Journal Entry 1

Objectives:

● I will write a good draft of my letter of inquiry

● I will decide at least 1 place where I want to send my letter

● I will continue to read articles, and complete my weekly annotations

● I will keep narrowing down what I want my topic to be

● I will try and find sources that directly relate advertising and social media

Journal:

So far this year I was enjoyed being in this class because they topics we talk about in

class are very interesting to me and they are skills that you can’t learn anywhere else in the

school. But, I am scared that all of the research work is just going to hit me at once. Right now it

seems manageable and I feel like I am on top of it, but I fear that I will start to fall behind

because I don’t really know how far along I am actually supposed to be at this time. I also fear

that my topic is not strong enough even though it is something that really interests me. There are

definitely some positives that I thought would be hard for me. I have realized that annotations are

not that bad and are not difficult to do. I thought they were going to be “annoying” and time

consuming, but I have actually been enjoying reading. I was disappointed with my first site

because I was planning on going to the Newseum and when my dad and I got there there was an

extremely long line that would have taken at last an hour because it was a special ‘get in free

day’ that I was unaware of. But, I did enjoy my time at HCC!
 Journal Entry 3

Objectives:
● Continue to find possible advisors and send out letters
● Finish rough outline
● Continue to narrow down my topic
● Find more articles and journals that are not “.com”
● Make sure my annotations are well done

Journal:

Right now I am kind of at a crossroads. As I have continued to dive deeper into my topic

I have become really interested in sustainable fashion. But, I still want to keep the part of my

research that is about how social media has led to the rise of fast fashion. While these two things

are connected I do not know how I am going to tie it all together because they are not similar

enough. If I want to go with the sustainable fashion I am not sure what angle I would take. So

picking people to ask to be my advisor is kind of difficult since I kind of have two different ideas

now. This is making me feel a little overwhelmed because I feel like I am not going to be able to

find one in time and a I am going to be behind. I received a friendly rejection from the first

person I sent my advisor letter to, but this is a step up because I did not receive any emails back

from my letters of inquiry. I hope that I will be able to connect with someone soon. I am excited

for the presentations coming up because I think that being “forced” to do a presentation on my

topic will help me narrow it down because I do not want to seem unprepared in front of my

classmates and the other classes that we have to present for. My ‘why’ right now is that I want to

feel comfortable connecting with other people and having my ideas respected.
 Journal Entry 4

Objectives:
● Elevate my powerpoint
● Perfect my speech
● Work on my presentations skills
● Keep sending advisior letters
● Be confident in my presentation on Friday
● Line up a teacher to give my first classroom presentation to

Journal:

As we are approaching the time for presentations I am getting more nervous. I am never

really nervous talking in front of people, but it's scarier because I am going to be presenting in

front of people who know what they are talking about on Friday. Then in the classrooms I do not

want to sound stupid in front of my peers and be judged by them because people are harshest

when they are listening to their peers. The search for an advisor is going ok. I really appreciate

the email back from the professor at the New School since he gave me some good information

and articles to look into. But I kind of at a crossroads because I feel like I am reaching out to

people who are to high above me, and don’t have enough time to help me. But, I do not know

what the step down from professors island would be able to help me with what I need. I am also

having trouble finding more scholarly articles, but I can find books. So, I think I might start just

buying some and digging into those. Since it is such a mainstream topic in the media right now I

am finding lots of articles on my topic, and the content seems to be good, but it is not the

scholarly quality. My why right now is that I want to connect with professionals and get their

advice and I determined to do so.

 Journal 5

Objectives:
● Schedule an interview with my advisor
● Come up with good questions for my advisor
● Continue to find scholarly articles
● Spending more time on each article
● Refine me original letter of inquiry
● Find two good associations

Journal:

Over the past almost three weeks a lot has changed. After our conference I was able to go

back on to the howard county library website and use their databases. I have found so many good

articles and journals. I am really getting interested in the consumer behavior side of fast and

sustainable fashion. I never knew that so much information existed! After sending close to 20

advisor letters I finally got a response, so I now have an advisor! This is a big weight that is now

off of my shoulders. I have never been one that likes to talk on the phone, when I was a small

child I would run screaming from the phone. So having to do the interviews will be good

practice for me in the professional world. I am nervous that I will not sound “educated” enough

for her on the phone, I really need to have some good questions (which I am already starting to

work on). I am excited though to keep developing my topic, but I haven’t quite found my angle

yet. My “why” right now is that I want to have something that I can show and feel good about.
 Journal Entry 6

Objectives:
● Have a good and productive interview tomorrow
● Begin contacting my second advisor (she is currently traveling and does not have a lot of
access to her email)
● Refine and shorten my thesis
● Make an organizational system for my pre-outline organization chart
● Continue to read and find good articles/journals

Journal:

