Northern Arizona University

Becoming a master student (STU 150), Fall 2008

2:00-3:15 Tuesday and Thursday
3 Credits

Instructor: Curtis Kleinman

Office and phone: 928-776-2290
Email: curtis.kleinman@yc.edu
Office and office hours: Bldg. 3 room 231 Mon. & Wed. 9-12, Thurs. 10:30-1:30
Classroom: Bldg. 19 room 206

Required Materials:
th
1. Ellis, Dave.  (2009).  Becoming a Master Student, 12  ed.  Boston: Houghton Mifflin 
Company.   

Course Description:

STU 150 is a student development course designed to help each student acquire the skills necessary to be
successful as a college student. These skills range from improving study habits to acquiring effective
strategies for time and money management. In addition, this course provides a number of worthwhile life
skills such as tips on eating right, exercising, and critical thinking. Perhaps even more importantly, this
course focuses on helping students understand and come to know themselves better as well as providing
each student with time tested strategies to not only improve their college experience but to improve their
life as a whole. This is accomplished throughout the semester by eliminating common faulty and
negative mindsets and replacing them with positive and effective action oriented thinking. In sum, this
course is about empowering the college student to succeed in school, at work and in life.

This course is lecture based, and worth three credits.

Course Content:
1. Time management and organization
2. Study skills
3. Academic and career planning
4. College environment navigation skills
5. Personal health and wellness
6. Money management techniques

Learning Outcomes: 
Upon successful completion of this course, the learner will be able to:
1. Use time management and personal organization systems. (1)
2. Identify academic resources and support services important for academic success. (4)
3. Apply specific study skills, including note taking and test taking strategies and memory
enhancement techniques to course content. (2)
4. Develop and articulate short and long-term goals for career development and academic
success. (3)

Expectations:

Student development courses are different than most classes because the subject of the course is the
student him/herself. With this in mind, student participation is an integral part of this course. This course
is for students and about students and without input and avid student participation the course has no
subject matter to delve into. In addition, this course can vary in importance. This variability is wholly
dependent on the level of dedication that a given student contributes to it. To a student that honestly gives
his/her best to learn about him/herself and strives to improve, this course may very well be the most
important he/she will ever take. To a student that continually watches the clock and tries to slip through
the cracks by giving a minimal effort, this course will prove completely worthless. Make the decision
now to be the former!! Being honest with yourself and truly making an effort to understand yourself
through that honesty leads to success and progress. Anything less and you’re cheating yourself. You’re
the one paying to be here; promise yourself now that you’ll put forth the effort to get something out of
this class. With these statements about student participation in mind consider my following expectations:

• I expect you to arrive to class on time.

• I expect all assignments to be turned in on time; late assignments without having communicated
with me prior to the due date will not be accepted.
• I expect you to have all cell phones and other electronic devices turned off during class time.
• I expect you to be able to download all assignments from our Blackboard shell, and I expect you
to not come to class unprepared due to technological problems.
• I expect you to check our Blackboard shell daily for new announcements and other
communications from me.
• I have included my YC email address and office phone above for emergencies, but under normal
circumstances I expect you to communicate with me using Blackboard email. (Usually the least
effective way to get in touch with me is by phone).
• I expect you to consider your participation grade carefully and the factors that contribute to it.
(See “Participation Self Evaluation” below.)

Course Requirements:
Discovery/Intention Journal:
In view that this class focuses a great deal of it’s energy on gathering information about you the 
student, a major portion of your grade will consist of a personal reflection journal that you will 
keep throughout the course of the semester.  In this journal you will record Discovery and 
Intention Statements.  Discovery statements are those statements in which you voice something 
that you have discovered about yourself.  Intention statements are statements in which you 
propose your intentions.  Often these statements are interrelated.  For example, if, during an 
exercise, I discover that I am unrealistic about my health and fitness goals, I could write this 
down, stating how I made this discovery in a discovery statement.  Later, after I have spent some 
time pondering the issue I might make an intention statement in which I describe how I will 
accept my physical limitation and strive to improve my physical abilities.  You will be required to 
make at least one journal entry per chapter (one entry per week).  At the beginning of each 
chapter a required journal prompt is listed (this prompt is always listed on the first page of each 
chapter).  Additionally, I will provide in­class journal entry prompts and/or ask you to add in­
class exercises or activities to your journal.  Journals will be collected twice throughout the 
semester (see “course plan” and “assignment list” for specific dates).  
In addition to discovery and intention statement entries you will also make reflections in 
your journal on one article from each chapter.  Each chapter contains one Power Process article 
and one Master Student Profile article.  By the end of the semester you must have reflected upon 
at least six Power Process articles and six Master Student Profile articles.  For every chapter 
choose ONE to reflect upon.  Consider following this format:

