✍ Report Overview In this assignment, you will  Document and reflect on your university education and on learning experiences outside of the university;  Articulate how your upper-level coursework is an integrated and individualized curriculum built around your interests; and Highlight the experiences, skills, and projects that show what you can do. A successful report submission will be the product of many hours of work over several weeks. A report earning maximum available points will be a carefully curated and edited explanation of your work that provides tangible evidence of—and insights into—your competencies and capabilities over time. In each section of this report, you are (1) telling a story about your own abilities, and (2) providing specific examples and evidence that illustrate and support your claims. ✍ Required Report Sections Here the sections are listed as they must appear in your final graded submission. You’ll arrange the sections in this order when submitting the final report BUT you won’t follow this order when writing drafts of each section. Note that each section description contains a Pro Tip that tells you how to proceed with the work – what to attempt first, second, and third, etc. ❖ I.  Statement of Purpose ❖ Step 1.  Read these four very different examples of successful Statement of Purpose sections . Step  2.  Consider the differences in tone, style, level of detail etc. Your own statement of purpose may resemble one of these. Indeed, writing a first draft based on an example or combination of examples is a good idea. BUT don’t let these examples limit your thinking or personal expression. You may want to begin with a quote from a famous person, use a quote from your mom, or skip the quote. You may want to discuss your personal motivations or get right down to the facts. You may want to list your classes or discuss how your work-life led you to this path. Step 3.  Write a rough draft – let’s call that Statement of Purpose 1.0. Write Statement of Purpose 1.0 as quickly as you can and then put it away until after you have completed most of the report. Forget about Statement of Purpose 1.0 until most of your report is at least in draft form. Step 4. Once you have a draft of all sections of your report, you are in a good position to revise Statement of Purpose 1. You are ready for Step 4. Take Statement of Purpose 1.0 out its dusty vault and hold it up to the sun. Ah. Now read your report draft and compare it to the claims you made in Statement of Purpose 1.0.  Ask yourself these questions: Does Statement of Purpose 1.0. accurately introduce my report? Are there important ideas or representative experiences in the report that should be highlighted in the Statement of Purpose but aren’t? Remember this isn’t a treasure hunt where its your reader’s job to figure out what matters. It’s your job to show the reader what matters. If Statement of Purpose 1.0. isn’t the best map it can be for th.

1. ✍
Report Overview
In this assignment, you will
Document and reflect on your university education and on
learning experiences outside of the university;
Articulate how your upper-level coursework is an integrated
and individualized curriculum built around your interests; and
Highlight the experiences, skills, and projects that show what
you can do.
A successful report submission will be the product of many
hours of work over several weeks.
A report earning maximum available points will be a carefully
curated and edited explanation of your work that provides
tangible evidence of—and insights into—your competencies and
capabilities over time. In each section of this report, you are (1)
telling a story about your own abilities, and (2) providing
specific examples and evidence that illustrate and support your
claims.
✍
Required Report Sections
Here the sections are listed as they must appear in your final
graded submission. You’ll arrange the sections in this order
when
submitting
the final report BUT you won’t follow this order when

2. writing
drafts of each section.
Note that each section description contains a Pro Tip that tells
you how to proceed with the work – what to attempt first,
second, and third, etc.
❖ I. Statement of Purpose ❖
Step 1.
Read these four very different
examples of successful Statement of Purpose sections
.
Step 2.
Consider the differences in tone, style, level of detail etc. Your
own statement of purpose may resemble one of these. Indeed,
writing a first draft based on an example or combination of
examples is a good idea. BUT don’t let these examples limit
your thinking or personal expression. You may want to begin
with a quote from a famous person, use a quote from your mom,
or skip the quote. You may want to discuss your personal
motivations or get right down to the facts. You may want to list
your classes or discuss how your work-life led you to this path.
Step 3.
Write a rough draft – let’s call that Statement of Purpose 1.0.
Write Statement of Purpose 1.0 as quickly as you can and then
put it away until after you have completed most of the report.
Forget about Statement of Purpose 1.0 until most of your report
is at least in draft form.
Step 4.
Once you have a draft of all sections of your report, you are in
a good position to revise Statement of Purpose 1. You are ready
for Step 4. Take Statement of Purpose 1.0 out its dusty vault

