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!
This has been a great week! This past week I prepared for and gave my Original Work speech and also wrote my Final Product proposal draft. I honestly can't believe that we're so far into the year already. It seems like senior year just started and we're already in the final leg of ISM. My speech went pretty well. Every time I get up to talk I always think it's going to go terribly and seems so long and then I start talking and it feels like I don't stop. I think in these final few months of ISM I should really focus on getting as much out of listening to speeches as possible because getting to see this many examples of different presentations is inspirational and there's a lot to be learned from them too. I hope that I remember to take advantage of every opportunity that ISM is able to provide. Moving ahead to Final Product, I can't wait to speak to my mentors about my ideas and see what they have to say for Final Product. I've already learned so much from them and hope that when we meet next week it'll help give me more perspective on what I should be doing with these final few months.
This has felt like one of the longest weeks of the year. Research Showcase was so much fun and a wonderful opportunity to tell my teachers, friends, and family about all the work I've completed, but these past few days have felt so long. In reflection, I really enjoyed this year's Showcase, probably a lot more than last year's. I think because I felt so comfortable with the information I was showcasing and my mentors were there too, I had a sort of self-decided credibility that made the event even better. I think an important take-away from it was that as always with ISM, what you put in is equivalent to how much value you'll get out. So for me, in relation to Showcase in particular, this taught me that even though last year I knew what I was talking about, the extra research and the in-depth conversations I had had with my mentors about local control was the push I needed to give me so much more confidence on the subject. As I continue with the rest of the year, I think I need to be cognizant that how hard I work will directly correspond to how good I feel about the information. I hope that moving forward I can get as much out of the semester as possible!
Leading up to the Research Showcase these final few days makes me really excited and nervous at the same time! Last week I was primarily focused on finishing my board and getting my Research Portfolio up to date, so this week I've got more freedom to put final touches on the rest of my work. I still want to tweak some things before Wednesday, but all in all I'm feeling prepared and hope that the event goes smoothly. Looking back to last year, I had a great time at Showcase, but wish that I had been able to communicate with more people. After reflecting on this, I think that I should make an effort to reach out to people. As much exposure as the program has given me with strangers, it can still feel awkward talking to people I don't know, but I realize that for how hard I've worked this year, I should be proud to present why I've accomplished to other people. Another difference is that last year my mentor wasn't able to make it, so I'm excited to see how having them there will change my dynamic of reaching out to people. I can't wait to see what the evening is going to be like and am ready to put all my effort into this special ISM benchmark, my last Research Showcase ever!
It has been a while! Over the past two weeks I've been relaxing at home getting ready to come back to school for my final semester of high school. I honestly can't believe how quickly the last few years (and senior year especially) has gone, and now I'm preparing to work hard in these last few months. With ISM, I've been doing lots of work on my physical tri-fold board for the Research Showcase. I still have a little bit more to complete before it's done and ready to be turned in tomorrow, but I'm making lots of progress. I think after my board last year, I really wanted to make this one a little more colorful with the hope that it'll stand out a little more. I think last year I was able to keep the project really clean and nice to look at, but not particularly exciting. Maybe with the brighter colors I've chosen to use I'll be able to bring some more attention to all the work I've done. Looking forward to next week, I can't wait to present my Original Work to the community. Last year I remember Showcase being exciting and exhausting, and I can't wait to do it again! It's good to be back!
Being done with Original Work is such a great feeling! There were lots of times in this past week where I felt really overwhelmed and wasn't sure how I would get it all done, but now that it's over, I'm proud of the work that I completed and can't wait to take a break through the next few weeks. As much as ISM continually changes my life, it can be really all-consuming at times and there's very rarely a lapse in assignments or mentor visits. Because of the way the schedule worked out last year, I remember stressing over Original Work during the break, so it's nice that this year I can finally take a breath and come back in January refreshed and ready to keep learning. Moving forward, I need to update my Digital Portfolio today before it's due tonight and then submit my Original Work Assessment too. For reflecting on my project, I think that what really benefitted me this year was my research. I went particularly in depth with studying local control and that was a big benefit for my synthesis essay. I'm also glad I wasn't as stringent about writing a strict research paper over something a little more synthesis-based, because the information that I've learned in the past weeks have made me consider how I feel about these issues, too, in addition to what a city government would think about them, and it was important to me to incorporate that in my project somehow. Overall, it's been a great year, and I'll be back in 2019 ready to continue learning!
Of all the weeks in the year so far, this one seems to be the busiest. Original Work is due on Friday and unfortunately I still feel like I have a few hours to go before the project is where I want to finish it. While I have been working hard, my other commitments are really taking away from a lot of the focus I could be giving to ISM, even though I don't want that to show in the project. Hopefully over the last few days I can finish everything I want to complete for Original Work and be proud of the quality at the same time. It will be nice to meet with Shona and Will this Thursday, too, because maybe if I have last minute questions I can put final touches on the assignment before I submit it on Friday. Right now, however, I really just want to give as much time as I can to the research I've been doing on local control while synthesizing it in an approachable, interesting way. One thing I learned from last year was that while you don't necessarily want you work to be dependent on other people and their interests, it is nice to have a somewhat exciting project that audiences will be interested in at the Research Showcase and Final Presentation Night. Either way, it's comforting to know that this time next week I will be able to move on to other things and already be reflecting on the work that I did.
This past week I went to one of the coolest mentor visits I've been to in ISM. Visit Frisco is a yearly recap that the tourism industry of Frisco puts on every year to educate professionals in Frisco about who has been coming to the town in the last year and what they hope to accomplish looking toward the next year. Going into it, I was a little apprehensive, as I didn't even fully consider Frisco as a "tourist" destination. I learned so much from the meeting, however, about why people visit the city, what people are doing to increase visitors, and the reason all of it matters: tax. Observational mentor visits like this one make me so excited about year as a whole because I really feel like I'm witnessing the group of people in Frisco that help the town be as prosperous as it is. In this next week, too, I'll be attending a really crucial city council meeting on Tuesday that Shona and Will have specified will be very influential and a good one to come to. Aside from mentor visits, my focus is also having a complete shift to Original Work. As always, things in ISM tend to catch me off guard when I'm not keeping them in the back of my mind at all times, and the due date of this project is no different. I really need to buckle down in this next week to complete the project with enough time to discuss it with my mentors. One of my biggest upsets with last year is that I got my mentor so late I never got a chance to work on the Original Work with her. This year I really want to take advantage of the relationships I already have with my mentors. As a whole, it's been a good week and with focus and hard work, I'm sure the next two weeks with be great too!
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