COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS

EVELKA RANKINS edits a weekly newsletter that lists events of interest to fellow students at her college. Getting more involved in college and community activities, as Evelka did, can help you feel more connected to others and can even improve the chances that you will stay in school.

Writing about College, Work, and Everyday Life

• Describe your goals for this course, making sure to explain the benefits of achieving each goal.
• If you are still deciding on a degree program or major, identify at least two areas of study that interest you. To get some ideas, you might refer to a course catalog. Also, consider visiting a counselor at your college’s guidance office or career center. The counselor might be able to recommend some study programs to you based on your goals and interests. Next, write about the areas of study that appeal to you the most, giving examples of what you would learn and explaining how each of your choices matches your goals and interests.
• Produce a one- or two-page newsletter for other students in your class on one of the following topics. Make sure to describe each club, opportunity, and event in enough detail for readers. Also, include contact information, as well as hours and locations for events and club meetings.
  • Student clubs
  • Volunteer opportunities
  • Upcoming campus events (such as lectures, movies, and sports events)
  • Upcoming events in the larger community

• What is the best or worst job you have ever had? Give examples of what made it the best or worst job.
• Thinking like a television producer, find a category of jobs — such as “dirty jobs,” the name of a popular cable show — that a TV audience would find strange and interesting. Then, give examples of jobs in the category. (Examples of professions covered in the show Dirty Jobs include maggot farming, camel ranching, and bologna making.) Give enough details about each job to make it clear why that job is unusual. To get some ideas, you might type “strange jobs” into a search engine.
• Think of the job you would most like to have after graduation. Then, write a list of your skills — both current ones and ones you will be building in college — that are relevant to the job. To identify skills you will be building through your degree program, you might refer to a course catalog. To identify relevant work skills, consider your past or present jobs as well as internships or other work experiences you would like to have before graduation. Finally, write a cover letter explaining why you are the best candidate for your ideal job. Be sure to provide several examples of your skills, referring to the list that you prepared.

• Write about stresses in your life or things that you like about your life. Give plenty of details for each example.
• Give examples of memories that have stayed with you for a long time. For each memory, provide enough details so that readers will be able to share your experience.
• Identify at least three public improvements you think would benefit a significant number of people in your community, such as the addition of sidewalks in residential areas to encourage exercise. These improvements should not include changes, such as the creation of a boat dock on a local lake, that would benefit only a small portion of the community. Then, in a letter to the editor of your local paper, describe each suggested improvement in detail, and explain why it would be an asset to the community.