SENIOR DEFENSE

   High school has definitely been an experience, I dont think I would want to do it over again it was okay at the moment but not something to repeat. There were a lot of highs and lows nothing really in between, the whole covid experience of 2020 is not something I would wish on anyone, everyone thought it was going to be easy because we were online and we could cheat, I am hands-on in the class learner I knew I worked better like that but it really stood out during that time, and having to do everything online was definitely a struggle for me I lost all motivation in my work I got distracted very easy and it was so boring. Then transitioned back to in-person when im finally getting used to online school kind of, on top of that constantly being called to go home when I was in covid tracing junior year made me fall behind n work and I already had no motivation to do my work, was just a lot I was out for almost a month but because of personal reason too. I made friends and lost some, learned a lot about people and myself, and working to better myself. On the bright side, I didnt fail any of the classes if I did get a bad grade I was able to make it up and got a better grade. And  I had a great track season I ran a 12.5, was league runner-up in the 100, and made it to CIF prelims, in the summer I made it to Junior Olympics, I was even on the honor roll a few times I believe when I was class president we raised a lot of money. Im starting my senior year of a great start for the most part. The two assignments I would like to highlight from my past 4 years were from my 11th-grade year my research paper from Ms.Tuckers AP English class and the interview project I created in my Film class with Mr.Solis.

 

  The first Artifact I will be talking about is my research paper from Ms.Tuker’s AP English class. For this assignment, we had the creative freedom to pick a topic we found most interesting. I wrote about how beauty is within you, it’s not what the media says or what anyone else thinks. Once our topic was selected, we had to find articles and quotes to support our viewpoint. While writing this paper I came upon a lot of obstacles. My biggest challenge was trying to find research articles that proved beauty is within you. This became so challenging that I considered changing my topic because articles were only stating opinions and not facts. Another obstacle I faced while writing this paper was my lack of time management. It took me a very long time to draft my thesis. I couldn’t figure out how to put my thoughts into words. I learned how to take a “stand” on a topic I am interested in and how important it is to provide facts rather than opinions. I also learned how to pick a good quote that can help get my point of view across. 

The two Graduate Profiles I used were communication and critical thinking. I chose the skill of communication because through my writing of my research paper I had to get others to side with me. I chose the skill of critical thinking because I had to evaluate the articles in order to prove they were reliable resources. This skill can help me after high school because writing this paper gave me practice for what I will have to do in college.

 

    The second Artifact I will be talking about is my Interview Project for Mr.Solis’ Film class.

For this assignment, I had to come up with interview questions, choose people for the interview, and then produce the final product which was a 3-minute video of their responses. Some obstacle I came across while doing this project was trying not to get frustrated with the people in the video because they were being goofy causing me to film multiple takes. Another challenge I faced was the talking of the other interviewees in the background of the video. Their talking caused the person getting interviewed to be distracted. Also, not everyone was in class at the same time so my full schedule was not always consistent. To avoid re-recording the interview I had to edit the videos at the right part which was extremely difficult. What this project taught me was how to set up multiple lighting stands and adjust them to each person. I also learned how to connect a mic to the camera and then to the person getting interviewed so we didn't pick up the background noise.  Another thing I learned was how to add bloopers, and b-roll and cut each clip in a creative way so that the video is repeating the same thing over again. The first graduate profile I used was creativity because an idea of how I wanted to make the video came to mind and I went through with it, The second graduate profile I used was communication, I had to explain what was going to happen in the video with my friends and what their role would be. This can help me after high school because when I get to college I will know how to create and edit a video.

 

   As the first semester slowly comes to an end and the second semester slowly starts approaching, I am starting to prepare myself for what is next after high school. For my career, I want to be an Athletic trainer for pro athletes. To achieve this, I plan on going to college and majoring in kinesiology, and doing internships to help better my skills. I have a significant amount of skills that I can take with me as I start the next chapter in life. However, the skills that are going to help me in college are critical thinking, communication, and creativity. I demonstrated those skills through my interview project in my junior year film class and my research paper in my 11th-grade AP English class. These skills helped me when doing group projects/Assignments with classmates, individual assignments, and this reflection paper. I’ve improved as a student and grown a lot since my freshman year. I realized in 10th grade that you never know what can happen so it’s important to stay focused on school and what I have to do to accomplish my goals. What I learned in 11th grade is that your circle should stay small, you don't need a lot of friends, it comes with a lot of baggage, and a lot can happen that you don’t want. Overall I had a good high school experience and I’m looking forward to what is to come.