1.  Please state one important lesson you learned today during Nan’s job interview role playing sessions and from her suggestions and comments.  Please send your lesson in a well written statement to my email address before Tuesday evening, 11:59pm.  Thank you.

2.  Last week you read pages 1 through 44 in our “Future” book posted on our web site.  Please tell me something you read that either informed you, surprised you or you questioned as realistic. Please send your answer in a well written statement to my email address before Tuesday evening, 11:59pm.  Thank you.

1.   Write an email to Don Mays, the Director of the Intercultural Center at Roger Williams University, to follow up our visit and conversation with him at the University.  Your email objective should be to make sure Don is an engaged member of your network, i.e. someone who cares about you and you can call upon for advice or help.   Your email should express your appreciation for the opportunity he provided by facilitating our campus visit and the advice he shared with you during our post-lunch conversation.  MAKE SURE YOU HAVE SOMEONE PROOF READ YOUR EMAIL BEFORE SENDING IT.  Remember, he recommended you should have someone check your college essay before sending it.  Any correspondence you have with any ‘important’ person should be proofed by a reliable person before sending.  YOUR WRITTEN COMMUNICATION AFFECTS YOUR BRAND.  Please write your email to Don IMMEDIATELY.  THE LONGER YOU WAIT, THE LESS EFFECTIVE YOUR NETWORKING IS.

2.  Please READ my vision of the FUTURE by accessing “The Future” book on this web site.  Please read the text and reflect on the photos from page 1 to page 44.  Please remember what the Roger Williams University student at the multi-cultural center told us about the amount of reading RWU professors assign. Reading is important in college and life.  The reading assignments are done to help you prepare you for what your professors and, potentially, your future bosses will ask of you. Furthermore, a secondary objective of this reading is for you to reflect on your future and begin to create a strategy for exploiting the opportunities and managing the challenges I believe you will encounter.

3.   Your 5 Year Vision plan.  Please complete Activity Six in “The Future” book on page 50 AND EMAIL YOUR ANSWERS TO ME BY 11:59PM ON TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6TH.  THANK YOU.

4. Constructive Criticism:  Please give me your candid, constructive feedback on things I could do to improve the next college tour for the Life Skills class.  Please give me your comments in well constructed sentences with perfect spelling and good grammar.   Please no ‘run on’ sentences; ( this means too many ideas in one sentence).  Thank you. Please send your comments to my email address by 11:59PM ON TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6TH.

1.  Please tell me something Carolina shared with us today that resonated with you or inspired you;  was there something Carolina’s said that made you reflect on your own life and your plans for future success?   Send me your reflection in a well written statement to my email address no later than Tuesday, November 1st, 11:59pm.

2.  Evaluation:  The Hope Life Skills class introduces and attempts to  develop the following skills and attitudes:  empathy, respect, responsibility, accountability, hard work, perseverance, the courage to extend oneself out of our comfort zone and resilience.   I am asking you to evaluate your performance in this class for the first two months of this school year based on criteria related to the aforementioned skills and attitudes like responsibility and respect.   Please send me the grade you believe corresponds to your performance from the grade criteria below no later than Tuesday, November 1st, by 11:59pm.  Please use the grade criteria below to determine a letter grade which is an honest and objective reflection of your class performance:

      A:  Perfect attendance and always on time.  For those days and times you were absent or late, you ALWAYS text or emailed Mr Cronin to inform him of your tardiness or absence beforehand.   You have completed every homework assignment.   AND, you have been a class host for at least one class or have asked at least a question of most class guests who have visited our class.

      B:   Only been absent one or two classes and late a few times at most.  For those few days and times you were absent or late, you ALWAYS text or emailed Mr Cronin to inform him of your tardiness or absence.  You’ve completed almost every homework assignment and you often ask a question of some of the guests who have visited our class.

      C:  You are often absent or late.  You rarely text or email Mr Cronin when you were going to be late or absent before the class. You have done some of the homework assignments and sometimes you ask a question of a guest.

       D:  You rarely do homework assignments.  You are usually absent or late to class.   You’ve never asked a question of any guest who have visited our class.

Thank you.  I look forward to reading your responses.

1.   One of the most powerful and important concepts in the Hope Life Skills program we will encounter this year is the concept of ‘change’.   I will be asking all of you to consider some ‘change’ in your life.   Your ‘change’ might be an attitude; maybe an opinion about something.    Or, it might be they way you do something or avoid something.   Why do I ask you to consider ‘change’?   Because ‘change’ is a fact of life;  it’s happening all around us, every day, often affecting our personal lives. ‘Change’ does not always have to be a ‘big’, ‘dramatic’, ‘180 degree, complete change’.  ‘Change’ can be ‘incremental; small steps’.   Yes, ‘change’ can be hard, challenging, intimidating and somewhat confusing.   But, ‘change’ can also lead to exciting new opportunities which change our life for the better!!  Whatever ‘changes’ we encounter and possibly consider, we should at least acknowledge ‘change’ happens every day in our world. I encourage you to be curious about these changes and learn about their potential consequences.  For those changes affecting our lives in a good way, we should either do something to take advantage of the opportunities or, if we decide not to act on a change, at least, justify to ourselves why we should wait.  Waiting can sometimes be the best answer  just as embracing a ‘change’ and acting now could be too.  It’s up to you to decide.   Finally, just think about the stories we’ve heard to date from our guests – Jason, Narine, Ali, Kalimah and Randy – and their attitude on ‘change’ and the changes they’ve embarked upon in their lives.    Read pages 1 through 40 in the “Story of Change” book posted on this web site.

Please don’t tell me you are “too busy”!

This photo was taken by professional photographer, Richard Benjamin. I use Richard’s photograph as a metaphor for a healthy perspective about ‘change’ in our lives.

Jason told us today he is taking 10 credits in college, has a full time job at his law firm, running his non-profit and always networking.  “Too busy” is a flimsy excuse.  Manage your time.  This is what Jason, Narine, Ali, Kalimah, Randy and every other successful person does to be successful.   Then,

tell me one thing you read or observed on these pages that made you think slightly different about ‘change’ in your life.

As always, your response should be well written with perfect spelling, good grammar, punctuation and sentence structure and sent to my email address by Tuesday, October 25th, 11:59pm.  Please, no run-on sentences.  And, thank you.

2.  Use your intuition about me, your teacher, to determine why I use this Richard Benjamin photograph as a metaphor for my perspective about ‘change’.

Please tell me what you think my perspective is on ‘change’ based on my use of Richard Benjamin’s photo on the cover of the “Change” textbook.

As always, please send your answer to my email address in a well written statement.   I’d appreciate receiving your answer no later than Tuesday, October 25th, 11:59pm.  Thank you.