Students often ask teaching faculty to help them make important decisions that will affect their lives in significant ways. “Should I drop this course? Should I pursue teaching or industry? Should I do graduate studies?” These questions can only be answered in the context of a student’s life goals. Of course, most people are vaguely aware of what they want to do with their lives. But to obtain concrete answers to these big questions, it helps to have explicit life goals. In this article, I describe a short writing exercise that helps students clarify their life goals.
