Unit 1 Assignment

Overview

Your first formal assignment is to write a short (2-3 double-spaced pages) personal reflection essay. The purpose of this assignment is to begin to create a foundation for your learning about positive, healthy adult aging by beginning with your own thoughts and experiences. As well, the writing you do for this essay will give me a chance to get to know you as a student so that I can best support your learning as we move forward in this course.

Learning Outcomes for this Assignment

In this assignment you will engage with the following Unit One learning outcomes:

• Reflect on the meaning of positive, healthy aging for your own life.

Guidelines

To explore this learning outcome, you’ll compose your personal reflection essay after you have completed the Unit 1 learning activities and discussion assignment. In your essay, please reflect upon and discuss these questions:

• What is a word or short phrase that captures your thoughts or feelings in response to the idea of "positive, healthy aging"?
• What motivated you to take this course? What are you hoping to learn as you participate in this course?
• Is there anything else you'd like to share about your background, your interest in adult aging and/or food/nutrition...?

Please know that I am the only person who will be reading your essay and I am here to support your learning. If you want to touch base with me as you are working on the essay, please feel free to do so via class email.

A great way into this essay is to free-write about your overall feelings and impressions. And should you feel stuck as you begin to write, a great technique is to write about the feeling of being stuck and see what emerges! There are no “right” or “wrong” answers to these questions. You can start your essay anywhere, you don’t have to answer each question separately or in any particular order -- though if answering each question separately makes sense to you, feel free to do so.

What I’m looking for in your essay is that you have engaged in the Unit 1 Learning Activities and that they have informed your reflection and writing in response to each of the questions listed above. This is a personal reflection essay and focused on your own experiences, so feel free to write in the first person (using “I” statements). I’d also invite you to bring your most creative writing to the essay, while also being sure to edit and polish your final submission so that it is a solid example of your academic writing.

In terms of formatting your essay, here are a few practical guidelines: Please use a 12-point font like Ariel or Times New Roman; 1-inch margins; and double-spacing. Be sure to include in the upper left corner of the first page your name, date, and the title of this assignment.