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Sara Guaracha

Ms. Cunningham

English Literature

15 March 2019

With my capstone project, I wanted to motivate others to step out of their comfort

zone and try new things around or outside of the community. I wanted to prove that

when trying new things and being more open minded to new experiences, we tend to

discover who we are and what we truly enjoy. I wanted to show that there is more to this

community than what we give it credit for, but you just have to go out there and find it.

Lastly, I wanted to show that by touring your own community, it will inspire you to want

to learn about other cultures and countries and may even encourage you to travel

around the world.

Throughout the course of this project, I wanted to address the issue that we tend

to bash our community because we feel that it has nothing to offer. But you just have to

expand outside of your comfort zone and try things you're not used to in order to get to

know your community. I was hoping to become more adventurous and learn how to

expand my horizons on my own. Before I went on my trip to Israel, I was expecting it to

inspire me to want to learn more about other cultures and try different things. I went into

this trip not knowing any of the people that were my age and that made me nervous. I

knew that the teens I would meet on this trip were going to be different from the people I

normally associate myself with and that made me a little uneasy thinking I would have

nothing in common with anyone because they might be more religious than I am. But I
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wanted to learn how to acquaint myself with distinct people and how to be more

open-minded when it comes to this. As humans, we tend to judge others based of their

different interests and personalities which keeps us in our anti-social bubble, but I

wanted to learn how to break free from that.

The steps I planned on taking throughout this project was to try out things I

normally wouldn't around the community and post the places I went on my instagram. I

also planned on posting my trip to Israel and showing the new places and things I saw

and share my experiences. The main obstacle I encountered was time. I wasn't able to

try as many new things that I wanted around the community because by being in Israel,

it took up most of my time for finding new things in Riverside. The actual steps I took

was trying out a couple different things around the community and seeing many

different and interesting things in Israel which I posted on my Instagram page. I took

some pictures of the Riverside Food Lab, a couple of community concerts, the Riverside

Heritage House, and the Griffith Observatory. While in Israel, I posted many pictures of

things such as the Dome of the Rock, the Western Wall, and my friends and I with

Israeli soldiers.

I think I accomplished exactly what I said I would at the beginning of this project,

which was to learn and hopefully inspire others to break free from their comfort zones. I

also learned a lot about another culture and got to experience different types of people

with dissimilar interests which expanded my comfort zone a lot. I learned how important

it is to try new things because in doing so, you learn so much about yourself and make

self realizations along the way that you never would have thought of before. I also
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learned how important it is to meet and associate yourself with different kinds of people

you normally wouldn't even talk to. Throughout this process, I learned that I am able to

adapt to my surroundings fairly well. By meeting new people, I learned that I don't need

to associate only with people who have the same interests as me. While I was on my

trip in Israel I had a spiritual awakening that I wasn’t expecting. This goes to show that

by trying something new you may encounter self realizations along the way. For a long

time I had the feeling of emptiness and a sense of being lost but I couldn't figure out

what it was. But by going on this trip to Israel I realized that the only thing for me to fill

that void was God. I am proud of the fact that I threw myself 100% into this project and

was able to take out of it a self realization that I didn't even know I needed. I don't think I

would have wanted to do this project any differently. I’m glad I was given the opportunity

to travel to Israel during this project because I got so much out of that trip and I am able

to share that experience to hopefully inspire others to start trying new things even

though they may find it to be uncomfortable.

I don't believe I have necessarily made an impact, but I hope that by sharing my

experiences it will possibly make an impact on someone. If I had more time, I would try

more things in Riverside and continue to share my experiences on social media to show

that there are always new things to do in your area.

If I could give advice to an incoming senior for this project, I would tell them to

find something they are truly passionate about or figure out an experience they’ve

always wanted to complete. If you are passionate about your topic and truly believe in
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what you're talking about, you might be able to reach others and possibly make a

difference. It may even teach you something about yourself that you weren't expecting.