Right now I am feeling pretty good about my position. I am still working through how to

narrow down my topic because there are just so many elements and I am coming up with new

ideas too because of new information that I am reading. But hopefully speaking with my advisor

tomorrow (12/6) will help me with the direction of my project. I know that her PhD research was

on consumer behavior and this is a new area of interest of mine so maybe she will be able to help

me become more knowledgeable in that area and I will be able to write a stronger thesis. I am

feeling less nervous about my interview because I have come up with some good questions. I

will always feel some anxiety when meeting someone for the first time and especially over the

phone, but I have just been telling myself that it will be ok because it is only one short phone

call. Right now my thesis is to long and I am trying to figure out how to condense it but until I

figure out my exact angle it is hard for me to cut things out. My why right now is that I am

excited to see where I can take this project and I am excited to have a project that I will be able

to call my own.
 Journal 7

Objectives:
● Complete my rough draft of my full sentence outline
● Complete my second interview
● Begin to contact my third advisor
● Continue to read scholarly articles

Journal:

The four full week stretch going into winter break is almost over. It has felt like a long

couple of weeks but I made it! I think that having some time time off will be very beneficial

because I need some chill time with from all of the stressors of junior year. When we come back

to school I will hopefully feel much more rested and ready to get back into the school routine.

After my first interview being as successful as it was I am excited for my second one in January.

The only thing I am a little anxious about is that Ms. Childs, my second advisor was not someone

who I read one of their articles she was recommended to my by someone else, so I am not 100%

sure of her path of interest with in my topic. This makes making questions to ask her a little

trickery, so my plan is to make a bunch covering the entire spectrum of my research. As the full

sentence outline is quickly approaching I am a little nervous that I do not have enough “bricks”

to fill in my paper. I know what I want to talk about, but I do not know if I have all of the

information to do so. I also need to put some more work into my thesis because I think that it is

still a little too long. I need to figure out how to condense my thoughts and more clearly show

what I am trying to prove/discuss. My why right now is that I want to finish out this week, have a

little break, and then come back in the new year ready to work.
 Journal 1/9

Objectives:
● Finish my full sentence outline and share it with my advisor
● Make the correct changes to my outline
● Develop my ideas and add more detail
● Keep gathering information

Journal:

This week has probobly been the moststessful week of this entire year. Balancing tests

everyday and our full sentence outline, and lots of afterschool activities. But, were now overhalf

way through it so that is promising. I am proud of my self in that I have been able to space out

my work days for my outline so that I will hopefully have it done by Thursday. The formanting

is really frustrating because it seems like technology just doesnt like me and doesnt want to work

properly for me. Once I get the formatting delt with I think I will have less resentment against

the assignment. Coming into midterms this stress is just going to keep on increasing but

hopefully after I get my outline 100% done, some of the stress will be lifted. I also have

something fun planned for next week which should also help with some destressing.
 Journal 8

“Why are you doing this”:

I am doing this because I want to have something something to show for myself and prove to my
self and my family that I can accomplish great things independently. I also have a real passion
for the fashion industry now and I want to share my research with people so that I can be apart of
the change.

What do you intend to accomplish:

● Create a scholarly paper
● Host a seminare to imform consumers
● Make my parents and my sister proud

How are you going to accomplish these things:

● Revise my outline, write my firdt draft, get feedback from my peers and my advisors,
have a set work plan
● Collect data from poeple at my school, put togther a presentation and activities that will
help teen consumers become more informed
● Have the concrete paper and data and results from my seminar to be able to show my
parents, sister, and the rest of my family

Outline Review:
I feel like I spent a lot of time on my controls and feel good about the evidence I have. I got
some good feedback from on my intro and background paragraphs and I am still waiting on
feedback from my other advisor because she was out of the office for a while.
● Revise outline
● Start writing the first draft of my paper by putting all of my controls togther and seeing if
there are any holes
● Finish the first draft and sent it to my advisors and get a peer review
● Take all of the feedback I received from the first draft and use it to elevate my second
draft
● Continually time stamping and saving drafts of my paper so that I do not lose any
important elements
● Get my second draft edited by a peer and an adult
● Revise again and get it turn in ready, turn it in
 Journal 9
Objectives:
● Do touch ups on my paper when it is returned to me
● Start thinking about my SLC presentation
● Plan data collection
● Send my advisors my paper

Journal:
Turning in my paper felt very relieving and I feel like a weight has been lifted off of my

shoulders. I feel like I set myself up pretty well initially because I had my entire first draft

complete pretty early on. Structurally it was pretty good I just needed to focus on reinforcing the

main ideas and overall sentence structure and editing. I feel good about what I turned in for it

being the first paper I have ever written to the magnitude that I did. Going forward I am eager to

make any changes that I need to and see what my advisors have to say once I can build up the

courage to send it to them. I was very surprised to see that I was picked for the SLC conference.

That being said I am very excited (and nervous) to be able to share my ideas. I think that it will

be a great opportunity for me to practice my presentation skills and get more comfortable in front

of an audience. My why right now is that I want to see where I can go from here and how I can

make people more aware of what is going on in the fashion industry because this is now

something that is really important to me.

