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Nassau Community College

College Experience – NCC 101

Prof. Michael Raab

Cell Phone: 516-790-6870

Welcome! My goal in this course is to offer you one of the most valuable learning experiences of your entire life. And I need your full cooperation to make it work!

COURSE PURPOSE: The subject of our class is SUCCESS...what success is for you personally and how you can achieve it. In the coming weeks, you will learn many proven strategies for creating greater academic, professional, and personal success. We will use guided journal writings to explore these strategies, and as a bonus, you will learn to express yourself more effectively in writing. You may never again have an opportunity quite like this one to discover how to create a rich, personally fulfilling life. I urge you to make the most of this extraordinary opportunity! If you do, you will dramatically change the outcome of your life for the better!

COURSE OBJECTIVES: In this course, you will learn how...

TO TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR LIFE. You will learn how to take personal responsibility, gaining greater control over the outcomes and experiences that you create both in college and in life.
TO INCREASE SELF-MOTIVATION. You will learn to create greater inner motivation by discovering your own personally meaningful goals and dreams.
TO IMPROVE PERSONAL SELF-MANAGEMENT. You will learn numerous strategies for taking control of your time and energy, allowing you to move more effectively and efficiently toward the accomplishment of your goals and dreams.
TO ENHANCE RELATIONSHIPS. You will learn how to develop mutually supportive relationships that will support you to achieve your goals and dreams as you assist others to achieve theirs.
TO HEIGHTEN SELF-AWARENESS. You will learn how to understand and revise your self-defeating patterns of behavior, thought, and emotion as well as your unconscious limiting beliefs.
TO MAXIMIZE YOUR LEARNING. You will learn a powerful process of learning that will enable you to get better grades in college and be an effective life-long learner. You will learn many effective study skills as well.
TO STRENGTHEN EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE. You will learn effective strategies for managing distressing emotions and increasing your inner sense of well being and happiness.
TO RAISE YOUR SELF-ESTEEM. You will learn how to develop self-acceptance, self-confidence, self-respect, self-love, and unconditional self-worth.
TO WRITE MORE EFFECTIVELY. You will learn how to improve your writing skills through the extensive writing practice offered by your guided journal entries.
TO DEVELOP CREATIVE AND CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS. You will learn how to enhance the thinking skills essential for analyzing and solving problems in your academic, professional, and personal lives.
TO ACHIEVE GREATER SUCCESS IN YOUR CAREER. You will learn and develop the personal qualities and skills that employers identify as essential for excelling in the world of work.

METHOD: In this course, you will be reading, writing, and talking about how you can create a successful life (as you define it). By keeping a guided journal, you will become more aware of your life—past, present, and future—and discover how to apply the success strategies to stay on course to your goals and dreams. By participating in class activities and discussions, you will further deepen your understanding of and your ability to use the success strategies. Once you make these success tools your own, you will not only do better in college, you will also have the ability to improve the quality of your whole life.

COURSE SUPPLIES:

String-bound composition notebook for your journal writing. (If you would prefer to write your journal using a computer, please see me for the Microsoft WORD format.)
Four-Color Pen, Two #2 Pencils, and College Catalog

COURSE EVALUATION MEASURES: Possible Points

16 Weekly Success Journals (5 points each) 80
1 Success Reflection – Letter to Student 10
1 Personal Plan for your future – Letter to YOU 10

Total possible points 100

1. SUCCESS JOURNAL (80 Possible Points)

Purpose: Your SUCCESS JOURNAL provides you with an opportunity to explore your thoughts and feelings as you experiment with the success strategies presented in this course. By carefully examining your own experiences in your journal, you will discover which success strategies will best assist you to create a rich, personally fulfilling life. Although I will be collecting your journals and looking through them, write your journal for yourself, not for me.

Journal Writings: During this semester, you will write in your composition notebook the 16 numbered journal entries as assigned. These entries will be written outside of class. Additionally, you will write lettered journal entries based upon class activities. At various times, you will have an opportunity to read a journal entry to one or more classmates. THEREFORE, PLEASE BRING YOUR JOURNAL TO EVERY CLASS.

Note: If you wish, you may write the first draft of your journal entries on loose sheets of paper, but all journal entries must be written in the composition notebook when it is handed in for portfolio evaluation. This requirement will assure that none of your entries gets lost. At the end of this semester, you will have your entire journal to keep for years to come. Many students come to regard their personal journal as one of their most prized possessions. If you wish to write your journal on a computer, remember to see me to discuss the appropriate format.

Journal Evaluations: Journals will be reviewed in conference. It is not my intention to read every journal entry you write. Instead, I will thumb through your journal book to verify the completion of each assignment and to give credit for a job well done. On average, I will read 3-6 journal entries that catch my eye. This reading gives me a sense of some of the issues that you are working on, so that I may be of greater assistance to you this semester. If you want my comment on a specific journal entry, simply turn down the corner of the appropriate page. On that page, write me a note about the response you desire from me.

Privacy: Occasionally you may write a journal that you wish to keep private. If so, simply fold the appropriate pages over and staple them closed at the top and bottom. You have my word that I will respect your privacy. I do reserve the right to confirm that there is, in fact, writing on these pages. You may lock up to 3 journal entries; more than that will require my permission. Locked journals will be given scores equal to the average scores of all other journals.

Journal Points: Each journal entry will be awarded up to 5 points. Thus, all 16 journal entries will be worth a possible total of 80 points. A journal entry will be awarded the maximum of 5 points if it fulfills the following two criteria:

The entry is complete (i.e., all directions have been followed), and
The entry is written with high standards (an obvious attempt has been made to gain great personal value from the journal activity by diving deep).

Grammar, spelling, and punctuation will NOT be factors in awarding points; in this journal. You are free to express yourself without concern for Standard English conventions.

Note: All 16 journal entries must be completed to earn a passing grade in the course.

3. 2 SUCCESS PROJECTS: 10 Possible Points each

Creating Success (Letter to Next Year’s Students) and (Letter to Yourself in the Future)

Step 1: Write a letter to someone you love (your child, grandchild, brother, sister, etc.). Tell the person how he/she can create a successful life. Share three or more specific strategies you have learned in this course. If the person you write to is very young (or not even born yet), you may want to give the letter as a gift when he/she is old enough to benefit from your wisdom. Minimum length: Three - four typed pages.

An "A" project will...

Begin with an introductory paragraph explaining the purpose of your letter,
Continue with a paragraph explaining your personal definition of success (including your own goals and dreams),
Continue with three or more paragraphs that explain how to use success strategies learned in this course. Discuss only one success strategy per paragraph. IMPORTANT: In each paragraph offer your specific experience of using this strategy in your life. If you haven’t used the success strategy in your life, don’t write about it.
Conclude with a summary of your suggestions and a personal wish for the recipient of your letter.
Show a commitment to excellence in preparation of your project, including professional appearance and a command of Standard English. You are encouraged to ask for assistance from the writing center! Grammar errors will cost you points in this project!

LATENESSES AND ABSENCES:

Students are expected to attend all classes and to be on time.

MAKE-UP POLICY:

Your instructor will discuss the make-up policy on the first day of class.

*** If you have a physical, psychological, medical, or learning disability that may impact on your ability to carry out assigned work, I would urge that you contact the staff in the Center of Students with Disabilities located in Building U, 572-7241, TTY 572-7617. CSD will review your concerns and determine with you what accommodations are necessary and appropriate. All information and documentation of disability are confidential!

This course outline meets the requirements of Curriculum Across America.