JOURNALS

September 15 - September 21, 2020

Although I wasn’t sure on what to do for my capstone project at first, I decided to do a campaign for wearing masks and social distancing. This idea sparked my interest when Mrs. Boutillier was going over possible capstone ideas and mentioned it during class. I believed it was something that I could do as my capstone, because I like to get creative and making posters didn’t sound like such a bad idea. But more importantly, I also wanted to raise awareness about the importance of wearing masks, social distancing, and washing your hands, especially during this pandemic because it will help to limit the spread of COVID - 19 and hopefully make things go somewhat back to normal sooner. I didn’t have much ideas about how to go about this campaign, but as I talked with Mrs. Boutilier about it, she gave me some ideas, such as creating posters and graphics along the hallways of the school to show what 6 feet actually look like, along with posters about information on contact tracing. I thought these were good ideas, so I went online to look at some examples and find some more inspiration.

October 20 - 28, 2020

I was glad to be back in school after two whole weeks of quarantine. This meant I finally had the chance to hang up my visuals of what 6 feet looks like around the school. I hung up these visuals in classrooms, different hallways of the school, and on walls where I was sure students would pass by, and hopefully notice the posters. I was also thankful for some of my friends offering to help me hang up the posters, because I’m usually used to doing things on my own, so I appreciate all the help I can get. Not only was I looking forward to finally putting up my work around the school, but I was also excited to finally get back on the court and see my teammates again. The volleyball team has always been a great support system of mine. Whenever I needed help with something or needed to be cheered up after a bad day, I knew I could always count on them. So finally being able to see their faces again after two weeks gave me a feeling of comfort and happiness. Unfortunately, that feeling did not last long. The next day after our senior night game, our coach announced that we had to quarantine again for another two weeks. I was feeling pretty bummed that my last volleyball season was being taken away from me by COVID - 19, which brings me back to my project. I never expected that I would have to quarantine, not just once, but twice because of this virus. However, this has made me realize even more the importance of following COVID safety precautions within our school, so that in the future, there will be very few cases and hopefully, that we will not have to go into quarantine again.   

November 16 - 24

After completing my slideshow, I was finally ready to present it to my capstone class, and to Bout’s first block capstone class as well. I did feel a little nervous before giving my presentation to the class, but I still tried my best to prepare and practice my presentation. One goal that I have for this semester is to focus on improving my public speaking skills, so hopefully throughout my capstone journey, and speaking to different classes about my capstone, I will be able to work on those skills. Since most of this year has been online so far, my presentations were given virtually. In both classes that I presented to, almost everyone had their cameras off, which is what I was expecting, but it was also difficult to tell if my classmates were actually paying attention to the slideshow, since I’m not able to physically see them. But I still hope that they retained the message I am trying to convey, which is to do your part in this pandemic by wearing your masks and social distancing. 

December 7 - 11, 2020

I talked with Mrs. Zamorski and we set up a date for when I would be able to film my segment for Tiger Talk. I had my script and slideshow ready, but I was a little nervous to talk in front of the camera. This would be my first time doing something like this, but I feel like I should challenge myself more this year. Mrs. Zamorski said we would have to film virtually, over google meet, so I tried to prepare myself to present that way. Mrs. Zamorski was able to get me into the studio, where I would be alone and by myself, and that did put me at ease a little bit. I also found out one of my friends would introduce me and ask some questions about my capstone project, so that made me a little more excited and confident about filming. I did stumble over my words a couple of times, but Zamorski said it was fine and to take my time. If I messed up, I could just restart, and she would be able to cut those parts out. I was glad to have finally finished filming the video, and hopefully be able to spread my message about my capstone to a bigger audience. Even though I was eager to watch the video as soon as possible, I knew it would take a few weeks to fully complete and edit.

Even though one aspect of my project, the video, was done successfully, my scheduled presentations with other teachers didn’t feel like it was going according to plan. I felt like I was continuously rescheduling presentations due to other activities happening during advisory, which is when all of my presentations were taking place, or some teachers forgetting about my presentation and not sending me a link. This did feel a little frustrating, but I managed to work through it. On one Thursday morning, I was supposed to give a presentation during advisory. Since I am in - person that day, I figured I would be able to go to the library and do my presentation from there. But it turns out I wasn’t allowed to go to the library and had to cancel my presentation again. After talking to Bout about this, I learned that I could just sit in her classroom and do my presentation from there, or sit outside my advisory teacher’s classroom. It felt better knowing that I had more options in case this happens again, and I had learned my lesson from that day. 

