Note: Please take your time and do this activity fully. Not only will it help you come up with a good topic for this essay, but may play a role in one or more of your upcoming essays for this class. Don’t worry about repeating yourself; that is likely to happen. It’s o.k. And remember: these “problem situations” you list here don’t have to be extreme ones, just situations that cause you some unwanted/unneeded stress.

Things Worth Writing About -- Some Possibilities

1. What are some of the challenging decisions you are currently facing (or will soon be facing) in your life, ranging from academic ones to personal ones?

2. What are some of the difficult situations you are dealing with in the following areas of your life (the situations need not be gut-wrenching, just uncomfortable and thought/emotion-provoking--5 or less on a scale of 1-10)

Your schooling and/or your life as a student

Your current living situation/conditions

Your family members

Your friends (including significant others, like girlfriends & boyfriends)

Non-friends you still have to cope with

Your job (or lack thereof)

Your financial situation

In your sports/recreation/extracurricular activities

With your dependencies (shopping, for example)

With anything else in your life that you wish would be somewhat better than it is now