Capstone Final Journal Reflection

Avery L. / Block 2-1

Over the duration of this course I’ve had some mixed feelings and many ups and downs.
I can’t say that this course has been easy and I can’t say that I knew what I was doing most of
the time. Although this course could be difficult and confusing at times there were many aspects
that ended up being good. I learned many things about myself and the people around me, I
couldn’t have done that without completing my capstone project. There were many times where
I wanted to quit but I’m glad I finished my project because I’m so proud of how hard I worked,
and I’m especially proud of the content I decided to write about and the following paragraphs will
show that.
While researching for my capstone project I learned quite a bit about my tendencies
when it comes to stress. After reading article upon article I realized that I, myself don’t manage
my stress well either, I drink too much caffeine, I don’t get enough sleep, and so on. This is what
motivated me to write about this topic, I wanted to see if my peers have the same issues that I
had and I wanted to provide some healthy ways that teens could use to potentially use to
reduce their stress. I also think that my skill set remained pretty steady, I did learn how to create
and use a survey within my research paper which proved very useful. I think that I always knew
how stressed teens were but it was interesting to see which stressors were most common
amongst my peers.
As I mentioned before, I think that this topic was relevant to myself and students within
the school community. I always knew that students were stressed but I wanted to bring that
attention to the teachers and staff because maybe they’ll be more mindful about teens mental
health and wellbeing.
I believe that I demonstrated the six core competencies very successfully. One of the
biggest core competencies that came up throughout my capstone project would have to be
Personal Awareness and Responsibility. One of the first points is self-determination, meaning,
am I personally responsible, self motivated, and can advocate for myself. I can also express my
needs and seek help when needed. I think this whole experience was about self motivation, I
had to constantly motivate myself to stay on top of my capstone needs as well as CLC
coursework. I think I did a good job of expressing my needs and ideas to other people as well as
my peers. Communication was the next big core competency for me. Collecting research for my
capstone survey I had to be able to connect and engage with others. I could take other people's
ideas and perspectives and use them to my advantage. Another big aspect of the
communication core competency was being able to interpret information and present it in a way
that I believe would help people like me, or had the same problems as me. I think that I did a
good job representing the information I collected through my survey and portraying it in my
research paper. I don’t think that the Personal and Cultural Identity competency played a very
big role when completing my capstone, but the only thing that really applied in my situation was
personal strengths and abilities. I think that I understood and used my strengths and abilities to
my advantage throughout this capstone experience. I knew what my strengths were and I knew
what my limit was, sometimes I would have to take a break or breather because I wasn’t
thinking straight. Obviously Critical Thinking was a huge aspect while I was writing my capstone.
Throughout my capstone experience I had to be able to gather good quality information and
base relevant questions off of that information. If I wasn’t able to do this my survey and research
paper wouldn’t be very successful. After writing the majority of my research paper I also had to
be able to analyze and critique my work in order to make it better. I think that the biggest aspect
of my creative thinking while writing my research paper for my capstone project would have to
be developing my ideas. I was very successful in taking my ideas, such as my survey that I
created for my research paper to support the other evidence I found, doing this I was able to
make something productive.
I think that if my capstone project were to have any impact on a certain group of people it
would be teenagers as well as adults. I think that the different techniques can help teenagers
cope with their stress in a healthy way and eventually reduce their stress greatly. My research
paper could also impact adults in the sense of realizing teenagers can have stressful lives too. I
think that some adults just brush off the fact that teens can have stressful lives too but for
different reasons. Most adults wouldn’t want to go back to their teenage years simply because
of feeling like they have no control, or figuring out what they should do with their lives, or maybe
the fact that most adults would treat them like children. So I think that my research paper could
change the perspective of adults that don’t believe teenagers could feel the same amount of
stress that adults do.
Thinking about my research paper from start to finish, the aspect that I’m the most proud
of would have to be my final product. I think that the final copy of my research really shows all
the hard work I put in throughout this year, and it feels very gratifying knowing that it’s finished
and I did it well.
I think that one of the most difficult aspects of this whole process would have to be how
self directed this course was. It was very difficult trying to stay on top of all the CLC coursework,
as well as making sure I was keeping up with my research for my capstone project. I also
procrastinate a lot of things in my life so it was particularly difficult for me because I need hard
due dates to get anything done. I tried to solve this issue by setting firm due dates for myself so
I could get things done.
If I was going to give a student any advice for their capstone journey next year, it would
have to be to make sure they’re setting a bunch of little goals for themselves to make sure
they’re keeping up with their career assignments as well as their capstone assignments.
Breaking up one large task into many smaller tasks, this can help with reducing stress and
productivity. It makes a large scary task much more manageable and easier to complete.
The source that helped me the most with my capstone project would have to be the
survey I created. The survey I created helped put all the information I was researching into
perspective. It really helped narrow down the top three most common stressors and it also
provided information into other students' minds and not just my own.
I don’t think I would change anything about my final version of my capstone project or my
approach to my capstone project. I’m very proud of my final outcome and the process at which I
arrived at that outcome. If I had to add anything to my capstone project I would add a few more
questions to my survey. I ended up having more questions after I completed and sent out my
survey.
 In conclusion, I think that this entire process was very successful. I don’t think that I
would change a single thing about my capstone project or approach. I really enjoyed my time
this year, and all the people I met along the way. This course has taught me some valuable
lessons, and I can truthfully say that I’ve learned and taken away a lot from my capstone
research as well as my process through writing the paper. I am very grateful for this process, I
learned quite a few things about myself that will surely help me in the years to come!