s sense of belonging, security, and self-worth, which in turn makes a party more likely and more comfortable to make investments in a relationship. Another critical relationship element facilitated by social networking is authenticity. Some people can actually utilize a person’s social media pages purposely to determine better and more information about one as an individual (Schmidt, Lelchook, & Martin, 2016). The strategy helps to reassure the rest that a story they may be telling about oneself is genuine, as, in return, the connections they create are as important as the face-to-face relationships.

As human beings, people have cultivated mutual relationships with others that have either weak or strong ties. Strong tie relationships refer to ones that take a regular investment of both energy and time. In most cases, they include family, romances or even close friends. Contrarily, weak ties are the relationships that involve looser connections whereby parties involved in such relationships have less and inadequate information about other people since they have infrequent contact (Agnihotri et al., 2016). Such weak ties, commonly forged through social media, can be of far fetching benefits; including increased diversity of perspectives and hence, more and better idea generation and increased innovative collaborations.

A more beneficial aspect regarding social media is the idea that it enhances greater access to both strong and weak connections. The growing spectrum of possible connections can allow an individual and firms to identify particular persons with shared goals, interests, experience solving the same challenges, or further develop methods and tools for completing a mutual task. If one considers all the connections they have on online platforms through social networks, the possibilities of collaborations are endless because of the vast connections social media allows them to establish (Agnihotri et al., 2016).

If a person chooses to maintain an open mind and honestly share their story, social media provides a greater capacity for building, managing and maintaining quality relationships. However, as people continually use their social media platforms for expanding their networks, it is important to acknowledge the fact that social media relationships are still relationships. People should, therefore, treat others the same way they would in person; with high respect and great consideration. Another strategy of strengthening relationships by social media is through long-distance relationships. Before the invention of the internet, keeping in touch with family, lover or friend living several kilometers away was quite tough. Perhaps, it happened once in a month, if that. In today’s world, this is possible even on a daily basis, multiple times a day, via social media. The ease and convenience of texting a person through Snapchat or Facebook enables a long-distance relationship to be maintained, work, and continue.

For instance, if someone travels from overseas and is forced to terminate the face-to-face relationship, they have an option to Skype on a daily basis or even every week to maintain the friendship alive. Such promises can be kept to date by the power of social media. Failure to contact them in the past few years due to lack of internet would render the relationship dead. Social media facilitates long-distance relationships even with friends because a person is better placed to check on each other regularly and know how they are doing (Ngai, Tao, & Moon, 2015). Ideally, a platform like Skype allows people to keep and further establish friendships to ensure that they do not gradually and inevitably die out.

Another strategy that social media influences interpersonal relationships is by creating and further increasing them. Internet platforms allow people to form new and better relationships. Apps, for instance, Tinder, used by individuals to find a partner, is a perfect example of this. People meet their partners on social media and make the relationship grow into something substantial. The suggested section on Instagram and the mutual friend section of Facebook enables people to connect with others, who they do not even know in person, and more often than people can imagine, and later grows into a lasting yet beneficial relationship.

Certain individuals might argue that the whole idea under discussion might discard the fact that populace misunderstand social media. Though social media might at times lead to hurtful misunderstandings that create relationship rifts, the core problem is not even social media (Ngai, Tao, & Moon, 2015). The main issue behind social media discrepancies that ruin relationships is the weaknesses of the relationship, although the probability of creating misunderstandings might be perpetuated by social media platforms. Merely, social media is a tool that individuals use when committing hurtful acts. It is a platform that facilitates the chances to connect with people, though some use it to do the crime. Sometimes, it creates and strengthens human based relationships, other time, it might harm relationships by increasing the chances of bullying and misunderstanding (Ngai, Tao, & Moon, 2015). Baseline, the benefits it generates to relationships outdo the consequences. 

References

Agnihotri, R., Dingus, R., Hu, M. Y., & Krush, M. T. (2016). Social media: Influencing customer satisfaction in B2B sales. Industrial Marketing Management, 53, 172-180.

Ngai, E. W., Tao, S. S., & Moon, K. K. (2015). Social media research: Theories, constructs, and conceptual frameworks. International Journal of Information Management, 35(1), 33-44.

Schmidt, G. B., Lelchook, A. M., & Martin, J. E. (2016). The relationship between social media co-worker connections and work-related attitudes. Computers in Human Behavior, 55, 439-445.