3. and hold it up to the sun. Ah. Now read your report draft and
compare it to the claims you made in Statement of Purpose 1.0.
Ask yourself these questions:
Does Statement of Purpose 1.0. accurately introduce my report?
Are there important ideas or representative experiences in the
report that should be highlighted in the Statement of Purpose
but aren’t? Remember this isn’t a treasure hunt where its your
reader’s job to figure out what matters. It’s your job to show the
reader what matters.
If Statement of Purpose 1.0. isn’t the best map it can be for the
treasures sprinkled throughout in your report, why not? How
can you revise toward this goal?
Does your Statement of Purpose 1.0 share any Big Ideas or
Themes about you and your life? It should. Your reader should
understand you (and maybe even like you) and your report
better because they read your Statement of purpose. That is the
work of a Statement of Purpose.
Be sure to review the
Statement of Purpose Section Specifications Checklist and
Grading Rubric
before getting started.
Pro Tip:
Collaborating isn’t cheating. You may want to exchange reports
with a writing buddy or two from class and then you and your
buddies can help each other to make sure that each of you has a
Statement of Purpose that gets the job done.

4. ❖ II. Curriculum ❖
This section requires you to review your upper-level course
work 2000-level and above.
Think about what classes you took and what accomplished in
them. The successful Curriculum section is about showing
rather than just telling. This is your time to show off your best
work, focusing on particular skills. For example, pick an
assignment (project or paper) where you did a particularly
strong job. Fully describe your work. Prove that you can do
what you say you can do. This involves making the important
distinction AWAY from
just a list
of your courses and what you did in them—to who you are as a
professional and a creative problem solver.
As you list
and discuss
your advanced course work, you’ll give your readers a glimpse
into (1) what you know, as well as what skills you have
developed (2) how you have met (or can meet) challenges, (3)
how you can help others.
Curriculum Section Examples
are provided.
How to Get Started writing your Curriculum Section
Step 1.
Hold a copy of your transcript in front of you and highlight the
classes that were most meaningful to you and the ones where
you feel you did your best work. You may be able to recall the
classes you want to discuss from memory. But most students

5. benefit from a careful review of their academic transcript.
Step 2.
Review the examples of Curriculum sections provided in these
instructions. The writers have approached the task with
different strategies. You can use these examples to guide you
and you may also want to consider working from a more formal
template.
Step 3.
Here is a formal template so you can see what each entry does
in sharing the story of your academic journey with readers.
Heading:
Provide the reader with an informative subheading, usually
either the complete name of the course.
Not this:
Chem Glassblowing
But this:
CHM 4090L Introduction to Scientific Glassblowing
OR
the type of project or paper produced. EX: Spatial Ability and
OCHEM Research Presentation
Body paragraph opening sentences that provide context for what
follows :
The first sentences should summarize the course content. This
information can be found online in the FIU course catalogue.
EX: In this class, where the emphasis was on making and
repairing of scientific glassware, I learned Basic glassblowing
operations with glass tubing and rod.
The story or example that shows why this course/project/paper
matters to you. Here you might share insights, achievements
and/or surprises:

6. The next sentences should tell a story about skills or
knowledge you acquired or shared. EX: As I worked in the
glassblowing lab, I learned more about precision than I
expected to. The way getting things exactly right in procedure,
measurements, materials, and temperature matters is something
I will never forget and that I will bring to my future work in
other areas. We didn’t guess and make approximations. We had
to get things precisely right. I worked harder for an A in this
class than in most of the other classes I have ever taken, etc.
Introduce artifacts shared in the appendix:
If you are including an artifact from this class in your
appendix, you may want to mention it at this point. EX: My
appendix includes a picture of my final project for the class.
Explain how this course/project/paper will help you to advance
your plans for the future:
Finish by explaining how you will transfer your skills and
knowledge into other areas of your academic or professional
life. EX: When I explain to employers and graduate program
admissions officers what is special about me, I will tell that I
am a meticulous person who notices and manages details, even
in high-stress situations and I’ll use my achievements in the
glassblowing class as proof.
Be sure to review the
Curriculum Section Specifications Checklist and Grading
Rubric
before getting started.
Pro Tip:
When beginning work on this assignment start with this
section. Your Statement of Purpose is a summary of the

7. Curriculum and Volunteer or Work Experience sections; the
Statement of Purpose ties everything together and helps the
reader to make sense of the sections that follow
❖ III. Volunteer or Work Experience ❖
In this section, discuss how your work and/or volunteer
experiences have shaped your professional goals and
intellectual life. As is true with the other sections, the
usefulness of this section depends on your planning what it is
you want to say and working to be specific and clear in sharing
the most important parts of that experience with your readers.
Volunteer or Work Experience Section Examples
are provided.
How to Start Writing your Volunteer or Work Experience
Section
Although the course has titled this section “Volunteer or Work
Experience” there are many different activities and experiences
that you can use to write about meaningful events outside of
your academic life. Here is a list of questions that indicate
possible entries for this section:
Volunteer or Work Experience Questions
.
These experiences (and more traditional work and volunteer
experiences) are expanded ways to think about how you became
who you are now, where you might want to go next, and what
you can contribute. As you ask yourself these questions, you
may find that this is a section where have a lot to say.
Why this Section Matters
You may recall from the Learning Outcomes sheet that it is a

