When I started the
project I was not entirely sure of what the point of it was going to be. I knew
that I was combining many of my different interests, but I was not sure how I
would feel at the end. After finishing though I realize my project did help me grow
and learn things about myself. I realized my passion for learning about other
cultures and eventually after college being able to continue this and help
people in places like Kenya, and other unstable countries in that area.
In doing this project I
hoped to make my organizational skills better and keep my time management in
check before I head off to college. Time management has often been a problem
for me, but it began to improve as I worked on my project. Although I did not
do a good job at posting on the blog four times a week, I did stay on top of my
work schedule. I learned as I went on in the project to focus on how much work
I got done in a week instead of stressing out day by day. This way if I had a
really busy day I did not worry about staying up late to work on my project,
but another day when I had lots of free time I would pick up the work I had not
finished for the week. I think this is a strategy I can implement in college
and beyond to meet longer deadlines.
I had lots of success
in getting myself interested in all the different aspects of my project. I
thought that there would be at least one part of my project that I would hate
doing, but I did not find this. The part of this that was a struggle though was
realizing that everything that is interesting to me is not to everyone else,
and trying to make the presentation appealing to other people. To do this I
tried to cut back on the history aspect of my project and include more about
modern Kenya
I hope that this
project continues for a long time in my life. I have set myself a $500
fundraising goal for the summer in order to raise money for my charity, and I
hope it continues even after that. I learned in this project how to find good
charities, learn about what they’re doing and what your money will go towards
this and I will continue to donate money to places like One Village at a Time
throughout my life. I also hope to use the knowledge I have gained to
eventually be able to travel to Kenya
My favorite part of
work this term was learning about what the charities were doing in Kenya Kenya
What I would tell the
students for next year is to not rush into choosing their project topic,
because it realy took me awhile, but I eventually came up with a project that
suited me and that I enjoyed. My other advice would be to not stick to what
they say they are doing at the beginning of the project. They should allow
themselves to change the order of things if it works better or change what
they’re doing for their final presentation if they think of a new and better
idea.
The most important
truth I have learned about my working process is that some parts of it are
never going to come naturally to me. Things like getting work done on time and
remembering to do certain things will always be hard for me, but is all about
putting in the extra effort in order to have a better working process. The most
important truth I have learned about myself is that I do not always have to be
so sure of myself. Although picking a project and sticking with it was not a
scary decision it was important for me to be able to make a decision that I was
not sure was right. I really had no idea what I wanted to do for my project
while other people seemed to be so sure of their ideas. This scared me at first
and I thought I would hate my project, but it all turned out well in the end.
Sincerely,
Eliza
