STAY ON TRACK

Successful college students stay focused. They “stay on track.” They know what they have to do to be successful, they set goals, and they monitor their progress toward their goals.

ONE-MINUTE PAPER

APPLYING WHAT YOU’VE LEARNED

Now that you have read and discussed this chapter, consider how you can apply what you have learned to your academic and personal life. The following prompts will help you to reflect on chapter material and its relevance to you both now and in the future.

BUILDING YOUR PORTFOLIO

Time Is of the Essence This chapter includes many great tips for effectively managing your time. Those skills are necessary for reducing the stress of everyday life, but have you thought about managing your time over the long term? What are your long-term goals? Preparing yourself for a particular career is probably high on your list, and it’s not too early to begin thinking about what kind of preparation is necessary for the career (or careers) you are considering.

First, to help you determine the careers you’re most interested in pursuing, schedule an appointment with the career center on your campus and ask for information on career assessments to help you identify your preferences and interests. This portfolio assignment will help you realize that it is important to plan ahead and consider what implications your long-term goals have for managing your time right now.

1. In a Word document or Excel spreadsheet, create a table. See an example on the book’s Web site at bedfordstmartins.com/gardner.
2. Choose a career or careers in which you’re most interested. In the example on the Web site, a student needs to plan ahead for activities that will help to prepare for a future as a certified public accountant. It is okay if you have not decided on just one major or career; this is a process that you can repeat as your interests change. An “action step” is something that you need to do within a certain time frame.
3. Talk with someone in the career center, a professor, an upperclass student in your desired major, or a professional in your chosen career to get an idea of what you need to be considering, even now.
4. Fill in the action steps, to-dos, time line, and notes sections of your own chart, and update the chart as you learn more about the career you are exploring.
5. Save your work in your portfolio.