Your objective:
Senior Goals Essay
“You have to have a dream so you can get up in the morning” (Billy Wilder).
As the quote above implies, it is better to live your life with a purpose. With that in mind, write an essay about your future life goals or aspirations. You may approach this subject professionally, spiritually, and/or personally.
Requirements:
The paper should include specific steps. What’s next for you in life? What will you do to reach your goals?
What obstacles will you have to overcome?
Research technical, college or military sites in order to find the specific information about attaining your goal.
Find out what exactly it will takes to get the job you want, or to get into to a specific college or branch of the military. What GPA is required? What technical training will you need? Which classes, clubs, experiences will give you an upper hand? In addition, research and include a famous quotation that will serve as your motto.
The one at the top of the page is an example. Good places to look for quotes include: famousquotesandauthors.com and dictionary.com.
Be well-organized and use a logical order to your thoughts. Do not simply ramble about yourself. Use clear and precise paragraphs to classify the different parts of your essay. For example, your essay could cover three chronological steps to attain your goal. Or, it could have a paragraph about each aspect of your life, such as school, work, family/church and how those will lead to an overall goal.
Length & format: MLA, 3-4 pages, Times New Roman, 12-point font, double spaced. The header should be in the following order: Your name, my name, the class name, and the due date.
In order to get started, ask yourself the following types of questions: What is my aspiration in life? What career do I want? What type of person do I want to be? What do I want to be doing next year and five years from now? What has led me (or will lead me) to my goal? What motivates me to improve? What pitfalls do I need to avoid in order to reach my goal?
Step by step help:
1.
Brainstorm about your life. Think about your life and write everything that comes to mind.
2.
Organize: Create a diagram to divide your brainstorming into categories or logical order.
3.
Outline: Select a main goal for your future. Under each category, write out things you will do to achieve the goal.
4.
Research and add notes about any requirements necessary to reach your goal.
5.
Write a paragraph for each step to attain your goal -- about three or four paragraphs. This will make up the body of your essay.
6.
Find a few quotations that will serve as your motto. Place it somewhere in your paper where it fits –
Probably in the conclusion paragraph.
7.
Write an attention-grabbing intro paragraph that is unique to you. Use your intro to stand out from all the other essays. Place your thesis (your goals statement) at the end of this paragraph.
8.
Write a conclusion paragraph that reconnects to your intro and recaps your main goal.
9.
Type it and proof read it to yourself. Have another person proof read it, make suggestions. Make corrections and read it to yourself once more.
10.
Turn it in on ______________________.

1) After brainstorming, use the hexagons to categorize your life or life goals
2) Title each hexagon & fill it with information

Step 1: Create a thesis for your
Senior Goals essay: First, write what your goals are, then add the steps it will take to reach that goal.
Example: I want to be a veterinarian, and, in order to do that I must continue to work at
Hope Animal Clinic, graduate with a
3.5 GPA, get accepted to Auburn
University’s College of Veterinarian
Medicine & stop using drugs.
2.
Body Paragraph topic sentence– Gaining job experience at Hope Animal clinic. a.
Detail - b.
Detail - c.
Detail -
3.
Body Paragraph – Graduating high school and
getting into Auburn’s Vet. School. a.
Detail - b.
Detail - c.
Detail -
4.
Body Paragraph – Staying focused on studies.
Staying out of jail. Etc. a.
Detail - b.
Detail - c.
Detail –
Step 2: After you create a specific thesis, write down the steps as each one of your topic sentences. You will have to do some research to find out about the details it takes to reach your goal. For example, what job or organization will give you experience animals? What GPA do you need to get into Auburn, and then vet school?
Step 3: Conclusion should relate back to your introduction. Remind the reader how you chose your goal. This is also a good place to put your quote.
Find a quote that covers your work philosophy or explains why you choose your goal(s).
Getting started is always the hardest part! Start your
Senior Goals essay by creating an outline like this one.