Power Process:

• Describe the article—What was this article trying to teach you about yourself and
about how to be a more effective person/student?
• Describe the article’s affect—You obviously chose this article over the other one
for a reason, why? In what way did this article affect you? Did this article
present answers to a problem that has been especially hindering to you or
difficult for you to overcome? By applying the article, how have you felt? Has
life gone more smoothly?
• Describe the future of the article in your life—How will you continue to use the
article in the future? Can you see this article having a lasting life-long affect on
your life?

Master Student Profile:

• Who did this article profile? Why do you think this person would be included in a
book on becoming a master student? Explain some of the accomplishments of the
person being highlighted in this article. Did he/she have to overcome some
serious obstacles to obtain the success he/she eventually enjoyed?
• What did you learn? By learning about the person being highlighted in this
article, did you learn any important tips for your own success? How do you think
you can apply these tips to your life now and in the future?
• What inspired you? Nearly all of these articles are inspiring in one way or
another. What was particularly inspiring to you in this article? Did this inspiring
section help you to shift your point of view or perspective about life, school, or
your own abilities or opportunities?
 • What are you going to change? Based on the article how will you improve your
future? Is there anything that you plan to change in order to achieve your goals
and obtain a measure of success as the profiled person did?

Homework assignments: 
Throughout the course of the semester I will be assigning short activities and exercises from the 
book for you to complete.  Nearly all of these exercises are focused on you, the student.  They ask 
you to reflect on your past experiences and to consider experiences that may occur in the future. 
Exercises assigned as homework will be due on the date specified in the course plan and extra 
information can be found about most assignments in the “assignments list”.  See the course plan 
for details and examples.  You will not be given an assignment to complete every night; however, 
for each class meeting you are required to complete the reading pages that we will cover in the 
lecture.  These required reading pages are listed in the course plan.    

Participation:
Participation in this class consists of coming to class on­time, participating in class discussions 
and group work, sharing ideas and opinions, sharing growth experiences and personal 
discoveries, giving short presentations, reporting on homework assignments and projects, taking 
notes, showing guest speakers respect and courtesy and many other elements.  Participating is an 
easy way to ensure that you will succeed in this course and throughout college.  Perhaps the most 
important part of “participation” is coming to class each week.  See the section titled 
“Attendance” below for more information about how your attendance in this class may affect 
your grade.   

Quizzes: 
Every chapter includes a quiz that serves to guide your reading.  After you complete each 
chapter’s reading, take time to complete the quiz.  These quizzes are important because they 
point you toward the concepts that are the most important throughout the book.  Twice during the 
semester I will ask you to turn in your quizzes, after which I will choose one of the six to grade. 
I will not disclose which of the six quizzes will be graded, so make sure that you do your best job 
to complete them all.  See course plan for quiz collection dates.  

Projects:
In lieu of exams, this class will use projects to measure and gather evidence regarding your 
personal progress and growth.  For more information about these projects see the “assignments 
list” and the course plan.  

Final Presentation:
To culminate the semester you will construct and give a presentation that displays what you have 
learned about yourself and how you have improved as a student and as a person.  See 
“assignments list” for details.       

