This I Believe Essay

DEMAND YOUR RESPECT

Author: Jameka Anderson

Professor: Dr. Theresa Marron-Grodsky

Course: USCP 615A-Orientation to Graduate Studies at UMUC

Date: July 14, 2015

Demand Your Respect

Usually, when you hear the word demand it can often come off as harsh, or as an order. Demand is defined simply as asking authoritatively or brusquely. Making demands can simply mean urging others to give you what you want, based off of your actions. It’s always said that “respect is earned, not given,” but I disagree with this. I believe you should always demand your respect, because in certain situations, individuals will treat you in whatever way they deem acceptable, especially in the professional environment, until they think you’ve earned it.

During my undergraduate years, I studied at Frostburg State University in Frostburg Maryland. Around my junior year is when I moved off campus and decided that my work-study job with the alumni association couldn’t be my only source of income, especially when I would go back home for the summer and winter breaks. I am from the D.C. Metropolitan area and this is where I found my summer job. The position was as a psychiatric technician in a psychiatric hospital and it just so happens that at the time of my hiring, I was the youngest employee. My seasoned coworkers were instructed to “train” me. I honestly believe they thought this was a code for “make the new, young girl do all the work.” In my mind I was thinking that I should just do it because I was new to the field and needed all the help I could get, so I just listened and did as I was told. This had a positive aspect because I got to learn the tasks of my job fairly quickly, but everyone knows when too much work is just simply too much work. Often times, the adolescent floor of the hospital could become very violent and would cause us to be very busy. In my position, we would have to perform quiet safety checks on the patients every 15 minutes to make sure they were safe....