8. good idea to think of your accomplishments not only as
credentials – “I earned my BA at FIU in Liberal Studies” – but
also in terms of skills:
❖ Inquiry
❖ Critical thinking
❖ Creative thinking
❖ Written communication
❖ Oral communication
❖ Quantitative literacy
❖ Information literacy
❖ Teamwork
❖ Problem-solving
❖ Civic knowledge and engagement – local and global
❖ Intercultural knowledge and competence
❖ Ethical reasoning
❖ Foundations and skills for lifelong learning
❖ Integrative learning
As you write this section, think about which of these skills and
attributes you developed and demonstrated outside of your
academic life.

9. Be sure to review the
Volunteer or Work Experience Specifications Checklist and
Grading Rubric
before getting started.
Pro Tip:
many people are surprised to find that in order to provide
significant context for their experiences, they have to research
their own lives. Dude, really! Ex: If you volunteered with an
organization that provided relief to hurricane victims in Puerto
Rico, go to the organization’s webpage to read its description of
the crisis and how its team intervened. Contact friends who
volunteered with you and ask what part of the experience was
meaningful to them and they remember. Check news reports to
be sure you remember the name and dates for the storm. Biggest
rookie mistake: Writing everything from memory.
❖ IV. Plan for the Future ❖
In this section, develop and reflect on your five-year goals.
Think about where you want to be in 5 years.
Your Submission for this Section should have Three Elements:
Clear and specific statement of your 5-year goal(s). This
assignment isn’t a contract with the universe or anyone else;
you may refine or completely change your goals in the coming
years. So, that means you shouldn’t twist your mind into knots
trying to uncover and articulate the “perfect” goal. The point of
this exercise is to imagine the concrete steps that someone
might take to reach a desired outcome.
This:
In 5 years, I want to be a country Desk Officer for the United

10. States Department of State, Bureau of Western Hemisphere
Affairs.
Not This:
My goal is to work as a diplomat or something international. I
just love traveling.
Discuss the tools you’ll need for success. What skills, personal
attributes, certifications, credentials, experiences, and/or
connections will you need to reach your stated goal(s)?
This:
To reach this goal, I will probably need a master’s degree in
International Relations and also some entry-level experience. I
am looking into an internship or entry-level job with non-profit
organizations that partner with the State Department. One of my
professors mentioned the Foreign Service Officer test. I suspect
that I will need that too.
Not This:
Getting to be a diplomat is a tough and competitive but I know
I can distinguish myself because I am a hard worker who gets
along well with other people.
In your discussion of the tools you’ll need for success, clearly
state how you know what you know. In other words, you will
need clear and specific references to the research and/or
networking activities that you used to inform your thinking.
This:

11. In researching this career, I studied several Desk Officer
biographies on the State Department webpage and observed that
most people in the field of diplomacy have advanced degrees,
often studying International Relations. I also asked the FIU’s
Career and Talent Development office for help in finding
Florida organizations that are involved in international
diplomacy. Working together, we found Global Ties Miami, an
organization that works with the U.S. State Department’s
professional exchange program. I have written to the director of
Global Ties Miami to share my long-term goals and to ask about
volunteer opportunities. I have also located the State
Department’s information page for the Foreign Service Officer
test. I still have lots of questions but I now I also have some
answers too.
What to Avoid
Here are some Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them:
People who defined their goals in terms of salary often struggle
with this section. People who think about their careers as a way
to make a meaningful contribution to their communities,
country, humanity, other living things or to planetary health,
find that their thoughts flow more easily and they have more to
think about and to say.
People who try to write this section without networking or
research often find that even their best ideas seem superficial
and vague when they try to write them down. Sometimes we get
a notion (a vague information-less idea) from movies or

