PHYS 1000 — Odyssey Plans: Part 1 (Week 7)

Odyssey Plans: Part 1

So far, you’ve mapped your energy and reflected on what excites you in your daily life as a physics major. This week, we’ll take the next step: prototyping your future. You’ll imagine three possible “Odyssey Plans”—different versions of your life as a physicist. These are not predictions but prototypes, a way to test-drive ideas and see what feels meaningful.

This activity connects to our course goals of self-discovery, exploring careers in physics, and designing a meaningful path.

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🗣️ Check-In

Before we dive in, let’s ground ourselves. Share with a partner:

  • One highlight from your week—big or small
  • One moment when you felt “in the flow” with physics

This quick check-in helps us track our energy patterns week to week and keeps us connected as a community.

Highlights from the Week

After sharing this with a partner in class, submit this to the discussion thread in D2L.

You have the option to post anonymously in D2L, if you choose.

🔍 Mini-Lesson: What is an Odyssey Plan?

An Odyssey Plan is a 5-year sketch of your life path. You’ll create three different versions, each reflecting a possible direction:

  1. Plan A – The Expected Path
    What you imagine now as your most likely path (e.g., graduate school, research career, industry role).
  2. Plan B – The Alternate Path
    What if Plan A doesn’t work out—or you choose differently? What’s another real possibility you could pursue?
  3. Plan C – The Wild Card
    A path that excites you but feels less certain or more unconventional (e.g., science communication, teaching abroad, starting a physics-adjacent company).

These are not commitments—they’re design prototypes. The goal is to explore, reflect, and stretch your imagination.

📝 In-Class Activity: Building Your Three Plans

You’ll have time in class to start drafting your Odyssey Plans. Use the worksheet (posted in D2L) to guide your thinking. For each plan, outline:

  • Title: Give your plan a name that captures its essence
  • 5-Year Vision: What would life look like along this path?
  • Energy & Excitement Check: How does this plan connect to what energizes you?
  • Questions: What would you need to learn, test, or prototype to know if this plan is right?

We’ll pause periodically to share pieces of our plans in small groups, so you can see how different and creative physics journeys can be.

  • Self-Discovery: Mapping out three futures helps you see what excites you and where your values show up.
  • Exploring Careers: Each plan shows a different path physics can take—research, teaching, industry, or something new.
  • Design Mindset: Thinking in prototypes (not predictions) builds flexibility and resilience.
  • Physics in Society: Your plans connect personal goals with big issues like energy, climate, and health.
🗺 Odyssey Planning Worksheet

Instructions: Create three different versions of your possible future paths. These aren’t commitments—they’re experiments. Imagine them vividly enough that you can reflect on what excites you and what feels less energizing.

✨ Plan 1: The Expected Path

  • Title for this Plan: (e.g., “Physics Grad School and Research Career”)
  • Daily Life: What does a typical day look like?
  • Work & Learning: What physics or related work are you doing?
  • Community: Who are you surrounded by—peers, colleagues, mentors?
  • Energy Check: What about this plan feels energizing? What feels draining?

🌱 Plan 2: The Alternative Path

  • Title for this Plan: (e.g., “Teaching High School Physics and Coaching Robotics”)
  • Daily Life: What does a typical day look like?
  • Work & Learning: What physics, science, or other work are you doing?
  • Community: Who are you working with or serving?
  • Energy Check: What about this plan feels energizing? What feels draining?

🚀 Plan 3: The Wild Card Path

  • Title for this Plan: (e.g., “Science Communication and Planetarium Outreach”)
  • Daily Life: What does a typical day look like?
  • Work & Learning: What does your role involve? (It can be unconventional!)
  • Community: Who are you connected with in this path?
  • Energy Check: What about this plan feels energizing? What feels draining?

🔎 Reflection Questions

At the end, answer these two prompts:

  1. Which of your three plans feels most energizing right now?
  2. What’s one small step you could take this semester to prototype (test out) that plan?
🚪 Exit Ticket

Before you leave today, go to the D2L discussion thread and post:

One idea from your Odyssey Plans you’d like to prototype in real life this semester.

(You may post anonymously, but you must post something.)

This activity helps you reflect on different possible futures to discover more about yourself. It encourages you to explore physics careers beyond the “default” path and gives you tools to design a meaningful journey—treating your plans as prototypes you can test, not predictions you have to lock in.

🔍 Reflection: Connecting Back

Due September 26 (tomorrow, 11:59 PM)

Write a short reflection and submit to D2L:

  • Which of your three Odyssey Plans feels most energizing right now?
  • Which one surprised you the most to imagine?
  • What connections can you make between your energy log from Week 3 and your Odyssey Plans today?
⏭ Next Week Preview — Seminar with Dr. Mallett

Next Thursday, we’ll step out of our DYL classroom activities and into the Physics Seminar series. Our speaker will be Dr. Seth Mallett, UNG Assistant Professor of Engineering, giving a talk titled: “Particle Physics and Bio-Inspired Engineering.”

This seminar will highlight how ideas from the tiniest scales of matter—particle physics—can inspire cutting-edge solutions in engineering, including designs that draw from biological systems.

Think about how this connects with what we’ve been doing in class:

  • Odyssey planning asks you to imagine very different possible futures. Dr. Mallett’s work shows how physics itself can take unexpected directions, crossing into biology and engineering.
  • Energy mapping helped you reflect on what excites you—watch for moments in his talk that spark your interest, even if the topic is outside your “default” vision of physics.
  • Prototyping your life means testing out ideas. Consider how interdisciplinary talks like this give you “prototypes” of careers and research directions you may not have thought of before.

You’ll also be expected to ask Dr. Mallett at least one question related to his physics journey, his work, or how he has blended different disciplines. That question will form part of your seminar reflection assignment.

🎯 How This Week Connects to Our Learning Goals

This module supports our course goals by:

  • Helping you discover yourself through reflection on different possible futures.
  • Encouraging you to explore careers in physics beyond the “default” path.
  • Giving you tools to design a meaningful path by prototyping rather than predicting.