Lab 1 Worked-Example Pack — Sean's Versions

These are the three files I (Sean McCaman, instructor) would actually submit if I were a student in my own class. Read them for structure and concreteness before you start your own.

Calibrate down. I wrote these as the persona I actually inhabit — fifteen years of industry data work, daily Python and SQL, daily LLM use since December 2022. Your version should reflect the persona you actually inhabit. Don't match the depth. Match the structure. The skill list in about_me.md Section 3 is mine, not the bar for this course; "class only," "tried once," and "never used" are perfectly valid entries in your version.
The persona. I picked the "Other" route on role_profile.md because my actual work — industry data engineering and analytics for a fintech CFO — doesn't fit the four canonical accounting tracks (audit, in-house, tax, government). The pack demonstrates two things at once: what the templates look like when filled in concretely, and how the templates flex for non-traditional paths.

Read or download

lab01_spec.md role_profile.md about_me.md

Each file opens in your browser as raw Markdown. Save with Ctrl+S / Cmd+S if you want a local copy.

How to use this pack

  1. Read all three files end to end before you start your own. Notice what concrete looks like vs what abstract sounds like.
  2. Pay attention to the cross-references. about_me.md Section 2 (career picture) explains why I picked the role in role_profile.md Section 1. about_me.md Section 5 (learning goals) references the current skills in Section 3 so the gap is visible.
  3. Look at the behavior table in about_me.md Section 7. This is the part that does the most work for you in every future LLM session — it tells the model how to tutor you across situations.
  4. Notice what the spec doc actually contains. lab01_spec.md has a file manifest, build requirements, acceptance criteria, a rubric summing to exactly 100, and a self-assessment with one sentence of evidence per item.
  5. Then start your own. Use the templates from the lab page. Your content will be different; the structure will be the same.
Do not copy any text from these files. Your role is different. Your skills are different. Your goals are different. Your career picture is different. Graders read both the worked example and your submission, and copy-paste is immediately visible. The pack is for structure and calibration, not for content.

What you should NOT do