 
The Final Grade:
Discover/Intention Journal: 25%
Homework assignment: 10%
Participation: 15%
Quizzes: 15%
Projects: 20%
Final Presentation: 15%

Your grade for this course will be based on the following: 90­100 = A; 80­89 = B; 70­79 = C; 60­
69 = D; below 60 = F

Attendance
(1)You may miss four class meetings without penalty (you will receive no penalty other than the 
fact that you may miss class­work which counts toward your final grade [class­work cannot be 
made up].  Absences may also cause you to miss important information regarding upcoming 
assignments/due dates, etc.  I am not responsible to inform you of any items that you missed due 
to absence; you must take the initiative and contact me or one of your classmates).  (2)After five 
absences your grade will be lowered one letter; ten absences will lower your grade two letters and 
so on.  (3)In addition, being absent from class does not dismiss you from any assigned due dates. 
For example, if an assignment is due on Tuesday and you feel sick Tuesday morning causing you 
to miss class, I still expect your assignment to be dropped off in my office (bldg. 3 rm. 231) by 
you or a messenger sent by you any time on Tuesday (I accept assignments all day on the day that 
they are due).  (4)Regardless of circumstance, I expect you to email me prior to class if you are 
planning to be absent on a given day. 

Withdrawal procedures
The deadline to withdraw from semester length classes at YC is November 1st for the fall 
semester and April 1st for the Spring semester.  For a more detailed description of these 
procedures and to view a withdrawal calendar please see number eight in the “Important Links” 
section above, or click here.

Academic integrity
Dictionaries, verb conjugators, and other supplemental study materials, including on­line 
materials, can be invaluable resources and often I will provide you with links to these.  However, 
turning in work completed by an on­line translator is laughingly easy to spot and will not be 
tolerated.  If I discover that you have cheated in this manner you will automatically be given a 
failing grade for the semester.  Cheating is unfair to your classmates, your instructor and to 
yourself.  Cheating is also prohibited by the College and such behavior is grounds for dismissal 
from Yavapai College as provided by the “student code of conduct”.

Student code of conduct
Yavapai College is committed to providing a safe and effective learning and working 
environment for its students and employees.  Students are expected to treat fellow students and 
instructors with respect and to act with integrity during all collegiate interactions.  Please read 
the “student code of conduct” for a more detailed description of expected behavior while 
attending classes here at the College. 

Disability support services
 Yavapai College strives to accommodate students who can provide proof of a documented 
disability.  If you feel that these supplemental services may apply to you, it is your responsibility 
to meet with a representative from the YC Disability Resources/ADA Office and then to inform 
your instructor in writing of the accommodations to which you are entitled.  Please see the YC 
ADA homepage or call, 928­776­2079 to arrange a meeting with an ADA Coordinator.     

Tentative Course plan

Week (2 class meetings per Content, Assignments and Assessments

week)
1: Aug. 25-29 Ch. 0—Introductory chapter Salutations, Book is worthless,
Getting the most from this class, Discovery/Intention Journals,
Discovery and Intention statements

Ch. 0—Introductory chapters Salutations, Transitioning to

Higher Ed., Getting the Most Out of YC’s Resources

Due: Read pgs. 1-23 (assign scavenger hunt)

2: Sept. 1-5 Ch. 1—First steps Lecture and activities

Día del trabajador, no hay clase Due: Read pgs. 1-23 and 24-34, Discovery Wheel activity pg.
27-31, Learning Style Inventory pg. LSI 1-LSI 3
 Ch. 1—First steps VAK survey, Multiple Intelligences,
motivation, affirmation statements and visualization
Due: Read pg. 37-59
3: Sept. 8-12 Ch. 2—Time Time monitor/time plan process (begin), Setting
and achieving goals, Daily to-do lists, Save time through
technology.

Report on: affirmation/visualization statements

Due: Read pgs. 61-74

Ch. 2—Time Stop procrastinating, Getting the most out of study
time, Using longer-term planners, “Be in the here and now”
Due: Read pgs. 75-97
4: Sept. 15-19 Ch. 3—Memory The memory jungle, Memory techniques

Report on: long term semester calendar, Time monitoring/time

planning process activity, Writing Your Own Obituary activity

Due: read pgs. 99-107, Long term semester calendar on pgs.

