recap of friday and more on goals

Here is a recap of yesterday's conversations.  If you took away something important that you don't see here, please comment to this post for the benefit of anyone who wasn't there.

• Setting a big personal goal is harder than it sounds.
• The idea is not to guess at how to satisfy the expectations of others, but how to identify something important enough to actively, passionately pursue.  Several people noted that this relates directly to the passage from Siddhartha.
• A good goal is one that inspires.  One student said she wanted to make her parents proud.  Everyone at the table could tell she was doing the right thing, but further on in the conversation someone asked what she wanted to do.  Watching her talk about the restaurant she wanted to open in order to build her parents catering business was like watching the sun rise.  She literally lit up the whole table; her smile caused the others to smile too.  Even though her goal wasn't their goal, her enthusiasm was contagious.
• Your job isn't figuring out the rest of the course.  You'll have help for that.  (A LOT of help. :)  Your job is to figure out what you really want to accomplish, and to begin imagining how we can use the course to move you closer to what you envision.
• Several students wondered if identifying a meaningful goal was a worthy goal.  It is.  One of the most important and universal narratives is the protagonist who must take action, make decisions, and embark on a journey to figure out who she really is and where she fits in the world.  

We will revisit all of this on Tuesday.  Looking forward to reading your thoughts on your blogs!