Senior Project 20

Overall, my senior project was an enriching one. It put my personal goals into question and made me rethink the methods I've been going through to achieve them. I have reassessed them and found that though my ultimate goal hasn't changed, I've had to re-prioritize the things in my life to accommodate them. I can no longer take my free time for granted, and I have learned most of all to not let procrastination get the best of me. Too many times during this project has procrastination been my near downfall. I've also come to appreciate my family's socio-economic status. I encountered many people who spent day after day at th library scouring for jobs on the library's computers or reading books on job skills. I'm grateful to the stability of my family, and for what this project has taught me.

Senior Project 19

For my visual portion of the project I decided upon a poster. I'll be able to manually maneuver it without the hassle and worry of possible technological malfunctions, which I am very prone to. It'll also allow me to put my own personal flair to the presentation of materials instead of relying upon the templates given to me on a computer.

I will be visually representing the West Orange Library, as well as the many resources it offers through pictures I have taken with my own camera. I will also have a copy of my volunteer hours log available to the panel, though I haven't decided whether or not to attach it to the board or leave it so that it may be removed by interested panel members.

Senior Project 18

Tomorrow I'll be compiling photos of the tasks I performed at the library for the visual element of my presentation. I'll also be finding/making graphs that represent the statistics and numbers mentioned in my research paper.

As for my feelings for the project as a whole, I learned a lot. It made me question and reevaluate the plans I had made for my future. With the deteriorating state of education, I worried for my future well-being and the economical stability that isn't necessarily in the cards for the single income of a teacher. But I found that even though my determination was wavering, it was really the only career path I could see myself pursuing.

Senior Project 17

I've completed my Research paper, and all of my hours. Right now, I'm compiling all of my materials for my portfolio and hole-punching them.

I'm trying to find the easiest way to put my third research paper draft into the portfolio(it's the one we had to cut up and rearrage). At this point, the only thing that I'm stressed out about is the actual presentation to the panel. The confidence I possess doesn't translate well to public speaking, especially when I'll be getting graded. It's especially nerve-wracking to acknowledge that my diploma is being dangled above my head based on my performance in this portion.

Senior Project 16

Date of Service: May 21, 2011          Time Spent: 4 hours         Total Hours: 30

Actions I Performed: I cut up shapes and strips of stickers for the children to take. I also sharpened pencils that will go in the study area of the library for students. Afterwards, I returned back to the audio book section and shelved audio books there.

How am I Doing?: It feels freeing to be done from my required service hours for the project. I look forward to this summer where I'll continue volunteering at the library for the duration of the summer, and hopefully it will lead to a job position of some sort. I really enjoy volunteering in that environment and would be delighted to work there in a part-time position.

Senior Project 15

I'm finishing up the last of my research paper, writing the conclusion, rewording the thesis, etc.

I've found that the more research that I did, the more discouraged I became in pursuing a career in education. As important of a job it is, it is highly under-appreciated, under-funded, and unrecognized occupation. I honestly don't see it getting any better any time soon. However, it has also made me way more aware of the good that has been done and is being done to correct the education crisis we are in. And, honestly, this project has made me rediscover my love of learning and of books. I got lost somewhere along the way among pdf.'s and web pages, and have come to appreciate, again, my love of books and the pages between my fingers.

Senior Project 14

Date of Service: May 19, 2011          Time Spent: 2 & 1/2 hours         Total Hours: 26

Actions I Performed: I performed all tasks that I had been trained to do, surprisingly. And reorganized the magazines by their publishing date.

How am I Doing?: I'm getting used to the library atmosphere. It's not the atypical hush-hush library. I'm not saying that it's very loud, but more comfortable. And all the librarians recognize me and are a lot warmer. I am at the library often enough that they know how hard I work and my dedication to do things right the first time. I really enjoy it when they engage me in conversation.

Senior Project 13

I've been compiling all of my sources into my works cited as I've gone along, now I've just got to work on beefing up my analysis and explanations. I feel as if my research paper would be more effective if I wasn't just limited to California, but could broaden it to the whole country. I believe it would make my argument all the more effective and really drive my message across if readers would realize that it isn't just locally that our educational systems are being affected, but the whole country as well.

But I suppose I'll just have to settle for including broader terms in my papers, and opt out for outside sources that stray outside the paper's criteria

Senior Project 12

Date of Service: May 18, 2011          Time Spent: 2 hours         Total Hours: 23 & 1/2

Actions I Performed: My mentor taught me how to shelve and arrange the audio books. And I did that for about an hour before I switched over to restocking the magazine section, and re-shelving the DVDs.