90-91, Writing Your Own Obituary Activity
Ch. 3—Memory Set a trap for your memory, Remembering
names, Mnemonic devices

Due: Reading pgs. 108-121

5: Sept. 22-26 Ch. 4—Reading Muscle Reading, When reading is tough,
Improving Internet searches, Reading Fast

Report on: Time monitoring/time planning process, setting a

trap for your memory

Due: Read pgs.123-133, Time monitor/time plan process

Ch. 4—Reading, Reading with a dictionary, Libraries

Due: Read 134-147

6: Sept. 29-Oct. 3 Ch. 5—Notes, Observe, Record

Due: Read pgs. 149-157

Ch. 5—Notes Review, Enroll your instructor, Fast talking
lecturers, taking notes while reading

Due: Read pgs. 158-175, Quizzes 1-5

7: Oct. 6-10 Ch. 6—Tests Before the test, Predict test questions, Group
study, What to do during the test

Due: Read pgs. 177-185,

Ch. 6—Tests After the test, after the test is passed back, Test
anxiety, Detachment

Due: Read pgs. 186-203, Journal Collection (chs. 1-6)

8: Oct. 13-17 Ch. 7—Thinking Critical thinking, Becoming a critical thinker,
Creative thinking, Common mistakes in logic

Due: Read pgs. 205-217

Ch. 7—Thinking Uncovering assumptions, Decision making,
Solving problems, Choosing your major

Due: Read pgs. 218-233

9: Oct. 20-24 Ch. 8—Communicating Communication—keeping channels
open, Choosing to listen, Choosing to speak, Managing
conflict, Five ways to say “no”

Report on: Reflecting on Your Major assignment , Critical

thinking about an email reflection

Due: Read pgs. 235-250, Reflecting on your major assignment,

critical thinking about an email reflection
Ch. 8—Communicating Three phases of effective writing,
Mastering public speaking

Report on: Heartfelt gratitude letters, Faulty advertising

assignment

Due: Read pgs. 251-269, Heartfelt gratitude letters, Faulty

advertising assignment
10: Oct. 27-31 Ch. 8—Communicating Speech practice

Due: Power Process/Master Student Profile Speech rough draft

Ch. 8—Communicating Speech delivery

Due: Power Process/Master Student Profile Speech delivery

11: Nov. 3-7 Ch. 9—Diversity Waking up to diversity, Diversity is real and
valuable, Building relationships across cultures, Overcome
stereotypes, What about your roots? assigned

Due: Read pgs. 271-279

Ch. 9—Diversity Students with disabilities, Dealing with
sexism and sexual harassment, Leadership in a diverse world

Due: Read pgs. 280-293

12: Nov. 10-14 Ch. 10—Money 3 paths to financial freedom, Make more,
Spend less

Report on: What about your roots? assignment

Due: Read pgs. 295-306, What about your roots assignment

 Ch. 10—Money Take charge of your credit, Money for the
future, You can pay for school, We live like royalty

Due: Read pgs. 307-319

13: Nov. 17-21 Ch. 11—Health Thinking about health, Taking care of your
machine, Seven dietary guidelines

Report on: FAFSA, Money Monitor/Money Summary

Due: Read pgs. 321-333, FAFSA

Ch. 11—Health Self esteem, Emotional pain, Alcohol tobacco
and drugs, Advertising

Due: Read pgs. 334-351, Journal entry 34 (pg. 333)

14: Nov. 24-28 Ch. 12—What’s next Continuing w/ what you’ve learned,
Create your career now

Report on: Money Monitor/Money Summary

Due: Read pgs. 353-359

No class, Thanksgiving No class, Thanksgiving

15: Dec. 1-5 Ch. 12—What’s next? Transferrable skills, Hiring an employer,
Creating and using portfolios

Report on: Money Monitor/Money Summary, Exercises 31

and 32

Due: Read pgs. 360-365 , Exercise 31-Step out of your comfort

zone, and Exercise 32 Creating Your Career Plan
Ch. 12—What’s next? Choosing schools, Define your
values/align your actions

Due: pgs. 366-383, Job portfolios

16: Dec. 8-12 Final Presentations

Due: Job portfolio, Quizzes chs. 6-12, Discovery/Intention

Journal entries chs. 7-12, Final presentations
Final Presentations

Due: Money Monitor/Money Summary, Job portfolio, Quizzes

chs. 6-12, Discovery/Intention Journal entries chs. 7-12, Final
presentations

Assignments list: (If it’s due in this class, you can find it here).
0. Campus Scavenger Hunt: You will receive a list of questions to answer about YC’s campus
and services that your YC student status offers you. (time will vary) First five students to email
me a *pdf version of the completed scavenger hunt questionnaire will be dismissed from the first
two quizzes (chapters 1 and 2).