12. television shows that suggests a career path to us. Or out of
sense of romance, we connect two things that might not be as
connected as they seem.
Joe saw a movie about a stock trader and now tells everyone
he’s headed to Wall Street. But Joe knows very little about what
college degrees most traders have or what actual traders do all
day. He also hasn’t kept up with technological advancements;
he has no idea, for example, about how algorithmic trading
might change his prospects.
Linda loves dogs – old ones, puppies, big ones, little ones.
Since junior high, she’s been telling everyone that she wants to
be a veterinarian. But she doesn’t know how long people study
to have that career or even if there are veterinary schools near
her parents’ home. She’d like to stay in South Florida and raise
her children near their grandparents, aunts, and cousins. How
much student loan debt do most veterinarians carry. And mostly
she has no idea what veterinarians do all day. What percentage
of each day is spent on accounting, draining infected boils,
euthanizing or sterilizing animals, cuddling cute puppies, and so
on?
In both cases, Joe and Linda need more information:
People who wait until the fourth or fifth week of the semester to
start work on this section often find that networking
opportunities take time to set up and that research can lead to a
dead end or to more questions. People who start late, sometimes
imagine that this work can be effectively started and completed
over one weekend or even one night. Although, you are only
required to produce 300-400 words, this assignment will take
most people several hour-long sessions to complete. That is
because each sentence must convey a deep and informed

13. understanding of your goal and how to reach it.
How to Get Started
Step 1:
Here are three scenarios. Read each one and then imagine how
this person might write his or her Plan for the Future section.
Plan for the Future Section Examples.
Step 2:
After you read the three scenarios, think about your own story.
You might even try writing down your own story and printing it
out. Then go back to the three required elements for this section
of the report. Compare your story to the elements you’ll need to
include for this section.
Be sure to review the
Plan for the Future Section Specifications Checklist and
Grading Rubric
before getting started.
Pro Tip:
Many students use thinking about and writing this section as an
opportunity to network or investigate graduate programs. Things
you might do: Using the internet, personal contacts or the FIU
directory, locate someone who has already achieved your goal.
Read their biography or informally interview them about the
path they took to reach the goal. For example, if you are
thinking of a career in video game story design, research which
universities offer advanced training for this career; go to the
library to locate books about it; talk your friends; visit your
professors during office hours.

14. ❖ V. Appendix ❖
In this section, attach your CV and any artifacts: papers,
images, presentations, group projects, digital media (video and
audio), creative artwork, links, internship reflections etc. Each
artifact must be labeled.
Review each section of your report. In many places, you will
have made a claim about something you have accomplished.
Here, in this section, you will provide the proof of your claim
by attaching evidence.
If in the Curriculum section you discuss a course where you and
your team made an effective video (Prezi, PowerPoint
presentation etc.), include a link to the video in your appendix.
If in the Curriculum section you discuss a course where you
wrote a paper or annotated bibliography that shows your
research and critical thinking skills, include a copy of the paper
in your appendix.
If in the Volunteer section you tell of a trip where you studied
abroad in France, include pictures from the trip in your
appendix.
If for the Plan for the Future section you interviewed a local
business leader, include a photo of your meeting notes.
Appendix Grading |
An appendix that Earns all the Section V Points will Include
:

15. CV with a file name that makes it easy for the reader to know at
a glance which CV goes with which report.
This file name:
MartinezTM CV Spring 2019.docx
(
Author’s last name and first initials, type of document, month
and year created)
Not this file name:
CV.docx
Not this file name:
CV IDS Capstone.docx
Imagine you are an instructor with 50 students. Which file name
would be most helpful to you? Suppose 20 of your students
label their CV as CV.docx. How do you easily tell one CV from
the other? The clear-labeling requirement is a good rule to
follow when applying for jobs. The recruiter or boss may have a
stack of electronic files to review; don’t make her search to find
yours.
In addition to the CV, include at least three different artifacts,
each with a file name that makes it easy for the reader to know
at a glance which artifacts go with which report. Three is the
minimum but you may want to include far more. Remember: No
orphan artifacts. Each artifact in the appendix must be
referenced clearly somewhere in the report.
An appendix that is missing artifacts, has mislabeled or

16. deceptive artifacts, or in any other way does not follow these
directions, will sacrifice points accordingly.
⚠
Important:
Imagine that your reader may know far less than you about the
areas where you are developing expertise. At any point in the
Report, you may want (need!) to insert an explanation that
provides context for your interests, accomplishments, and goals.
Ex: If you are excited by the ways that data collection might
prepare our society for climate change, you will have to devote
time and intellectual energy to helping your reader to
understand systems that collect data, typical uses for collected
data, and how your ideas depart from or add to the ongoing
data-collection conversation between experts and stakeholders
that are taking place around you.
Dos and Don'ts
✔
DO
carefully balance a personal approach with professionalism
(but not
too
personal)
✔
DO
explore a blend of academics AND action
✔

17. DO
more showing than telling, but both are necessary
✘
DON'T
include
everything
you have done—only those samples and artifacts that best
represent your work
✘
DON'T
retell your academic history; think about the skills and
knowledge that are a part of your work at the university.