Assignment 5: Personal Lifestyle Prescription

Due:  April 9 in class or uploaded to WebCT assignment dropbox by 5 p.m. on April 11.

This 1,500 word essay is the capstone paper for the course, although for this term it will be the second to last paper.  This paper will detail how you intend to live your life in both short and long-term timeframes, hence the name, "Lifestyle Prescription."  While this task may seem daunting initially, there area few guidelines, that if followed, will help this assignment flow smoothly.   

Where there is a  you should be sure you have included this component into the paper to receive full credit.  

Organization & Topical Guide

First, the paper should be outlined to cover three basic areas of your life. 
      I.  Career (may include education)
      II.  Leisure (including your own personal definition of leisure and how this will play out in your life)
      III.  Lifestyle (your relationships and values)

Each section should detail each of these timeframes in your life:
      Five years from now
      Ten years from now
      Long-term (or 15 years)

Using the above outline for sections I, II, and III,   build summary paragraphs for the paper which integrate and incorporate things you learned about yourself and your leisure lifestyle from the assignments in the course.  As part of this,   revisit your leisure goals, and   your most important values and how they’ll influence your lifestyle development over the years of your life.  The challenge of this paper is to  look at the most important things in life—your values, passions, and experiences—the immaterial, and most important aspects of who you are as a person.  Your future can certainly include material attainments, but the focus should NOT be on how many houses you want, how many trucks you plan on owning, or how many figures you want in your salary.  

  Use at least 3 outside references (not all from the same source) for this essay to inform your paper that support your ideas—quotes are a great idea here.  The chapters of your text are excellent for background material, but you should also do your own research.  Material from magazine or newspaper articles, books, journals, and web-sites are all valuable.   Note that only one of them can be from the Olson textbook.  Be sure to cite references properly.   See the Dr. Rolloff’s Writing Handout on the course website for specifics on proper referencing.  Points will be deducted for poor referencing.  Plagiarism will result in a failing grade for the project.  

 Finally, the paper should have a well-stated introduction and a conclusion that summarizes your lifestyle in light of the material we have covered in class, and what you have learned from it.  A key part of these summary paragraphs should be to  provide your own, individualized definition of leisure. 

 Be aware that each of these areas must be addressed, and that the organization of the paper should be apparent after reading the introduction.

California State University, Sacramento
College of Health and Human Services
Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies

RLS 122 – Perspectives on Leisure

WRITING ASSIGNMENT FIVE:  Lifestyle Prescription Paper

Name: _____________________________   Date: __________________

Project Element	Possible Points	Points Earned	
3 basic areas of your life covered and developed			
1.	Career 	15		
2.	Leisure 	15		
3.	Lifestyle (relationships and values)	15		
3 crucial points covered and developed			
1.	5 years from now	10		
2.	10 years from now	10		
3.	Long term 	10		
Properly used 3 references (5 points each)	15		
Personal definition of leisure	15		
Mechanics, including: 
•	Composition
•	Format
•	Grammar
•	Spelling
•	Sentence Structure
•	Paper Organization
•	Writing Style	30		
Overall project development	15		
Deductions  			
Total	150		

STAPLE THIS FORM TO THE FRONT OF YOUR PAPER