1. Learning Styles Inventory: This project is designed to help you come to recognize and
understand your own most preferred learning style. To complete this activity see the instructions
on pg. LSI1-LSI3 (after page 34). (30 mins.) Due Tuesday September 2nd.

2. Discovery Wheel: This project is designed to help you recognize what your strengths are
concerning a number of different personal attributes that are important to being a successful
student. To complete this activity see the instructions on pgs. 27-31. (30 mins.) Due Tuesday
September 2nd.

3. Affirmation statement: In this assignment you create a statement that determines what you
want and then you describe yourself as if you already have it. For example,
“I, John Henderson, am rich. I have more money than I can spend. I have everything I
want, including a six-bedroom house, a new sports car, a 200-watt sound system, and a
large-screen TV.”
Use the above affirmation statement as an example. Also see the section titled “Affirm it” for
more detailed instructions. After you have written your statement, position it in a way that will
allow you to see it frequently throughout the day (a refrigerator door or a car dashboard, etc.).
Read it whenever you see it. Once per day take time to visualize what it would be like to live
your statement. For help with visualization techniques see pgs. 50-51 under the title “Visualize
it”. (minutes daily) Due Tuesday September 9th.

4. Time monitor/Time Planning: This project is designed to help you learn to budget your time
more effectively. For one week you will monitor your time and report back in class and for
another week you will plan and budget your time and strive to meet your planning goals. For
more details read the instructions on pages 62-66. (minutes daily, a few hours total over a two
week period) Due Tuesday September 23rd.

5. Writing your own obituary: Many of the activities in this book are ultimately focused on
helping you live a fulfilling life wrought with accomplishment and purpose. To this end, write
what you want your life to have stood for by:
 Writing your own obituary
• Describe the ways you will be remembered
• List the contributions you have made
• Describe the type of person you were
• Go a step further and talk about your funeral (if you can handle the
spookiness of it), what are people doing, saying about you, etc.
Please type your assignment. The obituary need not be more than one or two paragraphs in
length. (30-45 mins.) Due Tuesday 16th of September.
6. Quizzes chapters 1-5: Turn in the completed quizzes at the end of each chapter for the first
five chapters in the book. (15-20 minutes per quiz) Due Thursday October 2nd.

7. Discovery/Intention Journal (first collection): I will be collecting your journal entries,

chapters 1-6. Remember, at the very least you will be required to answer each journal entry
prompt on the first page of each chapter. However, throughout the course of the semester I will
give you additional assignments and activities to record in your journal. In addition, at the end
of each chapter you are required to reflect on one article from the textbook (either a Power
Process article or a Master Student Profile article). Nevertheless, keep in mind that by the end of
the semester you must have reflected upon six Power Process articles and six Master Student
Profile articles. See syllabus under “Discovery/Intention Journal” for Power Process and Master
Student Profile reflection prompts. Due Thursday October 9th.

8. Critical thinking about an email: Your instructor will provide an email message for your
review. Read it and think critically about it. First talk it over with your group in class, then
research it at home. Ask yourself, is it credible, exaggerated, true? What motivations might the
writer have for writing it? Is there well supported evidence? What tone does the author use?
What assertions are made? Is there evidence that support these assertions? Is the source of these
assertions and evidence a credible one? What opinion do you have? Please show your critical
thinking skills by reflecting on the credibility of this email in a short opinion reflection that
considers the questions listed above. Your answer need not be more than a page. Please type
your responses. (45 minutes) Due Thursday October 16th.

9. Your major: Think about your major based on the information presented in chapter 7.
Consider it in light of all of the information presented. Is it going to lead to the best career for
you? If not, what seems to fit you better? Make a discovery statement in your journal regarding
what you have found out, then write an intention statement based around what you plan to do
about it. Be prepared to share with your group next class session.

