How to start thinking about capstone projects

Thinking about a large capstone project is daunting and overwhelming to nearly everyone. You have lots of help along the way, though. There are some questions which have no right or wrong answers, and only you can answer them. Remember that you will be living with this project for at least 6 months, so you want to pick something that's interesting to you and will keep you engaged.

Consider the following questions when you start thinking about capstone:

• What kind of job do I want when I graduate? What do I still need to learn to get that job?
• What didn't I learn in my courses at Extension that I still want to learn? What do I want to learn more about? What kinds of classes did I enjoy, and what would hold my interest?
• Where do I want to be in 5-10 years, and how will this capstone and my degree help me get there?
• Is there a life after this project? If so, what is that life? (Is this the launch of your business, or some work for a client, for example?)
• What is your plan for maintenance, or is the project life done at the end of the semester?

For the purposes of graduation, these questions are irrelevant to Harvard Extension School. You can work on a project that gets you to graduation and forget all about it later. It doesn't have to introduce new skills into your repertoire, nor does it require you to practice any skills you have learned along the way that you don't want to include. However, it is a ton of work, so why not have it do double- or triple-duty for you, serving as a portfolio piece or a case study for a new job?