Senior Seminar, Had I Known..

I learned so much this year and the best thing is that I was my own teacher. I had to be eager to learn and work on my project for more than the completion grade. If you're not eager to learn or work, it's going to be a long year.

One of the things I really should have done was think about my project during the summer. I didn't give it much thought, and for that I had some complications in the beginning of the year. I had problems picking my project and I changed it three times. The beginning of the year would have gone by smoothly had I decided my project beforehand.

The most important thing for my senior project was truly taking time out my day to work on it. I had to make sure I had all the rest of my work done in order to work on it.  So prioritizing is definitely important. Time management is crucial in the project and turning in assignments on time. This greatly affects your grade in the class and also reflects the work you’ve done so far.

One thing I didn’t do so great at is that I didn’t take pictures. I really wish I could have taken pictures of my project and old models. I was doing architectural work and would sometimes throw it away. Keep everything and it can work very well with your final presentation. Documentation is also very important. Make sure all the sources you used for your research are documented so it’ll all come easily together in the research paper. The research paper is very challenging so get to it immediately.

The project website is pretty big so make sure you dedicate time to this. Building a website is tricky and very time consuming. So get this done on time or it’ll become very stressful.

One thing I hardly made any use of was my board. We get to choose our panel or group of advisors who will end up grading us. Teachers around campus have some very interesting talents and can be more helpful than you may think. It’s a smart move to come to these people when you think you’re stuck along the road.

The most important thing through all of this would definitely be to picking your project wisely. I had fun with my project but I made sure it would be something I’d enjoy. So make sure it’s something that’s challenging but fun. You’ll be doing this for the rest of the year future seniors. I made plenty of mistakes with my project and most of those mistakes are highlighted in this blog, so take it in and learn from it.  Keep on going with the project and ask for others opinions and advice. Staying motivated can be difficult, but my classmates helped me through their own efforts on their project.