• Don’t be afraid to do some extra research

• Talk to someone, a guidance or career counselor etc.
(time will vary) Report on this assignment Tuesday October 21st.

10. Faulty advertising: This project focuses on getting you thinking about the ploys that
advertisers use against you. Using the information presented on pages 207-210 and the common
fallacies listed on pages 216-217, find an ad to critique. You can find an add on T.V. on the
internet, on the radio, in magazines, wherever. Then follow these steps and answer these
questions to think critically about the add
• Describe the ad. What is it advertising? Do they want you to buy something or buy
in on an idea? What’s the purpose behind the ad?
• Does the add fall into any of the fallacy traps on pages 216-217. Like for example, if
it’s a beer commercial, does it make a false analogy (drinking Bud beer = you will be
cool and women will flock to you). What fallacies can you find in the ad.
• How does the ad try to make you feel? Is the ad appealing to your emotions?
 • Is there any real or credible evidence to back up the claims the ad makes? Do some
research to prove or disprove the ad in question.
• Also use pages 207-210 to consider the ad. Is it logical? Possible? etc.
Whenever possible include a picture of the ad (like a magazine cover you got off the internet
etc.), or a web link to it (e.g. an advertisement from Youtube or other online video directories).
Type your reflection. The response need not be more than one page in length, (excluding
pictures). (40 mins.) Due Thursday October 23rd.

11. Heartfelt gratitude letters: For this assignment you will complete exercise 25 on page 248.
You should be prepared to report to the class regarding who you sent letters to and what you
included in each letter. You will tear out or photocopy this exercise from your book and turn it in
at the assigned time. (45 mins.) Due Thursday October 23rd.

12. Power Process/Master Student Profile Speech: One of the most important ways a student
can have success in college is by giving clear, dynamic and impacting presentations. One might
argue how important this skill presents itself in the world of work, but without question
presentations power is very important in school. In view of their importance, this project focuses
on giving each student practice with this skill. At the end of each chapter you are required to
read either a Power Process article or a Master Student Profile article and reflect upon these in
your journal. Now we will turn these reflections into a speech. Using the tips found on pages
259-262 and those we have discussed in class prepare a five minute speech creatively answering
the following—
Power Process:
• Describe the article—What was this article trying to teach you about yourself and
about how to be a more effective person?
• Describe the article’s affect—You obviously chose this article over the others for
a reason, why? In what way did this article affect you? Did this article present
answers to a problem that has been especially hindering to you or difficult for
you to overcome? By applying the article how have you felt? Has life gone
smoother?
• Describe the future of the article in your life—How will you continue to use the
article in the future? Can you see this article having a lasting life-long affect on
your life?

Master Student Profile

• Who did this article profile? Why do you think this person would be included in a
book on becoming a master student? Explain some of the accomplishments of the
person being highlighted in this article. Did he/she have to overcome some
serious obstacles to obtain the success he/she eventually enjoys?
• What did you learn? By learning about the person being highlighted in this
article, did you learn any important tips for your own success? How do you think
you can apply these tips to your life now and in the future?
• What inspired you? Nearly all of these articles are inspiring in one way or
another? What was particularly inspiring for you in this article? Did this
 inspiring section help you to shift your point of view or perspective about life,
school, or your own abilities or opportunities?
• What are you going to change? Based on the article how will you improve your
future? Is there anything that you plan to change in order to achieve your goals
and obtain a measure of success as the profiled person did?
Remember to limit your speech to five minutes. Perhaps you want to strictly stick to the
bullet prompt above or maybe you would present the information in your article in a different
way, that’s fine. Remember to captivate the audience and teach them the information contained
in the article in an effective way. Your audience should want to go back and read the article
again after hearing your speech. (time will vary) Rough draft of your presentation will be due
Tuesday October 28th, the final speech delivery will occur October 30th.

