Senior Project Reflection

1. Positive Statement

I'm most proud of my ability to communicate my knowledge to the students in my presentation, I feel as if I had their attention, because there was chuckles and full attention on me. I had talked to a couple of people in my presentation, they told me they felt like they learned new things through my presentation.

2. a) What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project? Why?

I feel like I deserve AE, because I did everything I was suppose to, I knew my information, and my answers. I tried to communicate it in a way where people will understand me, giving examples of strawberries and french fries and I think I communicated it well because my audience was entertained and I think that is a great sign of success, because my peers are my worst critics, so if they gave me a well-received response, I should get credit for that. I feel though that my strongest point was that I showed a relationship between exercise and nutrition, that they go hand-in-hand, thus everything else connected back to my EQ. I was assertive, I used up literally all my time, and I feel as though I communicated with my audience well. And my talking time was random stuff, it was all necessary, the only time I repeated myself was when I was connecting to things.

b) What assessment would you give yourself  on your senior project? Why?

P, because there were things that I was diligent about and there were things that still had room for improvement. But I feel like I reflected well through my 2-hour, and that is an overall overview of my senior project.

3. What worked for you in your senior project?

My independent component, definitely was a walk in the park. I never had an problem with that part of the project. Also, my 2-hour, I guess I feel most proudest because I didn't have much faith before I presented because of my poor experience in my 20-minute and the thought of failing and having to do it over again was scaring me, but I have to really thank Ms. Melogno for being calm, cool, and understanding. But, in the end the 2-hour just worked out.

4. What didn't work for you in your senior project?

My service learning, that was a hard experience, because I had contacted so many businesses and people, but nothing was working out. My service learning, wasn't directly related to my senior project, so I didn't get to have that experience others had. Also, my 20-minute, which I did poorly on, but that was on me, I was freaking myself out and the talking time and I blanked out and forgot everything I was suppose to talk about, but that just made me more determined to do better on my 2-hour.

5. Finding Value: How has the senior project been helpful to you in your future endeavors?

I can now say I understand the meaning of failing in some aspect. My service learning has taught me that yes, I'm not going to be successful all the time in getting what I need or want, but with some persistence everything will work out. I really feel as though consistently calling people to shadow them made me stronger more assertive, not scared anymore, and I got use to being rejected, which at first hurt my ego but it gave me thicker skin. Also, I learned that people are willing to help you, you would be surprised, especially when I explained to them my situation, they seemed generally interested, so I learned to think the best in people, human beings are good people. I feel like i learned a lot, some lessons are small, but during this whole processes I feel like I grew up, because with growing up, means taking responsibility and taking action, this whole senior project, really was a mini lesson to growing up.

2-Hour Presentation

2 Hour Presentation Rough Draft Lesson Plan

Service Learning

Literal

• Service Learning Log
• Gonzalo Najera, Number: (909)-596-7733 Ext. 2156

Interpretive

What is the most important thing you have gained from this experience? Why?

I most important thing I gained from my experience would have to be preparing food and learning what that entails, from that experience it has definitely put a new perspective on what I eat/put in my mouth. The food I prepare isn't always healthy, and seeing how the kitchen uses a lot of processed foods to make their food, showed me that looks can be deceiving. 

Applied

How did what you did help answer your EQ? Please Explain.

Well, my service learning isn't directly related to my EQ, but it does relate to one of my answers which has to do with nutrition. Often times, eating quick meals that others prepare for you is easier on yourself, but not on your health/body. Working in a kitchen, we would prepare food that wasn't always healthy for the general public that would buy the food, but it was easy for them. As far as it helping my EQ, it just gave me a sense of perspective on where food comes from and how it's being prepared.

Independent Component 2

Literal

a) I, Leah Rodarte, affirm I that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.
b) My independent component consist of doing a Zumba class and keeping a Food Journal.

Interpretive
My independent component focused on two aspects, fitness and nutrition. My Zumba class was the fitness part where I took an 1 hour or 2 hour classes each week to keep my body moving. My Zumba class added 41 hours for my independent component. The food journal was the nutrition part, where I keep a record of what I eat on a daily basis, a way for me to analyze what I am eating and to pick out the good and the bad. The food journal on average took me 5 minutes to fill out.

