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Maryam Ahmad

Best Jobs with Quiet Work Environment

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Every person has his or her own work preferences. Some of you might enjoy some music in the background while preparing an upcoming presentation or would like to share your ideas with a bunch of colleagues every now and then. Then there is an entirely different category of employees, and count me among them too, who only want some peace and quiet while working.

Top Jobs with Quiet Environment

A quiet work environment isn’t easy to find especially for the operation employees and middle managers who usually have to make do with cubicles crowded in a small office. If you’re tired of jobs where you sit shoulder-to-shoulder with your co-workers, you’re at the right place.

Here, you’ll find the best jobs that come with the huge blessing of a quiet work environment. Let’s check it out. 

Accountant

Since most of the work of an accountant is to be carried out independently, they can enjoy a quiet setting. Many accountants have the option to work from home and even if they do attend office, they will have their own personal space to do this important business task without much intervention from the bosses or coworkers.

To enjoy the perks of being an accountant, you’ll naturally need a Bachelor’s in Accounting as the minimum qualification. While looking into the finances of a company, an accountant needs to be able to handle monetary records, generate reports and give specific advice to the bosses on the company’s finances.

Photographer

Photographers often have their own personalized working environment. They can set it up as quiet as they’d prefer. Whether they’re taking pictures of the wild or capturing the different cultures of the world, they wouldn’t usually be bothered by anyone. 

Computer Programmer

Programming is something that cannot be focused on in a noisy environment. If a company hires you as a computer programmer to set up the software for them or keep it running and fix bugs, they’ll usually give you an office. Programmers will usually enjoy an entire office to themselves where they can work in peace and aren’t disturbed by co-workers. 

Librarian

If you truly appreciate the beauty of a quiet environment, you could think of becoming a librarian. Not only can you enjoy a peaceful sitting and reading area for yourself, but you’ll also have the authority to request the visitors to keep it down. 

A librarian is naturally, in charge of everything that goes on in the library including record-keeping, checking in and out of the library books and maintaining a peaceful environment around the place where everyone can concentrate on their work. 

Lab Technician

While doctors coordinate a lot with their colleagues and subordinates, lab technicians enjoy a much quieter environment for work. They usually have a quiet lab to themselves where they analyze fluids, detect abnormalities and generate a report which will be used by the doctor to devise a suitable treatment for the patient. A bachelor’s degree and some sort of certification may usually be required for you to qualify as a lab technician. 

Writer

All sorts of writers, whether technical, fiction, non-fiction or journalists will require a quiet workplace to give shape to their ideas. Writers usually work from home and can have their own library or work corner where they can retire with a cup of coffee whenever they want to write.

The same is the case with content writers and proofreaders. They may have strict deadlines to stick to, but enjoy the freedom to set their own schedule and place to work in. To be a writer, you simply need to be comfortable with words and a few skills, although some jobs may require a minimum bachelor’s degree.

Top 7 Shipping Companies in the World

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Since ships can transport larger quantities of cargo and over longer distances than any other mode of transport. That’s exactly why it’s the preferred or the only feasible transportation in many cases.

Owing to this, it contributes a major percentage to the world’s economy. Whether it’s an export-import business that you are a part of or plan on moving across the borders, you’ll need to put some time and effort into researching the world’s best shipping companies.

Each one covers different countries, offer different prices and may take different routes for transportation. Here is a list of the top 7 shipping companies that you can pick from

APM-Maersk

With its headquarters in Copenhagen Denmark, AP Moller – Maersk is the biggest operating unit of the Maersk Shipping Line. The Maersk Line started operating from the year 1904 and has held its invincible reputation since then. Since its the largest container ship operator across the globe, it’s the number 1 preference of most businesses that are looking for international transportation. 

The company is estimated to transport cargo worth around $675 billion each year and runs its services across 130 countries. Currently, the company owns a fleet of 711 ships and makes a revenue of 40.3 Billion US Dollars. 

MSC – Mediterranean Shipping Company

The Mediterranean Shipping Company or MSC is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland and started its operation from the year 1970. Holding the ownership of 524 container ships at present, it operates in over 150 countries. Currently, the company has over 480 offices in different locations around the world and has stopovers at 315 ports. 

MSC also owns 4 of the largest container ships present in the world. These large container ships have the capacity to carry 19,000 containers, 20 feet each. 70,000 employees are associated with the company and it generates over 28 billion US Dollars as revenue.

CMA-CGM

CMA-CGM Group is the third biggest shipping company in the world and is based in France. The headquarters of the company is in Marseille, France but it operates in 160 countries worldwide and calls at 420 ports situated across the waters. The company was founded in 1978 and currently generates a grand revenue of over 15.7 billion USD. They own a fleet of 509 vessels and 750 warehouses.