13. What about your roots?: This assignment is designed to help you locate your ancestral
heritage. As part of a chapter that focuses on diversity you will investigate how truly diverse you
are. To proceed, call a grandmother or grandfather or other family member or do some
genealogical research on-line and report:
• Where you’re from originally (e.g., England, Scandinavia, France)
• When you came to the United States and under what circumstances (refugee, looking for
religious/or economic freedom etc.)
• How many generations of your family have lived here in the U.S.
• Who are you related to that’s worth noting (e.g., famous, rich or influential people
throughout history) etc.
Some of this information may be difficult to find. Use the following family search sites and
information from your family members (e.g., ask your grandfather about his grandfather, etc.) to
most fully answer the bulleted prompts above. If you can’t find specific information about your
family members, research your surname.

Use these sites (some are web directories of other genealogical sites):
http://www.lib.byu.edu/fslab/internet.html
http://search.labs.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#p=0
http://www.familysearch.org/eng/default.asp
http://www.cyndislist.com/
http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/
You should write a one page or less reflection (typed) about what you learned about your
ancestry and about the bulleted points above. (time will vary) Due Tuesday November 11th.

14. Money monitor/money summary Project: This project will take you nearly all of what
remains of the semester to complete. It will require consistency but just minutes of your time per
day. It is designed to help you track your expenditures and income and by so doing understand
how to better manage your money and budget. Simply follow the instructions on pages 296-301
to get started. You may want to make photocopies of these pages. (a few minutes daily, for one
month) Due Thursday Dec. 11th.

15. FAFSA: Fill out your Free Application for Federal Student Aid form on-line. If you haven’t
filled this application out before, do it now. Through this application form you can easily qualify
for, in some cases, thousands of dollars of federal financial aid (some of it free money in the
form of grants), in this way you can easily ensure an affordable college education. Follow this
link to the FAFSA website: http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/
(60 mins.) Due Tuesday November 18th.

16. Journal Entry 34: For this assignment, simply follow the guidelines on page 333. This
assignment focuses on your health. Please complete this assignment in your journal. (25 mins.)
Due Thursday November 20th.

17. Step Out of Your Comfort Zone: For this assignment, simply follow the steps outlined on
page 355 exercise 31. This assignment should be completed in your journal. This one may take
some planning and may take months or even years to complete, if this is the case, you may want
to mention the expanded time frame in your journal and explain why. (time will vary) Report
back on Tuesday December 2nd.

18. Exercise 32: For this assignment, follow the instructions listed on pg. 359 of the textbook.
This should be completed in your journal; later you will report to the class. (time will vary) Due
Tuesday December 2nd.

19. Job portfolio: For this project you will be required to compile a job portfolio. First, create a
purpose statement with your audience in mind, e.g., “This portfolio will help me get a job as an
on-line Spanish instructor at Yavapai College by demonstrating my ability and experience with
on-line language teaching.” Although this purpose statement is important and required for this
assignment, for obvious reasons it wouldn’t be included in a job portfolio that you hand to an
employer. Nevertheless for the purpose of this project, please include this statement on the first
page of your job portfolio, before the table of contents. Next you will want to include any
documents or other artifacts that demonstrate your abilities in your chosen area. Continuing
with my on-line Spanish teaching example, I may want to include here some of the syllabi that I
have used in previous on-line Spanish classes, or maybe even tests I have created or awards I
have won. (Anything should be included here that demonstrates the abilities that center on my
purpose statement). Each artifact should include a caption and title that give a short explanation
of the artifact (include the five W’s here). If you need extra space and a short caption isn’t
feasible you might want to write a more detailed index to follow the artifacts section of the
portfolio. You should include no more than five artifacts. Finally, once the portfolio has been
compiled, write a overview or summary of the portfolio. Tell your would-be employer what the
portfolio means, what it’s saying, and why it’s important. Lastly, once you have compiled all of
your materials, write a table of contents for your portfolio to allow for easy navigation. Be sure
to include page numbers as well. Your portfolio should take on the following order/format:
• Cover
• Purpose statement
• Table of contents
• Overview/portfolio summary
• Artifacts/with captions and titles
o Or index to follow artifacts if desired, instead of captions

(time varies) Due on the date you present your Final Presentation (Either Tuesday December 9th
or Thursday December 11th).
20. Final presentation: The final presentation will basically be an expansion upon the discovery
statements that you have been using throughout the semester. You will present:
What you have discovered from taking this class, maybe consider the following:
-What you’ve discovered about yourself (desires, motivations, interests)
-What you’ve discovered about school and being a student (financial aid, note
taking, etc.)
-What you’ve discovered about the world (advertising, the internet, etc.)