 Journal 9
Objectives:
● Do touch ups on my paper when it is returned to me
● Start thinking about my SLC presentation
● Plan data collection
● Send my advisors my paper

Journal:
Turning in my paper felt very relieving and I feel like a weight has been lifted off of my

shoulders. I feel like I set myself up pretty well initially because I had my entire first draft

complete pretty early on. Structurally it was pretty good I just needed to focus on reinforcing the

main ideas and overall sentence structure and editing. I feel good about what I turned in for it

being the first paper I have ever written to the magnitude that I did. Going forward I am eager to

make any changes that I need to and see what my advisors have to say once I can build up the

courage to send it to them. I was very surprised to see that I was picked for the SLC conference.

That being said I am very excited (and nervous) to be able to share my ideas. I think that it will

be a great opportunity for me to practice my presentation skills and get more comfortable in front

of an audience. My why right now is that I want to see where I can go from here and how I can

make people more aware of what is going on in the fashion industry because this is now

something that is really important to me.

 Journal 9
Objectives:
● Do touch ups on my paper when it is returned to me
● Start thinking about my SLC presentation
● Plan data collection
● Send my advisors my paper

Journal:
Turning in my paper felt very relieving and I feel like a weight has been lifted off of my

shoulders. I feel like I set myself up pretty well initially because I had my entire first draft

complete pretty early on. Structurally it was pretty good I just needed to focus on reinforcing the

main ideas and overall sentence structure and editing. I feel good about what I turned in for it

being the first paper I have ever written to the magnitude that I did. Going forward I am eager to

make any changes that I need to and see what my advisors have to say once I can build up the

courage to send it to them. I was very surprised to see that I was picked for the SLC conference.

That being said I am very excited (and nervous) to be able to share my ideas. I think that it will

be a great opportunity for me to practice my presentation skills and get more comfortable in front

of an audience. My why right now is that I want to see where I can go from here and how I can

make people more aware of what is going on in the fashion industry because this is now

something that is really important to me.

 Thesis Board Reflection

Objectives:
● Shorten thesis
● Take a stronger position in my thesis
● Clearly show the causes and effects
● Have more of a difference between my thesis and hypothesis

Journal:

After participating in my first thesis board today I feel that I have learned a lot. I really

enjoyed being able to share my thoughts with a small group of my classmates. It took a lot of

pressure off of me because it felt more relaxed and natural. My group members gave me really

good tips on ways to shorten it and condense sentences. While Saniya was not in my group and

was just sitting at the table I really liked what she had to say. She was able to give me good

structural ideas on how to make my thesis more direct and clear. So maybe next time the

leadership students could be officially part of the process because I think that they're advice is

more helpful than just a peer, since they have been through this before. Other than that I also

liked to hear what my the others in my group had to say. All 3 of them had really good ideas that

I will be able to build off of and learn from. I also like how I was able to give my opinion

because it felt good to help my peers out. The one thing I wish is that some of my group

members were a little more prepared because I feel like I would have been able to give them

more beneficial feedback. Overall I really liked the thesis boards and hope that we get to do them

again when our topics and thesis are more developed!

 Thesis Board Reflection

Objectives:
● Shorten thesis
● Take a stronger position in my thesis
● Clearly show the causes and effects
● Have more of a difference between my thesis and hypothesis

Journal:

After participating in my first thesis board today I feel that I have learned a lot. I really

enjoyed being able to share my thoughts with a small group of my classmates. It took a lot of

pressure off of me because it felt more relaxed and natural. My group members gave me really

good tips on ways to shorten it and condense sentences. While Saniya was not in my group and

was just sitting at the table I really liked what she had to say. She was able to give me good

structural ideas on how to make my thesis more direct and clear. So maybe next time the

leadership students could be officially part of the process because I think that they're advice is

more helpful than just a peer, since they have been through this before. Other than that I also

liked to hear what my the others in my group had to say. All 3 of them had really good ideas that

I will be able to build off of and learn from. I also like how I was able to give my opinion

because it felt good to help my peers out. The one thing I wish is that some of my group

members were a little more prepared because I feel like I would have been able to give them

more beneficial feedback. Overall I really liked the thesis boards and hope that we get to do them

again when our topics and thesis are more developed!

 Journal 13
Objectives:
● Find a date for consumer awareness seminar
● Work on website
● Make project rubric
● Make final timeline

Journal:

I feel like we are in another transition period in the year because we are going into the

final projects. This is a very critical time to start planning my consumer awareness seminar

because it needs to happen before the end of May. Once I have the date for it though I think that

all of the other parts will come a lot easier. The ideas I have for the seminar are to give a

presentation and present the facts that about fast fashion and the effects, and then to do some sort

of activity like making bags out of shirts. I plan on finishing the year strong despite some

setbacks that have recently happened, but I am excited to finish my research and see my final

product!