T H E I N T R O D U C T I O N M E N U
S
TART WITH A
Q
UESTION
“Can an ape master anything like human language?”
O PEN WITH A D ESCRIPTIVE A NECDOTE — A BRIEF STORY OR EXTENDED
EXAMPLE
“It was like a ‘hundred Fourths of July’ — the air ringing with tugboats whistles, shouts and marching bands . . .”
O
PEN WITH A STARTLING OR UNUSUAL
F
ACT
,
IDEA
,
OR
O
PINION
“Imagine a cow that produces skim milk … or a naturally decaffeinated coffee bean. Such curios may sound like science fiction, but they are real possibilities.”
OR
“Columbus day, never on native America’s list of favorite holidays, became somewhat tolerable as its significance diminished to little more than a good shopping day.”
S I M P L Y S T A T E Y O U R T O P I C O R T H E S I S
I want to be the first person to land on Mars; I want to be an astronaut.
B EGIN WITH INTERESTING & SPECIFIC DETAILS
I don’t have a birthday.
Or
“In the Guatemalan jungles — and the great plains of America — lay the ruins of other civilizations that had thrived centuries before.”
(H OLT , R INEHART & W INSTON , ELEMENTS OF WRITING , 1998)
Whatever method you choose, the introduction should
1) Get the reader’s attention
2) Set the tone
3) State the point or thesis
Directions:
Practice writing introductions by using three of the above methods for your essay. Use your best one in your final draft.

Senior Goals Peer Review
Directions: Your grade will be based on how well you adhere to the sections below. Check your essay for each of the topics below. Staple this sheet to the back of your essay.
______________ Great Average Poor
The introduction is unique to the author. It grabs the reader’s attention & sets the tone for the essay.
The thesis states the main goal of the author and outlines the topic of each body paragraph. It says what the paper is going to be about.
The body paragraphs are well developed. Each paragraph represents a step toward the goal.
Each paragraph has a clear topic with supporting details and examples . It is clear that the author researched about how to reach his or her goal.
Transition sentences are used to guide the reader from one paragraph to the next. They are not choppy or lacking flow.
Transition words are used to tie ideas and sentences together.
Sentences flow. They are not redundant or too simple.
Clarity: The paper is easy to read. Important ideas are properly emphasized. The paper does not stray from the subject.
The essay includes a quotation that relates to the paper and serves as the author’s motto. The quote is worked into the sentence rather than standing alone. The quote has an MLA parenthetical citation.
The conclusion connects back to the introduction, the thesis, and the author’s main goal. It brings the paper full circle.
Grammar
Complete sentences: No fragments; No run-ons
Commas are used correctly; no comma splices.
Spelling: No typos, wrong words or confused words.
Other punctuation: quotation marks, colons, etc.
The author does not use second person. No “you”
Use of active voice, not passive voice
Format
Paper is 3-4 pages and divided into logical paragraphs.
The paragraphs are indented.
Good Average Poor
Yes No
The author did not plagiarize any part of the essay and used quotation marks as well as an MLA parenthetical citation when quoting others.
The paper has a title & a header
. The header includes student’s name, teacher’s name, class name, & the date – in that order.
The paper is written in MLA, 12-point font , Times New Roman, double-spaced with one-inch margins.
Comments:

2010 Alabama Course of Study: English Language Arts
21. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences. [W.11-12.3] a. Engage and orient the reader by setting out a problem, situation, or observation and its significance, establishing one or multiple point(s) of view, and introducing a narrator, characters, or both; create a smooth progression of experiences or events. [W.11-12.3a] b. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, description, reflection, and multiple plot lines, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters. [W.11-12.3b] c. Use a variety of techniques to sequence events so that they build on one another to create a coherent whole and build toward a particular tone and outcome (e.g., a sense of mystery, suspense, growth, or resolution). [W.11-12.3c] d. Use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language to convey a vivid picture of the experiences, events, setting, and/or characters. [W.11-12.3d] e. Provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on what is experienced, observed, or resolved over the course of the narrative. [W.11-12.3e]