Step 1
Time to Think: about your assignments, worksheets, inventories, journals, discussions, etc. as a trail of bread-crumbs that lead all the way back to the first day of this class. Use all of these artifacts to travel backwards in time and remember what you were thinking about and feeling each week.
Ask yourself these questions:
What was happening in your life?
How did you feel about the class at that point?
What ideas, assignments, and/or activities were you struggling with?
How do you feel now?

Step 2
Time to Brainstorm: As you look back on the past 4 weeks and think about the experience, jot down significant moments of frustration, triumph, confusion, or enlightenment. See if you can briefly identify and describe 4 significant moments. Write as much as you can, and try not to stop and overthink things…just get some of your experiences, feelings, and ideas down on paper.

Step 3
Time to Write: To begin you are going to focus on the body paragraphs of your essay. This is where the main ideas are developed.
A. Write at least 1 paragraph:
Ask yourself these questions to develop this section about Today I am… :
Who are you as a Walden student?
What tools has Walden provided?
How do the tools provided and supports available play into your plan?
What did you learn about yourself in the assessment? How is that going to feed into your plan for success?
What has this first course done for you? What might this course do for you moving forward?

In your paragraph, try to talk about specific instances, assignments, challenges that lead to the class having the impact it did. If you learned something significant about yourself from a self-assessment and/or particular assignment, then make sure you mention it by name and explain what happened.
Don’t feel like you have to answer each and every one of these questions. You get to decide what to talk about in this paragraph, but do it in a specific way, by using examples.
And if you find yourself writing more than one paragraph, go for it!
B. Write at least one more paragraph:
For your second section, think about how you can use this class to help yourself and others in a section that is called I promise to… This is the paragraph/section where you specifically explain how you are going to proceed from here. What is your plan for success at Walden and beyond? How will you make sure that you execute your plan and achieve the goals that you set?
C. Write at least one more paragraph:
Your journey with Walden should not be solitary. Yes, you sit alone at a computer and type long into the night to meet deadlines…but you are not alone! There is a vibrant community of educated, dedicated, and interesting people who can share ideas, give advice, or listen.
Ask yourself these questions as you work on this section about How I will become part of the Walden Community:
How you might identify a mentor (colleague with different professional skills, someone in your profession, or a Walden Faculty Member) to support your educational efforts?
How could a mentor have a positive impact on your education and what role would you like him/her to take?
How you might become a mentor to others in the program?

Step 1 Time to Think: about your assignments, worksheets, inventor...