Your Legacy, Your Destiny

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” - Mary Oliver

Here’s the scenario…the year is 2029, and you are now in your 30’s. You’ve gone through college, and you’re well into your career. What will you be doing? What is your dream job? That is the task of this project. You will explore what it’s like to be a grown- up like your parents.

You will create a scrapbook that is broken into 2 main sections: Your Legacy (your past & where you come from) and Your Destiny (your future 20 years from now). In each section, you will complete and compile a number of pages for the scrapbook that detail important features of your life and the particular section. The time is now to learn more about who you are and where you want to go! Carpe Diem “Seize The Day” because what you do today will shape your tomorrow! DREAM BIG!

YOUR LEGACY

I. “I Am” Poem I am, I wonder, I hear, I see, I want, I am, I pretend, I feel, I touch, I worry, I cry, I am, I understand, I say, I dream, I try, I hope, I am

II. Family Pedigree Chart You will be researching your family history and creating a pedigree chart for your legacy/destiny scrapbook.

III. My Legacy Interview and Dedication Page You will choose one member from your family to interview and dedicate your Legacy/Destiny scrapbook to. In the interview, you will learn about your family member’s legacy. You will honor that legacy with an image and a dedication page to your family member and his/her legacy.

IV. At least 1 Vignette from the Past (Vivid Memory Pieces) You will be writing one vignettes from your past focusing on a vivid childhood memory. Each vignette should be accompanied by an image and should use sensory details to transport the reader back to your memory to relive it with you.

V. My Querencia Page or What’s in a Name? A revised draft of “My Querencia” or your original response to the “What’s in a Name?” prompt after reading and discussing the “My Name” vignette from The House on Mango Street VI. A Graphic Representation of Your Life Up Until This Point You will create a creative, graphic representation of your life up until this point (plotting out the ups and downs).

LEGACY EXCELLENCE OPTIONS: I. 3-d Family Tree You will also be creating a three-dimensional representation of your family tree for our Legacy Forest on Exhibition Night.

II. Extra Legacy Vignettes From your Past Experiences or from Family Member’s Past Experiences

YOUR DESTINY

A. My Future/My Path You have been given the task of figuring out what, where and how your life will shape up to be in twenty years. Education, job, family, plans to travel, physical well-being. What will become of your dream? What happens when dreams are tempered by reality? With this in mind, you have the following free thinking task to execute:

First, you will create a graphic representation of your journey up until this point. Write a 2-4 page rough draft of your probable existence detailing events and experiences that will shape the next 20 years of your life including your high school years, your college years, post grad years, and your career. The future write exercise should include but is not limited to the following:

* What may go right? * What may go wrong? * Obstacles that may impede your progress? * Personal philosophy? * Future projections?

I. My Future/My Path Vignette Pages After writing about how your future may play out, you will create at least 2 Vignettes (each detailed on a separate page in your scrapbook) that cover 2 major sections in your future. Each page must share a story or excerpt about your life that includes unique stories, highlights, photos, and images from the particular period in your life. These 2 pages should cover: 1) Your College Years 2) Your Post Grad Years **Have fun with these pages and make sure each page includes a small, written excerpt (vignette) and images from that period in your life. Be creative and have fun with it! Dream Big!

II. Your Resume Page You will create a resume (don’t worry, we’ll show you how!) that will detail your experiences, education and requisite skills for your chosen career.

III. Personal Budget After you research your life goals, you will need to create a realistic MONTHLY budget of your living expenses in the year 2029. Since we can’t predict inflation, use today’s prices for your calculations. Your budget should include: 1. Monthly Salary 2. Mortgage/Rent (take into account the size of place you will need by 2026, i.e. family?) 3. Utility Bills (Electric Gas, Phone) 4. Luxury Items (Cell Phone, cable tv) 5. Car Payments/Insurance 6. Renters/Housing Insurance 7. Health Insurance 8. Entertainment (movies, dinner out, plays, music, etc) 9. Personal Items (hair cut, toiletries, cleaning supplies, clothes, etc 10. Food (grocery and eating out) 11. Savings (401 K, IRA, Roth?) 12. Emergency Fund 13. Debt Payment (will you be paying back loans from college/graduate school?) 14. Optional: (any additional items you think you would like to add i.e. investments, job expenses, etc.)

During the course of this project, we will be learning how to make a few calculations, including mortgage loan amortization, tax brackets, and retirement interest. When you turn in your final budget, you will show the work for the calculation of those three items, and you will include a graph that charts the breakdown of the above listed items. Accuracy and professionalism are required, so they should be typed and double checked. You’ll include this in your Scrapbook!

IV. Your Home 20 years from now, you will not be living with your parents (at least I hope not). Therefore, it is time to start looking for a home. You will create a page showcasing your future home complete with photos, vital statistics about the home (# of rooms, square footage, price, location, details, etc), and a mortgage amortization schedule (big word that means what you pay each month for your house).

The only caveat is that you will be looking at homes in today’s price range but know that in 20 years home prices will have APPRECIATED (gone up in price & value).

