Blog 23: Final Lesson Reflection

1. Positive Statement

What are you most proud of in your block presentation and/or your senior project? Why?

I’m most proud of my senior presentation as a whole. I feel that I did my best work during this presentation. While I was in front of the class, I calmly and eloquently presented on my content. I constantly referred back to my array of sources, and gave personal experiences in the relevant areas. My activity was engaging and proved to be an enjoyable experience for the viewers, and those who followed their leader roles successfully taught my best answer to their groups.

2. Questions to Consider

a. What assessment would you give yourself on your block presentation (self-assessment)?

AE    P       AP    CR    NC

b. What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project (self-assessment)?

AE    P       AP    CR    NC

3. What worked for you in your senior project?

My mentorship worked extremely well for me, which was the yearbook elective. This allowed for me to apply all the lessons I learned in research to a real-world environment, which provided me with a treasure trove of supporting evidence for my essential question answers. The convenience was great because I was able to kill two birds with one stone. It also allowed for me because I tend to stress out easy, and the fact that I always had time set aside for mentorship really helped me keep calm and keep sane during times of high stress (yearbook deadlines, projects, essays).

4. (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your senior project if you could go back in time?

I definitely would’ve wanted to have tried to get yearbook approved for my mentorship earlier on, or at least figured out another way to get my mentorship hours. I thought I was confined to figuring something out with my previous mentor (Rebecca Chai, yearbook advisor for Walnut High School). I also would’ve started working on my second independent component much sooner, because we only had three months for magazine issues. This was more of a lack of foresight on my part. I hadn’t anticipated how hard it would be run a magazine on top of all the projects and extracurriculars the juniors and seniors had in second semester.

5. Finding Value

How has the senior project been helpful to you in your future endeavors? Be specific and use examples.

While I don’t plan on pursuing a career in journalism, I’ve learned my limits when it comes to leadership. This was a test of my prowess, the culmination of all the group skills that I’ve learned in my years at I-Poly. Managing the yearbook staff has been the largest undertaking of my life, and I’ve enjoyed every single moment of it. I’ve seen how I handle conflicts among staff members , or group members. There were a few instances in which staffers were unsatisfied with their teammates (I won’t name names), so I had to figure out a solution that would: A, solve the original issue, and B, not hurt anyone’s feelings.