Ask yourself these questions:
Who are you? What do you want, and why? How much of what you want, and what you are doing now, has been dictated by your friends, your family, social media, advertising, and other external agents? How much have you chosen based on your own intrinsic interests and desires?
This is your first assignment: Carve out at least 45 minutes to sit with a notebook or device, think deeply, and create a “map” or other visual representation of who you are, and how you came to be this person. Don’t worry about what shape or format this takes; each will be unique to the student completing it. Allow it to shape naturally, organically. The idea is to represent the path you have taken, and how you have changed over the years based on your desires and the influences of your environment. What influences have shaped you, and changed the trajectory of your path? Have you ever questioned whether you are doing what you want to do, rather than what others—like parents, teachers, culture/society in general—want you to do? Write down your thoughts as you consider all of this. Be completely honest. Don’t answer what you think a professor would want to hear; take this opportunity to be absolutely blunt and honest about what you really want out of life, what you are most interested in, what ideas and questions keep you up at night. At the end, ask yourself why you are in university and what you’re hoping it will lead to.
Finally, consider carefully, then write down what you are most interested in. Even if it isn’t at all related to your major, what would you like to know more about, and why? What questions do you keep returning to? If there is one thing you’re obviously most interested in, you can write just that one thing/topic. If there are several, and you’re just not yet sure which of them you’d most like to learn more about, try to narrow it down to about 3.
