Dear Josh Bayer,

This is a very big upcoming year for you and your future. It’s your senior year and you
are running out of time to develop your final skills before you graduate and go to college. This
past year and a half has been full of ups and downs, but everyone else has gone through the
same things as you. You were able to get through it and finish off last school year successfully. It
is now up to you how you handle yourself to prove how strong of a person you really are. As of
now you are happy with your current reading, writing, and learning skills but there is always
room for improvement. Always striving for greatness is what separates the good from the greats.
This year you are wanting to focus on three specific goals that you think you can improve
on the most and that will benefit you in the future. Keep these goals in mind throughout the year
and stay committed to them every single day in class. If you do this, by the time June rolls
around you will have developed three new skills that will improve you not only academically, but
socially.
This year you want to develop the skill of reading intentionally for a variety of purposes,
including to learn content, to understand a variety of perspectives, to critique and to learn
writer’s craft. In other words I would like to read for the intent of learning not just because I am
required. During class I find myself only doing the work because I am assigned to it. If I could
genuinely take the time to understand the concept of the lesson it would allow me to reflect on
the concept much easier in the way that I would actually understand what I am writing rather
than just going through the motions.
Another goal I would like to accomplish would be to be able to write effectively in a
variety of academic, civic, and workplace genres. This goal is very important to accomplish for
my future. As of right now I feel like I have a good skill of being able to write for academic
purposes, but what separates good writers from average writers is to be able to write in any
circumstances regardless of the audience or who they are writing for. I want to get to the point
that I can write about any subject to any audience. It is important to be versatile in writing
because you need to be able to write in different ways depending on who will be reading your
work.
Lastly, I want to improve my skill of being inquisitive, motivated and a self-directed
learner. I already have this skill mostly developed, but if I can fully evolve this goal I will be
successful in life. I believe this is the most important goal in the way that if you can push
yourself to learn it will lead to you so many outcomes for the future.
This year is going to fly by especially since no one is used to going out and about
because of the past year and a half, but during this year it is so important to try and get used to
things going back to “normal” before your college life begins.
Once college starts you are on your own and you only have yourself to depend on. It’s
up to you to stay on task and complete your assignments and to be prepared for your big
exams.
Also aside from academic things you also have to be prepared for all the other life things
that will come your way. Soak up this year as much as you can and cherish the memories you
make, but also stay on top of your stuff and push through this year.
If you ever feel like you are falling behind on these goals go back to our basic class
goals. These goals are simple but are the foundation to success. Stay true to yourself and don’t
let anyone else tell you differently, because in the end it really is only up to you to be successful.
Sincerely, Josh Bayer