V. Taxes, Taxes, and Taxes Benjamin Franklin said “the only thing certain in life is death and taxes!” You will do a number of calculations based on your projected income and expenses to determine the money you will give to the government in taxes. Wait until you see how much goes to Uncle Sam! Taxes are a way for citizens of the USA to pay for all the things our government does and provides like schools, roads, the war, healthcare programs, disease research, fighting wildfires, and much, much more.

I will take you through the agonizing process of paying taxes and you will see what you have to look forward to being an adult. You will compile a TAX page in your scrapbook using today’s tax rates (although tax rates will more than likely be higher than today).

VI. Investing for the Future- Your Stock Portfolio Money does help you live the life you want! The best way to earn money is to have your money work for you by investing it. Your stock market project will be a part of your scrapbook. You will create a page detailing the companies you have invested in and their company profiles. You should include a line of best fit graph for the past 6 months, price per share and a portfolio summary sheet. The portfolio summary shows all your investments and the current overall dollar value.

DESTINY EXCELLENCE OPTIONS: I. Your Career Page Research a dream job. What type of schooling will you need? What is the salary? What type of personality is required for this job? What people can help you get this job?

Research the universities that you would like to attend. What types of things are required for admittance? What might be some of the obstacles in trying to get into this school? Create a Career Page with a Career Vignette and PhotoShop images.

II. Career Interview Pick someone who you would like to interview about their career and how the path they took to that career. This person doesn’t necessarily have to have the same career that you have chosen. THE EMPHASIS IS ON THE PATH THAT THEY TOOK. As part of your research process, you will need to complete at least one interview. One option is to interview someone who currently has the same career that you have chosen for yourself. How did they get to where they are now? What is their job like from day to day? How much do they make? If they had another chance, would they choose a different career? Be creative with your questions and try to get as much information as possible.

What steps did they take? Have they had any career changes? Again the purpose is to get as much information as possible about the path that they have made for themselves. Can they offer you any advice in reaching your goals? Compile a career interview page recognizing this person and information.

LEGACY/ DESTINY FIELDTRIP UCSD Field Trip: We will take you to the University of California at San Diego to experience firsthand, college life. Here, you will be taken through the college application process and do research on the path to your desired career. College is the ultimate in learning and setting the foundation for your life. Start the goal setting now and start thinking about the future! My Legacy, My Destiny, My Requirements As you work on all the sections of your scrapbook, make sure you meet all the requirements listed below (otherwise, your future in 8th grade may be in jeopardy!):

1. You must create a Scrapbook for the project!

2. You must have a Cover for the scrapbook- it must have your Name along with creative styling and images that depict who you are and what you are all about!

3. 15 images/photos- 5 of those must be Photoshop images that include you in the picture. (example, YOU standing in front the Eiffel Tower as illustration of your future summer internship in France). All the other photos can be images or photos of your family! 15 is the minimum but you can go over.

4. For Exhibition Night, you MUST become either someone from your LEGACY or be your FUTURE self! You must be in full dress and costume to fit the role. Include any supplies or props to complete the experience.

5. You must have ONE Historical Artifact- this is something that represents someone or some aspect of your family (example, a necklace your grandmother wore or a miniature replica of the Statue of Liberty representing your relatives immigrating to America).

6. You must BE CREATIVE- without creativity and your personal touch, your voice and the spirit of this project will not be heard. Be creative and bring your personal history and aspirations to life in your scrapbook and on Exhibition Night!

7. Tireless Work and Energy!- we will be working every day and you are responsible for completing all aspects of this project in full. There is no partners in this project so you must, as in life, take sole responsibility for the choices you make! If you waste time, you’ll find yourself with an incomplete project.

Where your life journey goes over the next 20 years is totally up to you…however, you can’t die, win the lottery, or inherit a large sum of money, etc. It sounds like a lot, but this project will be fun and interesting…and you’ll have a lot of time to work on it. The theme for 8th grade is responsibility and accountability. Remember, you are LEARNING TO WORK AND WORKING TO LEARN!

We’re giving you the freedom to plan out this project on your own. Be self-sufficient and take the initiative! Don’t leave everything for the final few days. You’ll get burned. Use your time wisely. This project should teach you a lot about yourself and your dreams. Planning can be very rewarding. It is impossible to plan for everything that will happen to you in life but if you consider the possibilities (good and bad), there is a very good chance you will be prepared. Good luck and have FUN!!! My Legacy, My Destiny, My Checklist Below is the list of pages that must be in your scrapbook. (Please note, if you want to include other items or pages, you are more than welcome to do so- in fact, we encourage you to do so!)

Cover for the Scrapbook

“I Am” Poem

My Querencia or What’s in a Name?

Legacy Vignettes (one from your childhood)

Legacy Dedication & Family Interview Page

Future Vignettes (at least 2 pages)- College & Post Grad

Career Resume Page

Personal Budget

Stock Portfolio Summary

Tax Calculations

My House & Mortgage Page

EXCELLENCE OPTIONS:

3-d Family Tree

Career Page

Career Interview

******DUE COMPLETED AND READY TO PRESENT: May 26th******

EXHIBITION NIGHT: Thursday, May 29th