Senior Project Reflection

(1) Positive Statement

I'm proud of the fact that I've been able to push myself to immerse and research a topic that I initially had no interest in. I've expressed that I had no interest in the medical or business field, yet I was able to push myself to do an entire project related to those two fields. It's been a very interesting process, especially since I was lost and unmotivated during the first four months, but I'm pleased that I have come this far.

Another thing that I'm proud of (and I'm sure there are plenty of seniors who will agree with me) is the fact that I have completed the senior project. There have been multiple times where I've wanted to give up because of how intense and thorough I had to be. Added to the fact that there was pressure to apply for colleges and scholarships, and I'm surprised (and pleased) that I've made it this far.

(2) Questions to Consider

a. I definitely deserve a solid P for my 2Hour Presentation. I believe that I have met all of the requirements for P consideration and did it well, even with technical glitches and the fact that some of the students seemed tired when they arrived to my presentation. However, I think that I may have earned an AE, because I successfully met the talking requirement, and I did present solid research and knowledge during the timed portions.

b. I would give myself an AE. I have met every single deadline this year. There were occasions where I slightly faltered in my delivery of deadlines, but those were at the beginning of the year for lesser value assignments. Most of my work has been solid, and even better than I hoped then I would have expected it to be. My major assignments (Science Fair, iSearch, etc.) had pushed me to excel and make sure that whatever I was learning wouldn't be wasted time. In the end, I believe that effort was shown, as my stronger assignments were the higher level assignments.

(3) What worked for you in your senior project?

What worked for me was being able to come to my project adviser (Melogno) for any help that I needed for my project. It helped a lot when I needed to find service learning, or if I felt lost with what I was doing with my senior project.

(4) What didn’t work for you in your senior project?

What didn't work was that I didn't find service learning fast enough. No one I knew worked in business related fields, or marketing. I thought that I would be able to base my experience from yearbook, but then I didn’t really know anyone based in book sales. I was promised a chance to work at the mall if I came back in January, but when I did, that was when I learned that they can’t allow me to serve with them, due to some liability issues. I was offered a chance at a local marketing firm in Diamond Bar, to bounce ideas off, before I realizied that they wouldn't be able to teach me what I wanted to learn. I would be teaching them and giving them feedback, and would not have been able to learn something about marketing properly.

(5) Finding Value

Even if I were to never market medical supplies as a career, the skills that I learned from this project have helped me appreciate the respective fields. Before, I used to dislike dealing with the business field and all related topics. Now that I know that there's a way of looking at it so that it's not just about the profits, marketing has opened the door for me to respect what marketers do and be able to sort out the good from the bad. It also became my first step into the real world, no matter what my career may be. All of the skills I learned about - communication, knowing your audience- were things that I had picked up on during my last few years in high school. This project hit me with the fact that these are things that were crucial to surviving the work force, and that I needed to start practicing these skills if I'm going to go anywhere in my career. After all, we're practically marketing ourselves to companies in the workforce, so this is simply my wake up call to that fact.

My research has also increased my awareness for medical equipment. Maybe it's because I haven't been hospitalized yet, but I used to dismiss medical equipment like walkers and canes before I realized why it's so important. Also, I knew that my dad had sleep apnea, but after realizing what it was through my research, I'm now aware of the importance of his CPAP, as well as the fact that I may or may not develop the disorder. Whatever the case may be, I have the knowledge to be able to address the symptoms in me or a loved one before it puts someone's health at risk.