Critical Thought Reflection #1

Due: Thursday, September 3 by 11:00 p.m. (upload to eLearn)

Prompt: Describe a possible plan for your co-curricular engagement in the coming years (co-curricular
means what you might participate in on campus or in the larger community in addition to your
courses). Which activities might you participate in to further develop your areas of strength? Which
might provide opportunities for you to grow in areas of challenge? How will participation in these
activities contribute to the achievement of your overall goals for your college experience? How do
you anticipate your co-curricular involvement may change over time?

As you address these questions, you will need to include the following:

 Your goals for your college experience, whether related to the pursuit of a specific career
path, development of personal or professional skills, or exploring different avenues of study
to determine next steps.
 Your individual strengths and potential areas of challenge in reaching these goals.
 The co-curricular opportunities you learned about during Campus Fest.

Your final essay should:

 begin with a clear thesis (a claim you are making that you will write in support of in the essay).
The thesis should be at the top of the first page—no introductory paragraph is needed, only
the thesis.
 demonstrate reflective thinking, which is to seek insight by reflecting carefully about your own
experiences, biases, attitudes, and ways of thinking and acting.
 do more than assert your experiences or hopes: describe, probe, interpret, and explain them.
 be about 500-750 words, double-spaced, with one-inch page margins.
 be well written and proofread for clarity, grammar, and spelling.

While there is no need to include outside sources in this reflection, if you do include sources be sure
to quote and paraphrase them correctly with citations. For this reflection you may cite a source by
putting the author’s last name and the page number into parentheses at the conclusion of the
sentence. For example:

Eboo Patel writes “Change happens internally before it takes place in the
world. My transformation was catalyzed by a moment of failure” (Patel,
XVIII).

If you do use additional sources, be sure to include a Works Cited list at the end of the
paper.