December 14, 2020

I presented to Mrs. Fink’s advisory class today and honestly, I was not as nervous for this presentation because I knew I would just be talking to students from middle school who are younger than me. Google had been down this morning, and I was having a couple issues with my computer, so I wasn’t sure if I would be able to present today. But luckily the issue was fixed, and I was able to log onto the meet. After presenting to the class, most of the students were willing to take the survey and I even got a nice comment from one of the students, which I wasn’t expecting at all. After asking the students if they had any questions about the presentation, one of the students typed in the chat that they didn’t have any questions, but she thanked me for doing my presentation, and even added a smiley face at the end. Normally, moments like these would happen in person and in an actual classroom setting, but this year, it would have to be over google meet. Even though it may not seem like a lot, it still brought a smile to my face because it meant there were students who actually paid attention and listened to what I had to say, despite not having their cameras on and not knowing what their expressions or reactions would be to the presentation.    

January 12, 2021

Today is a big presentation day for me. I am presenting to Mr. Ericson’s advisory class, and to Mr. McKay’s Athletic Training classes. Before this year, I probably would have felt overwhelmed with the classes I had to present to today. But today I felt prepared and ready enough to do this, especially after having presented to classes various times. But I have yet to see even one student turn on their camera or unmute their microphone to ask a question, or comment about the presentation. It still sort of felt like I was just talking to a screen, with no one else there. After presenting to a couple classes, I have expected to not see any other faces on the screen. But from this, I have gained a new perspective and began to understand how school is from a teacher’s point of view. It sort of feels like there is a lack of unity and togetherness within the classroom, especially this year where school has taken place virtually. But I feel like my project can help with this, because if we all do our part in reducing the spread, it can bring us one step closer to having unity again. 

January 15 - 20, 2021

I feel like the beginning of my first semester was definitely full of confusion and feeling lost, not just about my senior year, but for my capstone idea as well. But with half of my senior year almost over, I’m happy to have taken on this project and help educate students about the COVID - 19 pandemic. I honestly couldn’t imagine myself doing any other project. I’ve always been interested in math and science, but being able to share this knowledge with other people has helped me appreciate it even more. But back to senior year, I feel as if a part of me is ready to graduate and be able to explore a world beyond just high school. But a part of me also doesn’t feel ready to graduate yet, mainly because I’m not ready to leave my friends and a life that I have known for the past four years. This year hasn’t even felt like much of a senior year at all, considering we didn’t even get to experience things most seniors do. I do hope to experience at least a normal prom or graduation, but I guess we’ll have to see if that can happen in the next few months.

February 15 - 25, 2021

This month was the start of a new semester, so that meant I wasn’t going to be able to have capstone class every day anymore. Adjusting to a new schedule was strange at first, but I enjoyed the extra free time I had this semester. I have also been able to decide when and how to work on my capstone project on my own, which has been kind of difficult when I don’t have Mrs. Bout to constantly remind me. But this month, I have been working on a new slideshow about the COVID - 19 vaccine. I have been trying to stay updated on the latest news and updates about the vaccines, but I feel like there is something new about the vaccine being released every day. However, I’ve decided to just keep the most important and relevant information in my slideshow. It was interesting to research and discover new information about the vaccine because it felt like I was exploring and learning more about something I was genuinely interested in on my own. As I was finalizing my slideshow, I like how it turned out and was excited to share it with other classes. My slideshow is mainly based on facts about the COVID - 19 vaccine, so hopefully students could look and analyze the facts themselves, and form an opinion or thought about the vaccine afterwards. I know many people are still worried about the safety of the vaccine, and I have even talked about it with some of my family members and friends. Some say they would get vaccinated, but some don’t trust the vaccine at all. Hopefully, after students see the facts about the vaccine in my slideshow, they’ll see the vaccine isn’t that scary as some people make it out to be. 

March 9, 2021

Today I would be presenting my powerpoint about the COVID vaccines for the first time. I was more excited about presenting this slideshow than the previous one I created because I thought it was a lot more interesting to learn and talk about to students, especially since they might not know much about it. Once the presentation was over, I was surprised to see that many students had questions about the vaccine. Many were curious about where and how to get the vaccine, whether or not it was going to become a requirement, and the process of herd immunity. These questions helped spark an interesting discussion about the vaccine, and helped me gain a better understanding of where students stand with the vaccine, and their knowledge on it. I also gave the students my email in case they had any questions, or wanted to give me feedback on my presentation afterwards. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting any of them to email me, so I was very shocked when I saw one student email me back about my presentation. Opening the email, and reading the nice comments the student left about the presentation helped improve my mood a lot as well as my confidence in this project. This email impacted me a lot more when I saw it was a student I haven’t even spoken to. It was nice knowing that someone took the time out of their day to write an email and tell me their thoughts on my presentation. I also received another email and a text from two peers, so I also appreciated those very much. Today truly felt like one of those days where I felt like I was making an impact on my community. I’m glad that some students were able to learn and take away something important from what I was trying to teach them.

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