Work hard, take personal responsibility, ask questions, learn from your mistakes—this is advice we have all heard before, but on September 8, school children throughout the United States heard this from President Barack Obama. Now, let’s explore some connections between the President’s speech and the ideas you have started to learn about this semester. You have been briefly introduced to iFalcon and the Habits of Mind you will need to be successful in college. You have also started to learn about your talents, that with work you can develop into strengths.

Write an essay in which outline the challenge presented by President Obama. How can students here at Cerritos College use the ideas behind iFalcon and the ideas presented in StrengthsQuest to reach the academic goals the President believes are necessary to keep our country strong?

As you get started on the essay, spend some time exploring the iFalcon website www.cerritos.edu/ifalcon to develop a better understanding of the Habits of Mind presented on the site. Review the sections of StrengthsQuest you have already read, and preview the information that is still to come. Spend time reading and discussing President Obama’s speech. What does all this mean for students at Cerritos? What does it mean for you?

As you develop your essay, you will want to develop an introduction that will grab the interest of your readers. You will want to develop strong body paragraphs, with specific examples that clearly illustrate your ideas for your readers. You will want to develop a conclusion that leaves your readers thinking and moves them to take action.

Your  essay  will need to be a MINIMUM of FOUR  FULL pages.  When you turn in your final draft you will need to include the following items:  

1. The final draft of the essay. Your essay must follow the format outlined in class.  Essays that are not typed in the format discussed in class will be returned unread and ungraded. Formatting errors will cause you to lose three points for each error. 
2. A LETTER to me in which you discuss what interested you about this topic.  Describe any difficulties you had with the assignment and how you attempted to overcome those difficulties.  And finally, what do you think the strengths of your essay are, and what would you still like to work on?  Keep in mind that this last question is not simply an opportunity for you to “sell” your work.  I want your honest assessment.  Your letter should be one page hand-written.  Don’t try to write the letter in the five minutes before class.  I want to see that you have put some thought into these questions.
3. All rough drafts, prewriting, peer reviews, and any other activities we do in class related to this assignment. 

BE SURE TO EDIT AND PROOFREAD YOUR ESSAY CAREFULLY!

When you come to class the day your essay is due, your packet should be ready to go.  I will not have a stapler or paper clips with me.  You need to take care of all of this before you come to class.