COSCO – China Ocean Shipping Company

More widely known as COSCO, the China Ocean Shipping Company is another one of the leading names in the shipping industry. The headquarters are situated in Beijing, China but the company operates in 40 countries around the globe. 

It owns 461 container ships presently, 5 of which are categorized among the top 10 largest container ships of the world. Each of these large ships can hold over 19,000 containers, 21 feet each. The company was founded in 1961 and generates a revenue of 10.2 billion USD in the present day.

Hapag-Lloyd

Another one of the renowned shipping companies in the world is Hapag-Lloyd which is based in Hamburg, Germany and operates 175 containers across 117 different countries globally. It started operating since 1970 and generates a revenue of 12 billion USD currently. 

Ocean Network Express (ONE)

Last but not least, we have a comparatively new shipping company which was launched by Japan in 2017. Although it’s a Japanese company, ONE has its headquarters in Singapore and covers most of Asia, Africa, and Latin America through its services. With over 217 vessels currently, it’s among the largest shipping companies in the world.

Evergreen Line

Evergreen Line (or Evergreen Marine Cooperation) is another Chinese shipping company that deserves a spot among the world’s largest container shipping companies. Dr. Yand Fa Chang founded the company back in 1968 and the headquarters are based in Taiwan. Currently, Evergreen Line holds the possession of more than 200 container ships.  

Pros and Cons of Refinancing Student Loans

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A college education is expensive, especially if you live in the USA. This is exactly why over 60% of the students graduate from college with a debt of over $35,000, as reported for the year 2019. The debt is even higher for some students, who either switched colleges or changed their majors.

With such a large piece of debt hanging over your head, you need to take some time out to plan to make money to do the repayment, to make it easier on you.

Now, the repayment of this debt is easier if you have a single student loan on your head. However, most of the time, that’s not the case. Most of the time, the federal loan is not sufficient to cover your entire college education.

You will then have to resort to lending bodies, banks or other forms of private lenders to cover the expenses for your remaining semesters in college.

The need for Student Loan Consolidation

This means you’ll be dealing with a number of different types of loan debts instead of just one, which makes the repayments quite confusing. One of the solutions to streamline the repayments of your debts is to apply for student loan refinancing.

However, before actually deciding to go ahead and try it, it is better to do some research and figure out if it’s really going to be beneficial or not, especially since once you have applied for it, there’s no going back.

What is Student Loan Consolidation?

Instead of repaying typically 8 to 10 debts with different interest rates and due dates, many choose to consolidate these loans into a single big loan so that they have to pay a single amount each month to a single lending body.

Not only does the technique make the repayments easier, but it can also sometimes cost you less than the sum of original repayments.

However, whether or not student loan refinancing is the right option for you depends upon a number of factors including the nature of each of the loans, benefits and your present finances.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Student Loan Consolidation

Let’s dig a little deeper into the advantages and disadvantages of consolidating student loans to decide if it’s beneficial or not in the borrower’s specific scenario:

Student Loan Refinancing Pros

  • The biggest reason for a student loan consolidation is a single monthly payment with a single interest rate rather than multiple. It will save you from much trouble in keeping track of payments and also from making defaults, as is typically the case with individual repayments.
  • A variety of refinancing plans is available spanning over 10 to 30 years. If you choose longer plans, you will be making smaller monthly payments. This makes student loan consolidation more affordable for most borrowers.
  • You have the option of consolidating any number and amount of individual loans, without the presence of any minimum or maximum threshold. This qualifies all students for a student consolidation plan.
  • Automatic repayments of the debt are possible to further release you of the trouble of keeping track of the monthly debit from your bank account. 

Student Loan Refinancing Cons

  • You might be paying more interest over your student loan, especially if you choose plans spanning over a greater period of time.
  • Refinancing plans apply the weighted average over all your individual student loan interest rates to determine the final interest rate. This may end up being higher than the simple average of all the interest rates, especially if few of the sizeable loans have larger interest rates.
  • Through student loan consolidation, some borrower benefits may be lost, that might be available on individual student loan plans.

Schools and Coronavirus: Ideas & Scheduling Kids Education at home

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While the entire world is fighting against the present Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation, there are issues that may go overlooked. These are the issues that may not seem too pressing presently, like the shutdown of schools, colleges, and universities.

Had this been a matter of weeks, we would not be much worried. However, the pandemic that has even overwhelmed the greatest scientist and doctors of the decade does not really give us an end date to this lockdown.

While many governments have currently locked down schools and businesses for a fortnight, there’s no guarantee that the situation will stabilize after that.

It’s best that we continue schooling our kids at home so that once they’re back to school, hopefully soon, they have everything fresh in their minds.

