In The Face Of Adversity

In her revealing autobiography, Dr. Tolbert describes how she overcame the obstacles that threatened to derail her aspirations for a sound education and professional career. From humble beginnings—surrounded by dirt roads and segregated schools, left orphaned and penniless at an early age—she chose a path of hard work and diligent study that lifted her out of poverty, despair, and ignorance. In an era of tense race relations, and despite numerous stumbling blocks, Dr. Tolbert rose to prominence as an African-American scientist, educator, and administrator—often in positions traditionally held by males. She eventually became: • The first African-American female to serve as director of the nation’s New Brunswick Laboratory. • The first African-American female appointed director of education at Argonne National Laboratory. • The first female to serve as director of the Carver Research Foundation of Tuskegee Institute. • One of six African-American senior executives at the National Science Foundation. • The second African-American to graduate from Brown University with a doctorate in biochemistry. • The first member of the Mayo family of Suffolk, Virginia, to earn a doctoral degree. Her journey, however, was no “crystal stair.” In publishing her tale, Dr. Tolbert affirms our human ability to survive the unexpected, rally against adversity, and charge ahead on a path to personal accomplishment. She is a strong role model with an inspirational message for others struggling against overwhelming odds.

The Courage to Thrive is a unique and fresh approach to personal growth and development. Dr. Trudeau synthesizes academic theory with deeply personal stories. Our traumas and hurts contribute to our erroneous beliefs. We must eliminate maladaptive strategies and employ adaptive strategies. Triumph over adversity takes Courage.

This book is concerned with the question of how families matter in young people's development - a question of obvious interest and importance to a wide range of readers, which has serious policy implication. A series of key current topics concerning families are examined by the top international scholars in the field, including the key risks affecting children, individual differences in their resilience, links between families and peers, the connections between parental work and children's family lives, the impact of childcare, divorce, and parental separation, grandparents, and new family forms such as lesbian and surrogate mother families. The latest research findings are brought together with discussion of policy issues raised.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) operates one of the largest nongovernmental school systems in the Middle East. Palestine refugees in UNRWA schools are achieving higher-than-average learning outcomes in spite of the adverse circumstances they live under. This study uses a mixed methods research approach to address the complexity of the research question and its exploratory nature, namely, How do UNRWA schools continually and consistently outperform public schools? This study used the following data collection techniques: econometric techniques to analyze learning achievement data from international and national assessments; the Systems Approach for Better Education Results tools were used to assess different system components, such as teacher effectiveness, school autonomy, and student assessments; Stallings classroom observations provided a structured method to compare teachers' and students' interactions; qualitative data collected through interviews captured the lived experiences of a sample of students. Contrary to what might be expected from a resource-constrained administration serving refugee students who continually face a multitude of adversities, UNRWA students outperform public schools in the three regions-- West Bank and Gaza and Jordan-- by a year's worth of learning. The achievement is a result of the way these schools recruit, prepare, and support teachers; because of instructional practices and pedagogy in the classroom; and because of school leadership, accountability, and mutual support. This has created a distinguished learning community centered on the student. Of note: • UNRWA selects, prepares, and supports its education staff to pursue high learning outcomes. • Time-on-task is high in UNRWA schools, and is used more effectively than in public schools.

In the Face of Adversity explores the dynamics of translating texts that articulate particular notions of adverse circumstances. The chapters illustrate how literary records of often painful experiences and dissenting voices are at risk of being stripped of their authenticity when not carefully handled by the translator; how cultural moments in which the translation of a text that would have otherwise fallen into oblivion instead gave rise to a translator who enabled its preservation while ultimately coming into their own as an author as a result; and how the difficulties the translator faces in intercultural or transnational constellations in which prejudice plays a role endangers projects meant to facilitate mutual understanding. The authors address translation as a project of making available and preserving a corpus of texts that would otherwise be in danger of becoming censored, misperceived or ignored. They look at translation and adaptation as a project of curating textual models of personal, communal or collective perseverance, and they offer insights into the dynamics of cultural inclusion and exclusion through a series of theoretical frameworks, as well as through a set of concrete case studies drawn from different cultural and historical contexts. The collection also explores some of the venues that artists have pursued by transferring artistic expressions from one medium into another in order to preserve and disseminate important experiences in different cultural settings, media and arts.

This book is an exposition into the story of Job with a critical examination of his righteousness and faithfulness towards God in the midst of extreme adversities and his restoration. The Book of Job has touched the hearts and minds of many Christians especially those experiencing some kind of challenges of life. The Book of Job in its context and style as written in the Bible is however very difficult to read and understand. This book is an attempt to present the story of Job in a simple narrative that gives better comprehension and a deeper insight into some of the causes of afflictions and their remedies.

Can God be good when life is not? Rediscover faith in the character, power, and presence of God. Even in the questions. Even in the hurt. "I want to believe, I want to have hope, but . . ." Pastor and bestselling author Craig Groeschel hears these words often and has asked them himself. We want to know God, feel his presence, and trust that he hears our prayers, but in the midst of great pain, we may wonder if he really cares about us. Even when we have both hope and hurt, sometimes it's the hurt that shouts the loudest. In Hope in the Dark, Groeschel explores the story of the father who brought his demon-possessed son to Jesus, saying, "I believe! Help my unbelief!" In the man's sincere plea, Jesus heard the tension in the man's battle-scarred heart. He healed not only the boy but the father too, driving out the hopelessness that had overtaken him. He can do the same for us today. As Groeschel shares his pain surrounding the health challenges of his daughter, he acknowledges the questions we may ask in our own deepest pain: "Where was God when I was being abused?" "Why was my child born with a disability?" "Why did the cancer come back?" "Why are all my friends married and I'm alone?" He invites us to wrestle with such questions as we ask God to honor our faith and heal our unbelief. Because in the middle of your profound pain, you long for authentic words of understanding and hope. You long to know that even in overwhelming reality, you can still believe that God is good. Hope in the Dark is also available in Spanish, Esperanza en la Oscuridad.

This book explores the life experiences of children who are born with a variety of medical or physical disorders. It provides an integration of scientific and personal perspectives on such conditions. In accounting for both outcomes, it suggests how the social responses of others (family, friends, and professionals) may foster resilience as well as risk. It also describes the results of an intervention that facilitates the more positive experiences of such children early in life.