and

What you plan to do now, maybe consider the following:

-Explain your immediate future plans (major, career, and why)
-Explain your long term plans (own your own business, publish novels, etc.)
-What one or two things have you learned in this class that you can see yourself
using in your future career
Your presentation should be no longer than five minutes. Going over your time allotment will
result in grade penalization. Feel free to be creative, using visual aids, audience participation or
other materials. This is an opportunity for you to showcase what you have learned in this class.
You also may want to consider sharing Power Process or Master Student Profile articles that
proved especially helpful to you. You will be assigned one of two presentation days: either
Tuesday December 9th or Thursday December 11th

21. Quizzes chapters 6-12: Turn in the completed quizzes at the end of each chapter for the
second half of the course. (15-20 minutes per quiz) Due on the date you present your Final
Presentation (either Tuesday December 9th or Thursday December 11th).

22. Discovery/Intention Journal (second collection): For the second time I will be collecting
your journal entries, chapters 7-12. Remember, at the very least you will be required to answer
each journal entry prompt on the first page of each chapter. However, throughout the course of
the semester I will give you additional assignments and activities to record in your journal. In
addition, at the end of each chapter you are required to reflect on one article from the textbook
(either a Power Process article or a Master Student Profile article). Nevertheless, keep in mind
that by the end of the semester you must have reflected upon six Power Process articles and six
Master Student Profile articles. See syllabus under “Discovery/Intention Journal” for Power
Process and Master Student Profile reflection prompts. Due on the date you present your Final
Presentation (either Tuesday December 9th or Thursday December 11th).

Assignments due, at a glance

Chapter Type Pts. possible Due date
0. Campus Scavenger Hunt 0—Introductory NA 1st two quizzes at ASAP
chapter stake
1. Learning Styles 1 Project 10 Tues. Sept. 2nd
inventory
2. Discovery wheel 1 Project 10 Tues. Sept. 2
3. Affirmation statement 1 Homework 10 Tues. Sept. 9
 assignment
4. Time Monitor/Time 2 Project 15 Tues. Sept. 23
Planning
5. Obituary 2 Homework 10 Tues. Sept. 16
assignment
6. Quizzes (1-5) 1-5 Quizzes 20 Thurs. Oct. 2
7.Discovery/Intention 1-6 Discovery/Intention 25 Thurs. Oct. 9
Journal (1-6) Journal
8. Critical thinking about an 7 Homework 10 Thurs. Oct. 16
email assignment
9. Your major 7 Discovery/Intention 5 Tues. Oct. 21
Journal
10. Faulty advertising 7 Project 10 Thur. Oct. 23
11. Heartfelt gratitude 8 Homework 5 Thur. Oct. 23
letters assignment
12. Power Process/Master 8 Project 25 Rough draft Oct. 28
Student Profile Speech Final speech Oct.30
13. What about your roots? 9 Homework 10 Tues. Nov. 11
assignment
14. Money Monitor/Money 10 Project 20 Report each class,
Summary final due Thur. Dec.
11
15. FAFSA 10 Homework 10 Thurs. Nov. 20
Assignment
16. Journal Entry 34 11 Discovery/Intention 5 Thurs. Nov. 20
Journal
17. Step out of your comfort 12 Discovery/Intention 5 Tues. Dec. 2
zone Journal
18. Exercise 32 12 Discovery/Intention 5 Tues. Dec. 2
Journal
19. Job portfolio 12 Project 20 Tues. Dec. 9
20. Final Presentation 12+ Final presentation 25 Either Tues. Dec. 9
or Thur. Dec. 11
21. Quizzes (6-12) 6-12 Quizzes 25 Either Tues. Dec. 9
or Thur. Dec. 11
22. Discovery/Intention 7-12 Discovery/Intention 25 Either Tues. Dec. 9
Journal (7-12) Journal or Thur. Dec. 11

I, (print your name) _______________, have read and understand the Becoming a
Master Student syllabus and will abide by the stipulations presented therein.

Signed: ______________________________________________ Date: _________________