Journal #1 - Beginning of School
I was very excited and scared for my senior year. Before starting my senior year I thought we were going to slowly get into what the capstone was about. On the start day of senior year I was not ready to start on the start day with capstone. I think I was going to be ready for senior year, but now that it is here I feel that I am running behind already. I had no clue that capstone was going to be so much in the first week of school. But I feel pretty confident about my work ethics and that everything will be fine as long as I commit and follow through with my objectives.
During the second week of school I started to get working on it. I got in touch with Mrs. Gostanian and I started to plan out what I want to do and what is the best way to do it. Because of COVID that makes it harder to do some things. I am very happy to be here now, but I think that because of last year with COVID-19 I am not as prepared as I would be if there was no COVID-19. At the end of the week I was feeling better abou what capstone is and how I am doing it. Mrs. Gostanian is very happy that I am doing this and I am happy and I think I am ready to start it now. I am getting used to all of my other classes and what they are going to require from me to get good grades in each one of them.
For my capstone, I am going to start it on Thursday Sept. 23rd. I feel like I am ready to start and get the ball rolling. As of right now I still have to ask Mrs. Gostanian to be my mentor for my capstone. She already has some students that she thinks will be good to start out with.
In the third week of school I got some of the details and ideas and started to work for my capstone. I got my proposal in, and now I have to start with my paper that I do not want to do at all. One of my college classes I am taking this year is AP Calculus AB. We had our first quiz of the year and I felt that I was not as prepared as I have been. In my other college level class, we are doing media shares and I think I am going to like doing them. All of the other classes I have I have not gotten a test or quiz yet and I am very happy about that. All of my classes are easy because it is still the beginning of the year, but it is going to get harder I think.
Journal #2 - End of September
This month has been busy with all of the things with school and out of school. In school I have had my quiz and test in my math class, after both reality set in with me for how hard that math class is going to be and how much work I am going to need to do so I can stay up in the class. That class has to be/ is going to be the hardest class I am going to have this year. In my ECE class, I love it because it is not what I was expecting with a college level class. It is fun and it is a lot of decisions and not a lot of paperwork and quizzes of paper. With my English and graft arts classes, they are both very good and okay in the way of how hard it is. In my senior seminar, I am making good headway with my tutoring. Out of the three students I am helping, two of them have needed/ wanted my help. The other one, in my opinion, does not want to do anything with me at all.
Out of school I have had a busy time with school work. I have been trained as a level one instructor in curling. That means I am going to be able to instruct new people into the sport. It is an all day training and it is fun to go and do it. Over most weekends my family has family events that we all go to and have fun there with other family members.
Throw out the just over month of school I feel like I have grown a lot. One way I have grown is with my time management because with the school work I have, I have to check what I have and how long it is going to take me. I thought I was good at time management but after a month of senior year I learned that I was not that good with it. After a month I am getting better because I am not always swamped with work all the time now.
There are some things that are getting me stuck like working on all my school work and how to get better at what time I have to work on first. I have had to work late at night sometimes because I had things to do the next day. I like to work on what is given to me first and not what is to start.
Journal #3 - October and end of Quarter 1
This month has been welded with school and crazy with life outside of school. In school at the beginning of the month it was calm. Work in all classes started to get harder, but I was able to stay on top of it all. In lit and comp we did our first paper and I was in traffic of how I was going to do. With all the work we did prir it was not as bad to do. The writing test in that class did not have to be done but now happily it is done for a quarter. In my graphic arts class I did a project about making a poster about a scary movie. For some reason I am in the mode of a scary movie. In my ECE class we talked about success and then education/ privilege. I like that class because there is a lot of talking and less paperwork. In Calcusa class it is a very fast paist class. It is my hardest class and I am doing really well in it. My capstone is doing really well. I have learned a lot working with my 6th graders. I have learned how to get them to open up and let me help them when they need help but they don't want to ask. I was working with three students and now I am only working with one. One of them just did not want my help and the other one needed a little help and now is good on his own. I am thinking of working with a 7th grader in math and possibly sciences.
