1272 Mill Dam Road

Virginia Beach, VA 23454

April 13, 2015
Judges, Senior Project Board
First Colonial High School
1272 Mill Dam Road
Virginia Beach, VA 23454
Dear Judges:
As I am coming to a close on my high school years, I am reflecting upon all that has happened and all that I have
learned-the good and the bad. As an innocent unknowing freshman, I entered with ideas of the Grease, Pretty in
Pink and other various movies that have inaccurately portrayed what high school is. Now, as a soon to be freshman
in college Ive come to learn that high school is truly whatever you make it to be, both socially and academically. It
was a constant battle of time management, waking up on time, and finding time for the things that are most
important to me.
Acceptance has been the name of the game for my past four years, and Im so glad Ive come to learn that. In the
beginning I needed to learn how to accept the copious amounts of homework. Ive accepted friendships gained and
friendships lost, myself, the fact that my mother will never stop nagging me about how my day was because she
just loves me, time is the best healer, telling the truth reigns in the end, and being humble and kind will never betray
you. High School may not be the real world, but it is what so many real-life applicable lessons Ive learned have
derived from. I am proud of myself for the self-growth that I have achieved, and am ready to further it as I leave
First Colonial High School.
I chose to spread awareness of the ivory trade and its implications on the elephant population for my senior project,
because this is related to one of my career goals. Im extremely passionate about this topic. It started when I was a
young child when I would run around the house yelling Im an efelant, Im an efelant and has now turned into a
dream that one day when Im older after serving in the Navy, I hope to become a behavioral ecologist, studying
elephants and their interactions. I wanted to draw the attention of my participants to this issue so they are more
aware of the biodiversity not only with elephants, but I could keep their eyes open to the local issues around them.
I made sure my project mirrored the purpose of my paper: advocacy and education. I held a seminar that presented
the issue of the ivory trade to the audience followed by a guest speaker from Virginia Wesleyan to speak about he
importance of conservation acts. Upon admission I collected donations and sold refreshments- all proceeds went to
the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Kenya, Africa. During intermission audience members posted pictures of
themselves with elephant trunks and captioned it with the best alternative to ivory. This was evidence of them
utilizing what they learned from the documentary and applying it in the real world. The closing part of the seminar
was making a pledge to consciously be aware of the conservation efforts around them. Although, I faced many
challenges during the process the obstacles were overcome and contributed to an even greater feeling of success.
The sense of accomplishment I got after finishing my project was like no other.
Thank you for taking the time to read my portfolio and for listening to my presentation. I hope you have found them
interesting.
Sincerely,

Madison Manock
Madison Manock