Homeschooling can be Challenging

Homeschooling isn’t as straightforward as it may seem, especially if you haven’t tried it before. Most kids are accustomed to their regular routine of being taught in a traditional classroom setting, with a teacher and a bunch of fellow colleagues.

While the setting cannot be replicated completely at home, there are a few things you can do to make the makeshift schooling routine workable.

Stick to the Morning Timetable

You have a tried-and-tested study routine for your kid, the same one that they have been following so far, before the outbreak of the COVID-19. Stick to it.

Make sure they sleep at night and wake up on time for breakfast to start a fresh day. Once they start their day on time, as it was on the school days, the kids will have plenty of time to concentrate on their studies.

Also, by sticking to the normal routine, you won’t hear much whining once the regular schooling begins since they’re already accustomed to the morning routine.

A quiet, Undisturbed Study Area

You needn’t necessarily have a study room in your home. Any quite setting where no one will disturb the kids, at least for the while they are studying, would do. It could be their bedroom or any other place in your house that’s least visited by other members of the family.

Also, make sure that they’re sitting upright and utilizing a desk and table instead of studying in bed. Homeschooling can infest lots of lazy ideas in the minds of our troublesome little ones, we need to be the one to discipline them. Sitting in a proper position will definitely help them concentrate and comprehend better. 

Make Use of Online Resources

The entire world is in this together, we are not alone. That’s exactly why you’ll find a lot more online resources to educate your kids now than there were ever before.

Plenty of these resources are either free or at discounted prices since those that have the capacity are striving to make sure that the youngsters aren’t deprived of education during this traumatic time. 

You’ll find online books to download at several online book stores and educational apps that you can download on your laptop, tablet or phone to keep the kids busy learning.

Spare some time for activities

Very important: Don’t overburden them with coursework; let them have some spare time where they can do what they love. Activities may not directly influence their academics but go a long way in developing them as a human being.

Promote indoor activities and make sure they are safe. Painting, drawing, supervised cooking and watching cartoons are some of the fun activities you can let them do to kill the boredom.

What’s most important is that you keep yourself and your family safe in this catastrophic situation and use this time to reconnect with loved ones. 

Why Online High Schools Aren’t Productive as Traditional School

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The continuous evolution of technology brings newer options to learn remotely. From Skype to Zoom, you’ll find countless software and platforms where you can connect and learn from your teachers and fellow colleagues while sitting at home. 

While it has its advantages and there are situations when online schooling is the only resort, traditional schooling is still the preferred option among the two.

After all, millions of kids who wake up early morning, get dressed and head to school must have a good reason to do so, or at least their parents will. 

If you think the parents all simply following the convention without giving it much thought, that’s not entirely the case. Online high schools pose several disadvantages when compared with traditional schooling; here is a list of some:

Limited social development

Social development is one of the most important part of learning that’s lacking in online high schools. When the students physically spend a good number of hours in a traditional school, they interact with their colleagues and teachers and take part in several activities such as sports, debates, and volunteer works.

Each one of these activities is a social opportunity that contributes to building their character and turning them into a confident, self-established individual.

These opportunities, however, are limited when you take online courses. It may establish the same understanding of the academics as with traditional schooling, but interaction with people is limited.

Need for self-motivation and discipline 

There are several factors that will drive the students forward when they study at a traditional high school; their teachers who give out assignments, ask questions and take quizzes regularly to keep a check, exams where they compete with a bunch of fellow students and strive to maintain a reputation, etc. While online courses also have deadlines on the assignments and quizzes, the motivation is limited. 

When you know that the deadline for a test is in 4 days and you can revise the course in an hour before it, you will naturally make little use of the 4 days that are offered to you.

When enrolled in an online high school, the student must be self-motivated and self-disciplined to achieve what they plan. They must prepare a study timetable and stick to it, even if there’s isn’t a teacher directing them throughout the courses. 

The possibilities of non-accredited high schools 

The internet isn’t the most authentic resource when searching for online high schools. In your hunt for online high schools, you’ll come across countless programs that will offer enrolment and charge you good money, only to reveal later that they are not accredited. 

If you do plan on enrolling yourself or your kid in an online high school, please do plenty of research. Make absolutely sure that the program you pay for is accredited by authorities and will be recognized when you apply for higher studies on the basis of this degree. 

Disrupted routine

Traditional schooling steers the students’ routine in a healthy direction. We all know how going to bed early, waking up on time, eating breakfast and setting out to work contributes to a healthy routine.

This routine can only be enforced on a high school student if he or she has to be somewhere on time. Of course, the class is going to start at the specified time; it will not be adjusted to their preferences. 

In contrast, the flexible timings for online high schools do not do a very good job of maintaining a healthy routine for students. Waking up late, skipping breakfast and staying up late at night, may not be a problem initially. However, the disrupted routine will be very difficult to set right once they start university or are hired as a fulltime employee.