Course Requirement – Writing an essay You need to write an essay as a course req

Course Requirement – Writing an essay
You need to write an essay as a course requirement. You can choose one from the following two topics, or you can write on both topics.
What motivates me…..
Describe yourself 20 years later
The main purpose of this assignment is to provide an opportunity to think about your past, present, and/or future. What drove you here today? What motivates you to keep on going? What do you think you would be 20 years later from now? The most important thing about this assignment is describing your own thoughts and feelings. I want to hear your story in your own voice (so please do not copy other people’s stories).
This assignment is designed as a course requirement. So, there are no allocated points for this assignment. Instead, if you do not submit this paper or your paper does not meet the minimum requirements (described below), you will lose points that will be deducted from the sum of your three best test scores. Here are the minimum requirements:
Length – Minimum 1000 words, Maximum 2000 words, single-spaced. This means that the essay should be at least two pages. I will count the words in the main text only, excluding the title, name, and other miscellaneous information (e.g., course number). If your essay is shorter than 1000 words, you will lose points (-1 point/word). So, if your essay has 980 words, you will lose 20 points. An essay with over 2000 words won’t be penalized, but I highly recommend that you should keep the length within 2000 words. The maximum points you can lose due to the length will be -30. This means that even if your essay is shorter than 970 words, 30 points will be deducted. Losing 30 points means that your final grade will move one letter grade down. So, if your estimated final grade based on the exam scores is a B+, your final grade will be a C+ after 30 points are deducted.
Late assignments will be penalized by 1 point per minute. Maximum penalty points due to late submission are -30. Even if you upload your paper 2 hours after the deadline, 30 points, not 120 points, will be deducted.
Plagiarism; Based on the Turnitin similarity report, points will be deducted. The maximum penalty points due to plagiarism will be -30.
No submission; 60 points will be deducted.
File format. MS word document or PDF files only (either .docx, .doc, or pdf). No image file. If it is not the right file format, -10 points will be deducted.
File name. Before you upload your file, you need to save your file using your name. Thus, it should be your lastname_firstname.docx (or doc). (e.g., Doe_John.docx). If you don’t meet this requirement, -10 points will be deducted.
Earning extra points. I will assign extra points (up to 15 points) if an essay is absolutely excellent. “An excellent essay” means that it shows truly thoughtful accounts of your motivations and behaviors. Insightful analyses of your past and present will be highly evaluated.