How am I Doing?: Not a lot of people check out the audio books, so there was a lot of dust that made my allergies go a bit crazy but I worked through it. It was interesting to notice the types of books they kept on as audio books. A lot of Hemingway, Bronte, Nicholas Sparks and Nora Roberts. But they also had the more recent franchise of the Twilight novels available.

Senior Project 11

I've been writing my research paper for about a week now, and I've finally come to the solutions part of my paper. It's been kind of difficult to tie in all the loose ends together in my paper. And I'm not quite sure why I have to have 2 pages worth of everything, if 6 pages is the minimum, and so far we've been required to do 7, and we're not even done yet.

But I digress, I've done a lot of research that is kind of discouraging to my ultimate goal of being a teacher. The proposed cuts in addition to the already limited funds for education is unbelievable. At this rate, our nation's education will continue plummeting until we are to the point where we'll never catch up.

Senior Project 10

Date of Service: May 17, 2011          Time Spent: 2 hours         Total Hours: 21 & 1/2

Actions I Performed: My mentor taught me how to shelve the children's magazines, teen magazines, and adult magazines, adding another 2 hours to my mentor hours(Total mentor hours=10). I performed that task for all of the 2 hours I spent at the library today, while also reorganizing the various stacks of magazines and re-shelving those which had been put in the wrong piles and racks.

How am I Doing?: I'm glad that they've trained me in a wide array of tasks. I feel like I'm contributing a lot more than I had been. 

Senior Project 9

Date of Service: May 16, 2011          Time Spent: 2 hours         Total Hours: 19 & 1/2

Actions I Performed: I was taught how to shelve the New, fiction, non-fiction, sci-fi, and fantasy books. Thus adding another 2 hours to my mentor hours.(Total mentor hours=8)

How am I Doing?: I'm doing great now that I've been trained to do a variety of things at the library. The wide array of genres offered in literature there is impressive. I found myself wishing I was browsing the library for myself rather than having to shelve the books.

Senior Project 8

Date of Service: May 15, 2011          Time Spent: 2 & 1/2 hours         Total Hours: 17 & 1/2

Actions I Performed: I shelved DVDs in both the Feature Film and Children's sections for the duration of my time at the library. And when I arrived back home, I got to work on my research paper. I edited what I had done and made sure to cite my sources as well as add the effects portion of my paper. 

How am I doing?: I'm doing fine at the library. I'm continually impressed with the myriad resources and programs offered at the library. As well as how the library caters to the needs of library-goers.

Senior Project 7

Total Hours: 15
Service: 9
Mentor: 6

Today I wrote the Intro to my Research paper and kept my research going on the South San Francisco Public Library system. My research has been on the public library system, budget cuts, and other educational resources available to the public other than the library itself. I also plan to research the possible effect it will have on future generations if resources become even more limited, as well as if after-school educational programs are cut.

Senior Project 6

Date of Service: May 8, 2011          Time Spent: 2 & 1/2 hours         Total Hours: 15

Actions I Performed: I was taught how to sort and case the different DVDs, Blu-rays, and CDs. I did that for about an hour, while spending the other hour and a half shelving and sorting the DVDs in their various sections.

Next Action: I'm halfway done with my hours now, and hope to be done by next Tuesday. 

How am I doing?: I'm learning a lot at the library, and often have to stop myself from immersing myself in the myriad resources and books they have available. I'm glad that I have this opportunity to take an inside look at the goings-on and the amazing things the library does for the community.

Senior Project 5

Date of Service: May 7, 2011          Time Spent: 4 & 1/2 hours         Total Hours: 12 & 1/2

Actions I Performed: I shelved DVDs in the featured films section for 2 hours, and weeded out the DVDs that had been removed from their proper shelves. For the next 2 and a half hours I was taught how to shelve movies in the children's section. It was quite the long process however because kids were coming in and out of this section and taking movies I'd just shelved and putting them into the wrong section.

Next Action: I enjoyed shelving this section because I was able to reminisce over the movies and shows I recognized from my youth, and I hope to be put in this section again.

How am I doing?:  I'm doing great at the library. The librarians and my mentor are so warm and accommodating, not only to me, but to everyone that comes into the library. It's an inspiring, and calming atmosphere that I'm honored to be a part of.