Applied
My essential question, " What is the best way to lose body fat?" My strongest answers are exercise and nutrition, my independent component focused on both of those answers. Zumba was the exercise aspect and the food journal was the nutrition aspect. By exercising I was burning calories, which in turn burned fat at a faster pace and the food journal helped me analyze my eating habits and separate the bad from the good. I learned that when you keep track of your eating habits your more inclined to be in tune which what your eating as opposed to not keeping track and being about to forget the bad habits.
Hours: 40+

Evidence
February/March Calender

 

Helping 2013

Who did you interview: Alyssa Mutas
What day and time: Wednesday, March 25, 2012, 12:40pm


1. What ideas do you have for your senior project and why?

• Answer: Hela Cells, they are cancer cells that can be read in a laboratory, they are the first human cell that can be read out of the body. I read about it through a book my aunt gave me, and it was really interesting and I want to research it because I want to be a Microbiologist. I want to cure cancer.  I would probably focus on the use of the cell, how its use has developed over time. 
• Feedback: I told her that her idea was good, and that she should focus on one specific topic as opposed to a general topic such as cancer, because there are different types of cancers and to broad a topic. I also told her to have a plan b just in case her chosen topic doesn't work out.

2. What do you plan to do to complete the 10 hours of service learning?

• Answer: My aunt is a Dean of a college in Maryland and she has a lot of connections with people from the City of Hope, so I'm trying to get an internship there for the summer, I sent her a resume to send to the people from City of Hope, so I'm waiting on that. For the 50 hours, I would plan to still work at the City of Hope.
• Feedback: I told her to have a back up for her service learning, that if that doesn't work out, she needs to be able to have a second or third choice. She said if City of Hope doesn't work out she would probably work at a near by hospital or college.

3. What do you hope to see and expect to see when watching the class of 2012  present their two hour presentations? 

• Answer: I'm not really sure, I don't know that much about the senior project. A few weeks ago, Edwards had a previous student give us a condensed version of her senior project on advertising. It was pretty intense, really well done, I'm just really excited to see how you guys make use of the time and not stutter away, because right now I'm thinking I'm going to stutter my way through my presentation
• Feedback: I told her that as long as she does her research, getting credible sources, doing research properly, by actually researching for a purpose than she will not have a problem presenting, that she will not stutter. I also told her that by researching and knowing the research like the back of her hand she will be fine, because she will have plenty to talk about in her 2 hour presentation. I also told her that if she ever has a problem presenting than, pretend to look at the audience, but instead look at the back of the wall, don't imagine them naked, it never works.

4.  What questions do they have about senior project? What additional recommendations would you give the 2013 student about senior project? 

• Questions:  What are you doing for your Senior Project? What is the hardest thing about senior year?
• Recommendation: I stressed the point of having a back up plan again, just in case things don't work out the way she wants them to she needs to have a back up plan, I couldn't stress that enough.  I also recommended, when she asked what is the hardest thing about senior year, that the most important thing to do during senior year is to prioritize her time and to be organized. I told her that the amount of things she will be doing are not hard, there are just a lot of things that have to be done in a short amount of time. I told her time management is her biggest priority and researching is important so she will know her topic like the back of her hand. I warned her that maintaining her service learning, independent component, maybe science fair project, if she is doing that will make things easier for her later on. 

Answers

1. Choose a physical activity you love.
2. Make healthy eating habits apart of your lifestyle.

Answer 3

EQ:  What is the best way to lose body fat?

Answer 3: Exercising, such as Zumba, speeds up the process of losing body fat.

Evidence:
      a. Zumba's benefits include, calorie burn, improved balance and muscle tone, and less body fat, among others.
      b. For every lb. of muscle gained, the body burns an extra 30-50 calories per day.
      c. Zumba prevents weight-loss plateaus by changing up the workouts.

Sources:
      a. "Zumba: Fun is Secret Ingredient of Latin Dance Workout" by Barbara Russi Sarnataro
      b. Fitness for Dummies by Suzanne Schlosberg and Liz Neporent
      c. "And the Beat Goes On" by Taryn Plumb