What did you envision when you were applying to colleges? What kind of university were you hoping to go to? What felt important to you? Academic ranking? Athletics? The Greek System? A particular major? The look of the campus? The ethos of the college?
How did you imagine yourself as a college student? Did you have an image in your mind of yourself on campus? What was it? Did you envision what your dorm life would be like? Did you see yourself walking through the tree-lined lanes on campus, on your way to a class? On your way to meet a new friend for coffee? On your way to a screening? On your way to practice? To a lecture? Did you imagine who you would meet? What parties you’d go to? What the football games would be like? What LA would be like? What you would discover about yourself?
What 5-6 core values would you assign to some of these images in your mind that governed your ideas about college? Name them. Be as specific as you can.
Now, think about your daily routine since arriving on campus. How’s dorm life?
How’s the social life? What’s the vibe? How are your classes? What are you doing in the evenings? Who are you meeting? What are you eating? How are you taking care of yourself? How are you feeling?
What’s the relation between your imagined experience of college and your daily life in the last couple of weeks? What has disappointed you? What has exceeded your expectations?
How are you putting your values into practice? How are you compromising? What priorities are becoming apparent?
For each value you jotted down, write a brief blurb describing how you have and have not been able to put it into practice since arriving on campus. Your blurbs can take the form of full See if any connections arise between the values you’re describing: are they clashing? are they working in concert? Draw arrows/lines/circles indicating the connections you’re starting to see.
Make notes to yourself.
You can either print out your typed assignment in order to make these notes on it, or you can make those marks/notes digitally if you have the technical savvy, or you can handwrite the whole thing. You can upload a photo of your handwritten or printed and marked up assignment
