Research Day

Hello! Happy Tuesday!

Please get your netbooks and your books out.

When the bell rings, we'll be reading.

In your Writer's Notebook, labeled with today's date:

Which career/college path am I planning for? Write one word at the top of your document to describe what this is. (If you aren't sure, or are still deciding, pick one for now.)

I will give you directions from there.

By the end of today, you should be able to walk out of this class knowing what essay you are going to be writing, and, if applicable, the college it applies to. A more detailed description will be given to you later this week. Your choices are:

• Write a personal statement that you can tailor to your future job (like a statement of purpose) that explains who you are, what matters to you, and/or the skills that you possess that will show why you will be an excellent "candidate" for employment. It should probably be between 500 and 700 words.
• A specific college application essay from a college that you are applying to. If the required essays have a 250 or 300 word limit, pick two. (Trust me, you'll be happier if you're working on two at once.) You may, of course, choose an essay from the Common App.

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Places to start:

HELPFUL LINKS:

• Common App essays (plus Stanford Essays)
• UC Schools Personal Statements (If you want to write towards a career path, instead of a specific school, I would recommend checking out these essays. You can choose one of these as your prompt.)
• For questions about colleges, a good place to start is College Board
• Choosing a Career Path and/or Major
• If you're planning to attend a local community college, make sure you look at the website for admissions requirements. And if you plan to transfer to a 4-year university, remember you'll still need to write transfer application essays!)

Career-bound topics of research:

• skills or abilities needed to enter their career
• what a typical day looks like, or common tasks you would be doing
• job security - Is this field hiring? How does it treat its employees?
• What does a statement of purpose look like?

College-bound topics of research:

• Deadlines/admission requirements
• Financial aid requirements or opportunities
• What it means to choose a major, and opportunities in that field
• What does the college's town look like?
• Which application essay do you want/need to write?

BEFORE YOU LEAVE, FILL OUT THIS FORM
I would like to know what direction you're heading with your essay before we sit down to write in a couple days.

Also, here's a link to an interesting article you might like. It's called 7 Strange Questions that Help You Find Your Life Purpose