Outside of school there has been a lot. TGIF(thank god it is Friday) has started and I am so happy to get out on the ice and start my curling session. On my first night the ice was a little slippery because of the warm weather that day. The ice was all weird out of whack this mouth. I got to go to a Pat’s game. I got to see the Pats destroy the Jets. In the last weekend of October, I went to CCSU to do an open house. It was a great time at CCSU and I got a lot of good information. It is a good chance to learn more about their nursing programs.
Quarter 1 ended and it went faster than I expected. I did good and worked hard to get the grades I did. In quarter 2 I want to work on my time management and public speaking a little bit more. I am ready for whatever the rest of the school year will have come my way.
All this month, it has been a great but hard time in high school with all of what I have done. The college visits are one of my important things I have to do. School work and capstone are hard and take a lot of time, but I am able to get on with the other important things I have to do. Curling is the time I have to not be weird about school or mostly college, that is my outlet to my school and work life.
Journal #4- November
This month has been okay in the way that I am doing good throughout my life. In school, school work has gone harder and then is more. Out of school my life is going well and curling is going very well.
In school my classes have gotten harder. In my Lit and Comp class we worked on systemic discrimination. We read parts of “The New Jim Crow” book and it opened my eyes about racism and discrimination. In my AP Calculus AB class we learned about Definition and Fundamental Properties and Differentiation: Composite, Implicit, and Inverse Functions. The work in the class was difficult but I am understanding what we are doing. The math has gotten harder and harder than I thought it would be. In my Graphic Design class we work on a movie poster project and an I-Spy poster project. Both of them were very fun to make and see how they came out. In my ECE Health and Education in Urban Communities we had to write an essay about are own health and wealth. We have gone to Betances STEM, started to integrate into their classrooms to help the students with their work. Going to Betances STEM has been a great experience to help me with my capstone project. Thanksgiving break was great. I got to be with my family and not be weird about any school work. I was very happy that I did not have to do any school work over the thanksgiving break.
For my capstone project I am now working with 6th and 7th graders by tutoring them in math. I have started to get more students that need my help and I have been able to help them. I am very happy because the students that I am helping are starting to understand and want to get help. I am working hard to get all of the students I am working with to get up to their grade level.
Out of school my life is starting to get full. I am curling every Tuesday and Friday night. Curling has been a great place for me to relax about school work and focus on the game I am playing. It has helped me to get away from school work sometimes and do other things. Over the weekends I could spend time with my family and do things together like my dad’s goodbye party from his old job. Another thing I did with my family is go and perform German dancing. We practice every Thursday night and things are also a good out lit form school.
Journal #5- December
December has been a good month for me. School work has gone a little hard with the work I have. In most classes I am on top of the work. It is going well. The eassies in English and the tests in math are the hardest parts of the month. In capstone I was supposed to start tutoring two new 7th graders. I work with the 7th graders only on Fridays, and because of the Friday threats on schools both of them didn’t show up to school so I will be starting with them in January.
This year has been full of problems and setbacks. Some setbacks for me this year have been having two college level classes. Those classes have been harder for me because of the type of work and how much work they give. I am able to get the work done in a timely manner so I am not totally stressed out. Another setback for me is working on my capstone. Some of the students I am working with are wanting help, but the others are not totally wanting help. The students I am helping all need help but some of them don’t want to say or want help. The way I work with them are all different but all of them are that I want to get to know them so they can trust me so they would open up and say they are helping.
I am proud of what I have been able to do with my capstone. I have been able to help students in middle school that would not have the chance to get help. The students in the middle school this year need the help so I am happy that I am able to help some of them within math.
I feel I have been impacted by my capstone. My capstone has helped me by opening me up to students and people that are younger than me. I am great with talking to people that are older but with my project it is getting me to help and talk to students who are younger and people I don’t know.
Out of school has been slow. With covid, curling has gotten slowed down. Curling has been affected but not as much as I thought because of the increase in numbers. I got to play and have fun with it. For the second part of the month it slowed down because of cases and to protect everyone and the holidays.
