Reflection of the Year

This year has taught me that there is no way getting around deadlines and schedules. I have to say that before we embarked upon the Senior Project I never realized how important it was to learn to manage my time. Initially, I spent so much time trying to figure out what I was going to do. I also did not realistically access how much time the project would really take. I also learned that no matter what you do as Daniel Pink says you have to have some passion or care for what you do. If you are passionate about what you do there is a higher chance that you put more effort and dedicate time to you project.

I would say that I learned the skills of getting actual real world data. So this is when I advice everyone to pick people for your panel of judges who know about the subject of your project. They are essential tools. To tell everyone the truth, I had never really designed a science project of my own. Research for me required earnest dedication. I had to take time outside my busy schedule to read a few extra books and studies about shyness and girls. So, I advice everyone to seriously take time to research. You will have a lot to talk about.

I advice you all to pick something you love and actually care about. Don't do something just because there is nothing else to do. It will be easier for you in the long run. This leads me to my next point you cannot create time and wait until you have time. You have to set aside time. Since you all will pick something that interests you should not have a hard time doing this. At times you will have to a million other things to do that the Senior Project may seem another pointless and consuming class. Do not let it get to you. The way you do this is by actually taking advantage of the help that Ms. Adams provides you with. She will give you a schedule which you can choose to ignore or take advantage of. Also have your own planner. I'm sure you all do.

Lastly, I wish you all good luck. I hope that you enjoy this experience. Have fun with it.

One step toward the ones I still have ahead of me...

While everything that I have done and written in my personal blog Soul Singing shows that I have made progress, I have yet to feel satisfaction of signing. I have read to the writings of Joann Deak (preventive psychologist) who has spent years researching about the development of girls and how their environments can shape the way that they will act and become. I have realized that I became self-conscious (shy) because of prior experiences when I sang before an audience. This is one of the reasons, I joined Speech and Debate class because I knew that I enjoyed reciting poems but if I didn't get out of my comfort zone I would never recite a poem in public nor perform a song which is one of my goals for my project. That was one step I took toward the many I still have to take.

Today, I have a better understanding of what I had when I started brainstorming for my senior project. I know that I that I will carry out an experiment that will reinforce the research carried by Joann Deak and many other scientists. The purpose of this experiment is to actually collect qualitative research that will give me an insight as to what girls think and feel from two different economic and racial spectrum's. Girls are girls in any place of the world but they are affected by different influences and that is something that is fact that could become helpful for the further development of teenage girls today. I also know that even though I have progressed in some ways with my research I have been set back with my lack of organization. I see that for the next semester I have to set deadlines and organize my time to work more efficiently and effectively.

For the second part of my project which is singing I have made little progress if any. I have attempted to find a voice teacher to help me gain confidence in my voice in order to sing publicly but I have yet to find someone. The odd thing is that I always sing at home. At home I sing all around my house, print lyrics, and record my voice all the time. I sing to the wind because no one ever tells me to be quiet. When I sing at home, I connect and transmit the emotion of whatever song I'm singing. I now know that that is the reason I truly sing. I sing because I reach a connection with God when I sing his song. This connection makes me feel happiness and fulfillment. This Christmas dinner, I will attempt to sing with Chassidy Smith the song "This Christmas" by Donny Hathway. It should be a grand step toward improvement.
Overall I have grown in many ways and I have had the good fortune of having Susan Davis and Jan Ott mentoring me through the process of my Senior Project this semester.

My Comment to Lucy's Blog

I completely agree with you Lucy this summer I got awarded a scholarship to attend to the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS)after applying for the second time. I knew how much I wanted to challenge myself and I was not going to give up on applying. Apparently persistence is a good quality. But I didn't get what I wanted instead destiny was determined to challenge me to the fullest it was in my hands to take it or leave it. Whitewater rating and kayaking? Yes. I had no idea how to swim or even of what this course was going to consist of but I did not let this intimidate me. Drive is a quality that comes/ emerges from the heart without this quality we can not truly learn how to master something.

Drive.

I smile ran across my face as I read the first chapter of Daniel Pink's Drive. It wasn't a surprise to me that motivation does not come from rewards. People who get motivated to perform a task by monetary means or just rewards in general just tend to get pumped for a short period of time and lose interest. I have seen this in my own family. My mother to try to get my brothers to obey and do their chores offered to reward my brothers with money which t first made them very happy and excited of course but that has eventually turned completely bad. My brothers were of course motivated or moved by the sight of this reward then but now they will not do anything unless they get something in return. Parents (including my mom unfortunately) who use rewards to get their children are failing to see that this system of educating is not the most appropriate. When my brothers no longer obeyed without some type of reward, I realized what happened immediately. My mother lost control of the situation and now she has to find a way to fix it. The experiments that these scientist did back then just proved what I had believed for some time.