Albion College

Math/CS 299/399

Colloquium in Mathematics and Computer Science I & II

Spring 2024

Senior Statement

Overview

As you finish your undergraduate degree, it is appropriate to reflect on your accomplishments, skills, and abilities. Knowing your strengths and passions will help you accomplish your goals, such as looking for a job after graduation or applying to graduate school. In the Math/CS 299 resume assignment, you were encouraged to identify your passions and skills and put them in the context of what is needed in businesses and the world. This assignment will allow you to revisit and build on that work by writing a short essay combining these topics.

Learning Outcomes

After successful completion of this assignment, you will be able to

Background Work

One way to identify a purpose in your life is to look at the intersection of these sets, as indicated below. Read more about this process at the page Purpose Venn Diagram from Human Business.

A good exercise as you evaluate your academic career and contemplate your future is to consider the diagram above. Reflect on your abilities, skills, passions, and career possibilities. You may want to note answers to these questions for future reference.

What are you good at?

Reflect on the following questions about your knowledge, skills, abilities, and achievements. Focus on your time at Albion the past few years.

What do you love?

Reflect on the following questions about your passions.

What does the world need?

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world: indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead
cultural anthropologist

Take a few minutes and watch the following video, Pale Blue Dot from astronomer Carl Sagan. Reflect on your position in the universe.

Read the story What is the Meaning of Life from Robert Fulghum's book It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It. Reflect on the meaning of your life.

Reflect on the following questions about your position in the world.

What can you do that will allow you to earn money?

Visit the Career Development office and learn about our resources and programs. They are in Ferguson suite 103 and open to all students! They look forward to working with you!

Reflect on the following questions about your future career.

What are your life goals?

Reflect on the following areas and how important each is to you:

Reflect on the following questions about your goals.

Reflect on the following questions about your future goals. I encourage you to think about these from a SMART (specific, meaningful, adaptive, realistic, time-framed) perspective.

Goal planning

Reflect on the following questions about your future goals.

Mortality

You are not too old to ponder your mortality. Our time on Earth is short. Life expectancy in the USA was 78.7 years in 2018 and has been slowing increasing in the past 50 years. Thus, you might expect to live another 60 years. It will go by fast. Will you make the most of it?

Assignment

Seek help as soon as you are experiencing difficulty with this assignment.
Do not wait until the deadline to seek help!

Content

Write a 500–1000 word essay about yourself based on your reflections from the previous section, include five paragraphs in the following topics:

  1. Describe your background prior to Albion. Include relevant background about what prompted you to come to Albion and how that influenced your academic studies.
  2. What is your favorite area of math or computer science? Explain.
  3. Describe your time at Albion.
    What is/are your Major(s)/Minor(s)/Concentration(s)/Institute(s)?
    When did you realize that math/cs was of interest to you?
    What do you consider to be your biggest accomplishment as an undergraduate?
    Which faculty/staff member(s) has influenced you the most and why?
    What things or people helped you succeed at Albion?
  4. Reflect on a time you failed. What did you learn from that experience?
  5. What are your future career goals? What are your plans for achieving these goals (specific, meaningful, adaptive, realistic, time-framed)?

Mechanics

Grading Rubric

Grade
Element
Comments Possible
Points
Earned
Points
Content
Contains a strong thesis statement (hook) and clearly reflects your passion for mathematics, computer science, or other academic major area. It tells an accurate and compelling story using concrete examples about you and makes the reader want to meet you.
  25  
Formatting, Language, Grammar, Punctuations, and Spelling
Maintains a nice consistent format and contains absolutely no typographical errors.
  5  
Total Points   30