FINAL REFLECTION

My capstone project was ultimately aimed towards educating children and students about the science behind COVID - 19, how it spreads, and why it’s important to follow safety guidelines. I did this in various ways through posters, presentations, and videos. I wanted to inform students about the science behind following these guidelines, and get a strong message across to students by helping them develop a better understanding of why we all have to follow these COVID guidelines. Although throughout the year, my capstone project did undergo a few changes and adjustments. But I’m happy it did, because it’s allowed me to branch out and expand my capstone more. Instead of just talking about COVID - 19 and safety precautions, I also decided to create materials that would educate students on how COVID - 19 has affected sports, as well as materials that would inform students about the vaccines. A bulk of my project was done by going to different advisories and presenting. Although it was not easy creating three different presentations, I knew this was what I wanted to do.

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Going into senior year, I had no idea what my capstone project was going to be about. In all honesty, I hadn’t given much thought about capstone in the beginning of the year. I believed that it didn’t matter what project I did, because as long as I fulfilled all the requirements, I would get an easy A. But when I was first introduced to Capstone, and what it’s truly about, I realized how wrong that was. As I looked back on previous projects, and through experiencing my own capstone journey, I realized that it was much more than just a project, or a grade. Of course, I was also nervous about having to do a capstone project with a pandemic going on. I didn’t have much of a deep personal connection to my project like many others have, but I did enjoy learning about math and science, as well as tutoring and teaching other students. So that’s when I decided that I would make my project COVID - related, and use the knowledge that I have about this pandemic and virus to educate others. I believed this project to be the right fit for me, especially since it combines my two favorite interests: math and science. This was my first and only idea for my project, so I stuck it with it. But I’m really glad that I did, because I don’t think I could’ve imagined myself doing any other project. 

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I have always been more of a reserved person who wasn’t quite talkative, especially in classroom settings. I’ve never been a huge fan of public speaking, but this project has helped me a lot with improving those speaking skills. So when it came to planning presentations and the video for my capstone, I was always pretty hesitant going about it. But as I progressed through them, I realized I was slowly getting out of my comfort zone. In fact, I think presenting has been my favorite aspect of this project. Being able to answer students’ questions and hearing feedback from classmates and peers made me feel very proud and accomplished that others were listening to me and that they were gaining something valuable from it. Even receiving those small compliments about my capstone project from teachers and peers outside of the classroom made me feel very proud and it truly felt as if I was making an impact on students in my community. Although capstone is all about helping the community, it’s also helped me in many ways. I’m very thankful to have gone through such an experience that has been both rewarding and valuable to me.  

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Overall, I’ve learned a lot from my project. Unexpectedly, it turned out to be way more meaningful and rewarding than I thought it would be in the beginning of the year. Capstone has helped push me out of my comfort zone, and open my eyes to a whole new perspective. For the first time, I took on the role of a teacher and was responsible for educating students about something I had an interest in. It was nerve wracking at first, knowing that I had a whole entire class with their attention on me, even if it was just for a short period of time. Eventually, I eased into it and I actually felt excited to share the knowledge that I had with others. But more than anything, this project also showed me how it feels to leave an impact on others in my community. Hearing questions, reactions, and feedback from students helped me realize they were actually listening to what I had to say, and that they were also learning something from it. These moments are what made my capstone experience fun and memorable. This experience has been my greatest accomplishment and is something I won’t ever forget.