#4 Current Major and Career Goals (freewrite, 10 minutes)

My current major is computer science.  At the moment I cant really think of any hard-set career goals, but if I had to note one I would say that I really need to get an internship as soon as possible.  Not only will this help me to get my foot in the door with a computer related job, but it will give me the experience that many employers are looking for in the job market.  This is my goal because it will put me ahead of most students, and in the end I will look better and more qualified for most of the computer jobs on the market.  I will get there by looking around (in fact i've already started) and applying to internships.  They really don't have to be paid, because just like college, I am there for the knowledge and the experience.  Hopefully if I can do a good job there for a semester or year long internship, they will decide to keep me for longer, hopefully under a paid job.  Now that we're talking about goals, I have another long-shot goal that would be one of my dream jobs (in my ind).  I would really like to work at Google, doing pretty much anything related to computers because I really don't want to say that I'll specialize in anything particular at the moment.  Preferably I would like to work at the branch in Germany, which would be perfect since both my fiancee and I plan to live in Europe as soon as we get out of college if not sooner.  This is my career goal because from what I've seen it is the total dream job.  If you like computer related activities, this is the place for you as they have anything and everything related to computers and even some other things.  If the job type isn't right on the target, they offer amazing benefits to their employees that would make the work place so much more enjoyable.

My current major will fit into my plans perfectly.  I really want to work in the computer sector, and my major will fit into that category perfectly.  I hope that the training and knowledge that I am getting at George Mason will actually be of some help to me in the job place.  I know most people say that the things we learn in college are useless, and most of the stuff done in the real world job force are completely the opposite of what we've learned.

If i decided on a French minor, I think that it will greatly help with my current career goals and plans for the future.  If I really want to go to Germany to work, or even grad school, another language would be almost necessary.  I believe that even if I don't get to go to Germany, there are plenty of jobs and colleges in France that would fill my needs, meaning that the knowledge of the language would help me quite a bit.

In 5 years I see myself having a job, making a lower salary because I will just be at entyr-level status.  In both 10 ad 15 years I really see myself having a well paying job (hopefully) doing something I love, and hopefully by this time I will be completely proficient will all activities needed.

#3 One Significant Person or Significant Event freewrites and expand it (freewrite, 10 minutes)

Back to the study abroad event over the summer of 2009. As I said, it may not have been the most influential event in my life, but it sure was the most exciting. I remember first getting into Paris because I was so confused and scared of my unusual surroundings. Things got much worse when our luggage got stuck in London because of the plane having trouble and landing too late. This just put the clincher on a bad start to my new beginning in a different country. I remember vividly wondering around the airport at Charles de Gaule just being too overwhelmed by the heavily armed guards and culture shock in general. Once my fiancée and I made it out of the airport and to the hostel we were staying in, things got much better. Not only did i get to meet my study abroad leader and group, but I finally had a chance to have some time to myself to contemplate the culture shock that I was having at that point. Moving from this tense and delicate situation, I became much happier and content with the way the trip was turning out, so much that I could say that I actually loved living in Paris. By visiting the various landmarks and important places I really opened up an interest for wandering and adventure seeking in new ways. Other than this broadening of my horizons, I also became very deeply acquanted with the French way of life, which made me realize that the American way of life isn't the only way, and that just maybe our way of life is sub-par in some aspects. During the freetime when my fiancée didn't want to venture out, I stayed inside, contemplating the entire situation, and by the end of the trip I was sure that I wanted to travel more over the next several years so that I would be able to open myself to even more cultures and people. Not only do I want to roam all over the world, but i really miss and feel like I need to be back in Paris, it was just that good. Just from this single month in Paris my ideas were tuned, and my attitude matured as to how I wanted to live the rest of my life. I feel that without this I would probably have been stuck here in the United States, cloaked from the outside world without a clue about how the rest of the world actually functions in a day to day setting.