Final Reflection 
 

For me capstone really made me step out of my comfort zone, not only was I speaking in front of my peers and strangers about what I was doing. But I was also handling everything I wanted to do on my own and put myself out there. It really helped me mature and see what adult life will be like even more. I was really scared when I first started my project and stressed out a lot but the more I progressed in my project it helped me realize that I picked an important project and was making at least 1% of a mark in the world. 

Picking domestic violence for my project really made me have to sit back and see how much people didn't know about this issue in the world. My first shocking moment was when I first started selling bracelets and was presenting my slideshow to my fathers coworkers and they weren't aware that Domestic violence isn't only physical, but also mental and emotional. It brought aha to me because I wasn't aware that not everyone knew about the different forms that one can be abusive. So being able to teach him about the different forms made me feel like I was actually helping my community. It made me feel proud that I chose this issue and was educating others about it because this is a crime that should be taken more seriously. I later went on to sell bracelets two more times throughout the school instead and was brought with joy to see everyone supporting my capstone and buying a bracelet. Although I was scared and nervous to be standing in front of people and asking them to give money towards my cause, I knew it was something that would help me in the future so I sucked it up and confronted what I was scared of. And people listened and told their friends of my cause and spread it throughout the whole school. But I think the moment that really touched my heart was sharing a moment with one of our own security guards and hearing that she was a survivor herself. It hurt to hear that she went through something so awful but felt good to hear her say that what I was doing was something good for the world. I feel as though the only moment throughout the course of my project that brought anger and rage into me was going to the candle vigil at Prudence Crandall in New Britain. It brought sadness and anger that something like this event even has to happen, those victims should be here with us and have been able to live a full life. But sadly life had other plans for them, and it's beautiful that these people and organizations come together and put together events like this. Which has helped me realize that this was a career I wanted to pursue. Being able to help people even in the slightest way with my career is what I want in the near future. Doing this project really opened my eyes in many ways that I didn't realize coming into the school year. It helped me with presenting in front of an audience like scenario. It helped me be able to communicate how I feel about a certain situation and speak my mind and it honestly helped me mature in ways I was too scared to. In the end I not only was able to grow and mature myself but I also was able to raise some donations for Prudence Crandall and help others also. So when my teacher first stood in front of me at the beginning of the year and said “capstone is going to change you” I thought she was being just a little over the top. But now that I am almost done with my senior year and about to graduate, I am really looking at my experience and seeing how it’s affected me. 

           Now that I am wrapping up my senior capstone project and putting a pin in this folder. I am looking forward to knowing that future senior students will be able to experience everything that the class of 2022 has experienced. Knowing that they will fifty percent come into this project how I did,  afraid and dreading doing a capstone. To then have later feel how we all feel, as though we’ve made some kind of positive change and impact on our community.