Week Six: Your College (or Post-High School) Life

This week's topic focuses on your college (or post-high school) life. The prompts for college life are listed first; prompts for post-high school life are listed after.

*What college(s) or university/ies did you attend? Where and when?

*Why did you choose that/those particular college(s)?

*What was your college's colors and mascot?

*Do you know the history of your college? You can do a search at Google to find your college's website to learn more.

*Has the college's name been changed, or has it merged with another institution? Is it still operating?

*Were you offered a scholarship? How did you pay for your tuition, books, and other expenses (savings, scholarships, loans, work-study, job)? Do you remember how much tuition cost per year?

*Where did you live during college? Home, dormitory, apartment, etc.?

*If you lived off campus, how did you travel to school?

*If you lived away from home, when did you go home for visits, and how?

*What was your major (or majors)? How did you become interested in this? Did you switch majors? What was your minor, if you had one?

*Did you complete college with a degree? If so, which one(s)?

*What classes/courses did you take?

*Which were your favorite or worst classes, and why?

*Do you remember any of your professors/instructors? What memories do you have?

*Do you remember any other staff (administrators, deans, counselors, secretaries, custodians, etc.)?

*What kinds of grades did you get? Were you ever on the dean's list? What was your GPA and/or class ranking at graduation, or when you left college?

*Did you ever win any awards?

*Did you ever get disciplined?

*Did you participate in college sports, leadership, music, clubs, or other activities? Write about those experiences.

*Did you ever attend games, dances, concerts, parties, or other activities?

*Were you accepted into a fraternity or sorority?

*Did you ever stay up all night to finish a term paper or cram for finals?

*What was your dating life like during college?

*Who were the friends you hung out with?

*Share your graduation experience.

*Were you able to find a job in the field in which you earned a degree? Why or why not?

*If you attended a trade or vocational school, answer the questions above that relate to the type of school you attended.

*What degree(s) or certificate(s) did you obtain from your trade or vocational school?

*If you did not attend school post-high school, write about why you choose the direction you did. Answer any of the above questions that pertain to your post-high school life.

*What kind of job or career did you work at after high school? How did you obtain or choose that particular career? How long did you work at that? Did you like working there? Why or why not?

*Describe some of the experiences you remember with supervisors, co-workers, and customers.

*Do you know the history of the business(es) your worked at, post-high school? Is that/those business(es) still in operation?

*What was your social life like in the four or five years after high school?

*Where did you live, and what was your transportation?

*Did you ever go back to finish a degree or certificate at college or trade/vocational school? How difficult/easy was it to go back to (or start) school after being away for a number of years?

*No matter what direction you took after high school, as you reflect over those first few years of adulthood, what life lessons did you learn? What regrets do you have? If you could do it again, what would you change, and what would you keep the same?

Don't forget to add photos of your college, trade/vocational school, or career days to your journal, as well as copies of your diplomas, certificates, awards, etc. Remember to caption all photos.

Next week's prompt will be about your religious/church/faith life.

Thank you to all who have let me know that they are following the weekly prompts! Everyone I've heard from so far is journaling off-Internet, which is fine, as many of the topics have been very personal, and may not be appropriate for online publication. See you next weekend!

Week Five: Your High School Life

This week's journaling prompt is very similar to last week's, with a few additions and changes to fit the topic of high school life. As in all journals, you may wish to filter any information you place on the Internet.

*What was/were the name(s) of the high school(s) you attended, and where was it/were they located?

*What grade(s) did you attend at each school? During which years?

*Did you graduate from high school? Why or why not? In what year did you graduate?

*What were the names of your teachers? Who were your favorites and why? Who were your least favorites and why?

*Do you remember any other staff members (custodians, cooks, bus drivers, administrators, secretaries, etc.)?

*Were your classes focused in a certain direction (Vocational Training, College Prep/AP, etc.)?

*What were your favorite and worst subjects at school, and why?

*What electives did you take, and why?

*Did you take Driver's Ed at school? If so, tell about your early driving days. What kind of car did you have?

*What kind of grades did you make? What was your GPA and/or class ranking at graduation?

*Did you walk, ride (bike or auto), drive, or take a bus to school? What memories do you have of going to and from school?

*What field trips do you remember?

*What do you remember about certain projects or essays you had to do?

*Tell about some guests (musicians, performers, authors, etc.) that visited your school.

*What kinds of assemblies do you remember having?

*What sports, clubs, musical groups, and/or activities were you involved in? Did you ever run for class/ASB leadership positions? Tell about some of the memories you have of these activities. For instance, if you were in band, what parades or concerts did you perform in? If you participated in sports, do you have special memories of a certain game or did your team go to championships?

*What awards did you earn?

*Were you ever punished? Why?

*Who were some of your best school friends? Share some special memories about them.

*Did you have a boyfriend/girlfriend during high school? Tell about him/her, and some of the dates you had.

*Were you ever bullied, or did you ever bully anyone? How was that resolved, or was it ever?

*Did you go to dances, formal or informal? Share your memories of homecoming, Sadie Hawkins, prom, and any other dances you remember. Were you ever elected prom/homecoming king/queen?

*Did you earn any scholarships for college?

*Did you participate in any end-of-year senior parties or activities (grad night, etc.), school-sponsored or not?

*Tell about your baccalaureate and graduation ceremonies. Do you remember any of the motivational speech that was given at your graduation?

*Did you have a family graduation party and/or receive gifts?

*Did you have any idea of what you wanted to do after high school? How did those plans come into fruition (or not)?

*What is your general overall perspective on your high school years?

School and graduation photos would make a nice addition to your journal, as well as photos of activities and copies of awards and your diploma. Don't forget to write captions for your photos...just because YOU know who everyone is doesn't mean your descendants will!

Next week's prompt will be on the topic of college life, or life after high school, for those who may not have attended college. And the following week's prompt will be about your religious/church life.

Week Four: Your Elementary School Life

Preschool, Head-start, Kindergarten, grammar school, elementary school, middle school, junior high...whatever you call the education you had before high school, this is the topic at hand.

*What were the names of the schools you attended, and where were they located?

*What grade(s) did you attend at each school? During which years (you may wish to filter this information if you place it online)?

*What were the names of your teachers? Who were your favorites and why? Who were your least favorites and why?

*Do you remember any other staff members (custodians, cooks, bus drivers, administrators, secretaries, etc.)?

*What were your favorite and worst subjects at school, and why?

*What kind of grades did you make?

*Did you walk, ride (bike or auto), or take a bus to school? What memories do you have of going to and from school?

*What field trips do you remember?

*Tell about some guests (musicians, performers, authors, etc.) that visited your school.

*What sports, clubs, musical groups, and/or activities were you involved in?

*What awards did you earn?

*Were you ever punished (demerits, detention, principal's office, ruler, etc.)? Why?

*Who were some of your best school friends? Share some special memories about them.

*Were you ever bullied, or did you ever bully anyone? How was that resolved, or was it ever?

*Tell about any graduation ceremonies you participated in during this time. Did you have a graduation party and/or receive gifts?

School and class photos would make a nice addition to your journal. Don't forget to write captions...just because YOU know who everyone is doesn't mean your descendants will!

Next week, we will naturally talk about high school life. If you are following these journal prompts, by blog, computer, or by hand, please drop me a line at kidmiff@gmail.com.