Journal #6- January
January has been a hard month for me. School work has gone harder and it is because exams are coming up. In most classes I am on top of the work. It is going well. The tests and last projects in classes were the hardest part. In capstone I was supposed to start tutoring two new 7th graders. I work with the 7th graders only on Fridays so I will be starting with them in late January. I feel a little bad for the 7th graders because of all the things that have recently happened in the past month. I have had no time to see them.
This year has been full of problems and setbacks for me. Some setbacks for me this year have been having happen having the threat on the school and now the problem with drugs in the school.. Classes have been harder for me because of the type of work and how much work they give because of the end of semester. I am able to get the work done in a timely manner so I am not totally stressed out. Another setback for me is working on my capstone. Some of the students I am working with are wanting help, but the others are not totally wanting help. Another setback is all the drama around the school and it happening arounds Fridays so I can not work with the 7th graders. The students I am helping all need help but some of them don’t want to say or want help. The way I work with them are all different and learning to work with them is a hard part about it for me.
I am proud of what I have been able to do with my capstone. I have been able to help students in middle school that would not have the chance to get help. The students in the middle school this year need the help so I am happy that I am able to help some of them within math. Working with the students and seeing them learn what they need and the way they do it is the best part of me.
I feel I have been impacted by my capstone. My capstone has helped me by opening me up to students and people that are younger than me. For my capstone I have been able to put in around 13 hours at this point. I feel I am going to be able to get more than 20 hours at the end of the year.
Out of school I have taken an extended break from dancing because of covid. Curling has finally started back up with the weekend. Curling was so fun for me this weekend so I could clear my head of what happened in school with the drugs.
Journal #7- February
February has been a slow month for me in capstone. With my new classes I am able to adjust well. In most classes I am on top of the work. In capstone it feels like I slowed down. It feels that way because I only tutored 6th graders for a month and not really the 7th graders. I feel a little bad for the 7th graders because of all the things that have recently happened in the past month.
This year has been full of problems and setbacks for me. Some setbacks for me this year have been happening, having the threat on the school and now more recently the problem with the drugs in the school. My year around classes have gonen harder, but with the new semester my new classes are starting somewhat not slow at the beginning. I am able to get the work done in a timely manner so I am not totally stressed out. Another setback for me is working on my capstone. Some of the students I am working with are wanting help, but the others are not totally wanting help. Another setback is all the drama and problems around in the 7th grade. The students I am helping all need help but some of them don’t want to say or want help. The way I work with them are all different and learning to work with them is a hard part about it for me.
I am proud of what I have been able to do with my capstone. I have been able to help students in middle school that would not have the chance to get help. The students in the middle school this year need the help so I am happy that I am able to help some of them within math. Working with the students and seeing them learn what they need and the way they do it is the best part of me.
I feel I have been impacted by my capstone. My capstone has helped me by opening me up to students and people that are younger than me. For my capstone I have been able to put in around 13 hours at this point. I feel I am going to be able to get more than 20 hours at the end of the year.
Journal #8- March
March has been a slightly faster month for me in capstone than February. With my classes I am able to adjust well. In most classes I am on top of the work. In capstone I have felt that I have slowed down. It feels that way because I only tutored 6th graders for a month and really have stopped with the 7th graders.
This year has been full of problems and setbacks for me. Some setbacks for me this
years have been happening, Having harder classes and starting to get ready for tests and exams that are coming in May. My year around classes have gonen harder, but
With the others it is going well and not slowed down. I am able to get the work done in a timely manner so I am not totally stressed out. Another setback for me is working on my capstone. Some of the students I am working with are wanting help, but the others are not totally wanting help. The students I am helping all need help but some of them don’t want to say or want help. The way I work with them are all different and learning to work with them is a hard part about it for me.
I am proud of what I have been able to do with my capstone. I have been able to help students in middle school that would not have the chance to get help. The students in the middle school this year need the help so I am happy that I am able to help some of them within math. Working with the students and seeing them learn what they need and the way they do it is the best part of me.
I feel I have been impacted by my capstone. My capstone has helped me by opening me up to students and people that are younger than me. For my capstone I have been able to put in more than 16 hours at this point. I feel I am going to be able to get more than 20 hours at the end of the year.