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Olivia Tarpley
Palmer
Hnrs Eng 4, blk 3
25 April, 2019
Final Reflection

This project has been a long one in the making. Several hours have been dedicated to

completing it and in the end, it was worth all the effort and stress. Doing this project helped me

to learn different things about myself, our medical systems, addiction, and more, it helped me to

understand how to manage my time better and have more patience with others, and it taught me

my strengths and weaknesses and how to overcome the issues presented to me.

The research for my Junior paper was very tedious and required lots of dedication and

commitment, especially to a topic such as mine where there is no right or wrong answer because

both sides can make important points towards their case. I learned that I’m not always right and

there are a lot of things in this world that I don’t know about but should definitely get to know

better, such as the kind of medications doctors prescribe me and other situations, I might be

getting myself into unaware of the implications surrounding it. Doing this research also taught

me that along with myself not knowing a lot of things, the rest of the world doesn’t know a lot

either. A lot of us might act like it but there are several situations that we have to dive into head

first without knowing the outcome beforehand in order to understand our world and own life's

better.

My Service-Learning Experience taught me just as much, if not more about myself and

other people than my Junior Research Paper. Getting to experience what it is like to help those

people who need it in the hospital, before and after procedures, was eye-opening. It taught me to
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take the time and listen to people, and also how to be better about my time and how I allot it.

Volunteering was my favorite and most beneficial part of this project and what I experienced

while doing it will stay with me beyond high school.

The final piece of my Graduation Project, the presentation, pointed out my strengths and

weaknesses. A strength I will proudly acknowledge is my ability to pick up and learn

information quickly if I am interested in the topic. I have also learned that I am a good listener

and organizing my tasks as well as the information I am to present is a good quality of mine. As

for my weaknesses, I struggle with public speaking. I know I will do fine on the presentation but

getting up in front of a panel of judges will still be nerve racking. The best way to overcome and

go beyond that weakness though is practice. The more time and effort I put in to preparing for

the final presentation, the better and less anxious I will be about it.

Overall, this was a tremendous experience for me and although it was stressful and

required a lot of attention, the memories I made and the lessons I learned from it will make me in

to a better person. Along with helping my high school academics, the project will assist me in

future papers or presentations I will have to make in college and possibly beyond, in my future

career. I am glad that the experience is over but also sad for the realization that it along with my

high school years are over as well because of everything I have been through these past couple of

years, the people I’ve met, the memories I’ve made, and all the information I have learned.

Although it is a part of my past now, I will hopefully remember it for many years, even decades

to come.