This week was pretty unexciting as far as ISM goes. I didn't actually go on a mentor visit because President's Day made it hard to coordinate something already into the week. I think that's a good lesson to me that first and foremost I need to prioritize things like meeting with my mentors. If I had been more proactive about getting something on the calendar, I definitely could've learned from them, but as it was the end of the six weeks and it felt like a short one, I was a lazy about getting that together. For the class, it was a pretty relaxed few days. Because of the aforementioned shorter week, I didn't get as much done on my project research as I wanted to, but in relation to another lesson I could take from that, it's important for me to remember that every little bit of work helps in the culmination of my project. Sometimes "25 hours" can seem so daunting and that makes me do less because it doesn't feel like half and hour or an hour of work will make much of a difference, but if I maintain some perspective it'll help me stay focused and know that every bit I do is at least better than doing nothing.
It definitely feels a little early to be turning in my weekly blog on Thursday, but I'm pretty excited for the weekend and am trying to get as much done before the "break" as possible. This has been a research-filled week where I'm really trying to work out the origins of local control. I will say the project is a lot more than I had originally thought it would be. Just like with my Original Work, I think sometimes I have a tendency to go into things without completely thinking through all the aspects, and that seems to be true to some extent with this project. It's not that I don't think I'll be able to complete it or finish it to the depth that I want to, I just need to make sure that I stay focused on my final iteration of this presentation instead of drowning in research early on. Hopefully over the weekend, I'll complete a few more hours of research to put on my log and then when I get back after President's Day, I'll be able to start forming relevant research questions for the actual documentary portion of the assignment. Looking forward in my ISM journey, I am so shocked that the year seems to be coming to a close when I feel like I still have so much to do, and can't wait to continue progressing.
This past week has been a really exciting time for my journey in ISM. On Monday I was able to attend a Frisco City Town hall where once again I got to hear firsthand what residents of Frisco prioritize and want to hear about from their municipal representatives. I actually chose to write my Friday assessment on it because I thought the different aspects and community-driven passion that came out of it was really interesting to witness. Then, I started researching for my Final Product. I think I still haven't completely made the mental shift to working on Final Product after this transition in the past month since Research Showcase, but it's definitely time. It's so weird to think about, but Final Product is due in less than three months, and that's not including our upcoming breaks. Going forward I want to channel some of the spirit and excitement from the city town hall with the push I'm going to focus on giving my Final Product this upcoming week before our days off on Friday and Monday. I can't wait to keep learning more about local control and need to remember to bring in my mentors whenever I have questions on the topic because they're such great resources I've had the wonderful opportunity to learn from this year.
January has easily felt like the longest month of the entire school year. I think it's so interesting how senior year on the one hand feels like it's moving so fast, but at the same time there's still so much happening that months like this past one feel like they've been going on forever. Since Research Showcase (only two and a half weeks ago!) I've really been shifting my focus to Final Product, rightfully so. This last week I actually met with my mentors twice, once in a more traditional mentor visit where we discussed where my Final Product could go from the research I completed for Original Work. Then on Thursday, I had the incredible opportunity to sit in on an event in the Frisco Lakes community with the Conservative Coalition. The entire night was understandably skewed to one political side more than the other, but the information I was able to gain from it was completely interesting regardless. It was essentially a city government recap where people from all parts of the municipality came to talk about their departments, changes to the city, and address concerns of the residents. I loved going because it really gave me a sense of how directly local government gets involved with the lives of Frisco residents. Now it's time to start working on Final Product and prepare for the last few months of high school!
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