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Begin With the End in Mind
Course overview · Capstone preview · Syllabus · Website tour · Expectations
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Start at the end
Everything in this course builds toward one afternoon in December. Seeing the finish line today is what makes the next fifteen weeks make sense.
What we do in class
- 1See the capstone — your 1:30 elevator pitch on the Black Box stage, and your trade show station in the BFAC Lobby. This is where the semester ends. Today we reverse-engineer it.
- 2Review the syllabus, course contract, and what 60 hours of field experience actually looks like
- 3Walk through this website together: your dashboard, weekly log, reflection form, and bootcamp phases
- 4Discussion: what's the difference between showing up as a student versus showing up as an employee?
- 5Overview of the 7 career clusters and what placements are available
- 6Preview the 10 Illinois Essential Employability Skills you'll be assessed on
The question to answer first
What do you want to be able to say about yourself in May that you can't say today?
Keep this. Your teacher collects it today and hands it back to you at the capstone. Be specific enough that future-you can tell whether you got there.
Two things to write down before you leave
My 60 hours — realistically, what days and times will I work? You need 60 by the end of the semester.
The weekly deadline rule, in my own words — your timesheet and reflection are due every Sunday by 11:59 PM. What happens if they aren't in?
Why we make you write that second one down: so nobody can say in October that they didn't know. If it isn't submitted, you don't go to your placement that week until it is — you stay here and finish it. That's not a school rule we invented; it's how getting paid works.
Field Experience · Professional Identity & Course Launch
Activity 1 · Begin With the End in Mind