Career Life Connections/Capstone 12: Final Reflection

Submit your final reflection on TEAMS and also upload it to the “Artifacts & Evidence” page of
your website.

The last requirement of the Capstone Project prior to your presentation is to reflect on
the process by writing a final journal reflection. You will need to answer ALL required
questions.

Please use PARAGRAPHS IN YOUR WRITING. Incorporating headings is also

helpful.

Required Questions:

 The Capstone is a unique and demanding challenge. In completing it, what did
you learn about your subject? Your skill set? Yourself?

This capstone project was a very new experience to me. I have never done anything
of this nature before and for it to be something on this big of a scale was very nerve-
wracking for me. I have never planned an event like this before, the closest I have
ever done something like this was planning to hang out with my friends, so I am glad
everything turned out the way it did.

Upon completing it, I learned many different skills. I learned how to do research on a
topic that was hard to find much information on. I learned the process that goes into
planning events, all the behind-the-scenes stuff that people normally don’t get to
see. I learned how to ask for help when needed which was a big problem for me,
and I learned how to time manage.

 How is your project relevant to you, the school or the community-at-large?

This project is relevant to me because culture is very important to me. As someone who
moved to Canada at a young age, culture is very important to me. As someone who
moved to Canada at a young age, I feel that I am a bit out of touch with my own culture,
I can’t even speak my native language.

One way that I have stayed in touch with my culture is through food. My parents cook
me Filipino food very often and even though I wasn’t born there, it makes me feel at
home. The tastes and flavours are so unique and different to food I can find here, so I
can instantly recognize food from home. Some of my best memories have been visiting
the Philippines when I was young, and eating Filipino food definitely takes me back to
those times.
I feel that other people might not be able to express their culture properly in fear of
getting bullied or made fun of for being different. There are also those who may have
been born in Canada and as such, aren’t as involved with their traditions and heritage
as their parents are. I want to create an opportunity for everyone to celebrate their
cultures and to embrace other’s differences.

This festival is a great opportunity to explore and celebrate different cultures. I want to
make an event that shows off how different cultures are that what you may be used to.
Your culture and Identity sometimes get lost when you are in a different environment.
You may choose to hide your traditions when you’re around other people. Some people,
especially kids may feel ostracized because they may feel different than others, whether
it’s the food they eat or the clothes they wear. If things go right, this is a great way to
embrace change and realize that being different is okay, and that traditions should be
celebrated.

 How did you demonstrate the six Core Competencies throughout this project?
(See attached Core Competency sheet)

The core competencies that this capstone could fall under are Creative Thinking,
because of how I must generate ideas on how to plan my capstone as well as how to
build and develop on my ideas. Another core competency would be critical thinking
because of how I must represent my learning and how I must keep track of my progress
and assess what I need to get done. The last of the core competencies that my
capstone would fall under would be Personal & Cultural Identity. This is because of how
I plan on creating a festival that explores different cultures. I want to make an event that
shows off how different cultures are that what you may be used to. your culture and
Identity sometimes get lost when you are in a different environment. You may choose to
hide your traditions when you’re around other people. Some people, especially kids may
feel ostracized because they may feel different than others, whether it’s the food they
eat or the clothes they wear.

 What impact if any did your Capstone project have?

The impact that my capstone project has had is yet to be seen. My capstone may be an
event, but that event has yet to be hosted or even approved. With COVID, it will be hard to
host an event of this nature, so it is entirely possible that my festival won’t come to life in
quite some time from now.

When my festival eventually does become a reality, I feel that this event will be a huge
success. The premise behind it is great and it is a great way for students to get involved with
school activities.
 This festival could impact our school in a very positive way by allowing students to express
themselves and their culture through food, while having other students support them by
tasting their food. Other schools that have hosted an event like this have been very
successful and has become a yearly tradition that both students and staff look forward to,
and I feel that the same will be said for this festival at R.E Mountain.

 Thinking about the whole process and your finished product, what are you most
proud of?

The thing that I am most proud of is actually finishing the project. I am not that good
at time management, and I like to take my time on things to ensure the quality of my
work is good, which is not a good combination for hard deadline projects such as
this one, but I was able to finish it without too much problems.

 What was a difficulty you encountered and how did you solve the problem?

One difficulty that I had while making my capstone was COVID having such a big effect
on my capstone. Going into it, I knew that making a festival during COVID would be a
big issue, but COVID kept changing and the restrictions kept varying because of the
recent rise in cases again.

Originally, the plan for my capstone was to actually host the event this year, but COVID
and the semester schedule made that almost impossible to do. So, I changed my
capstone to make it a proposal paper, where I would write down the process of making
the festival instead of actually hosting it.

The actual research aspect of it okay despite being a bit difficult at first because I didn’t
know where to start. But once I knew what I wanted to do, it made things a lot easier.
That was, until COVID outbreaks happened again.
Restrictions started to get worse, everything was closing down again, it was not good
for my capstone. I ended up writing more details while changing and making more plans
to cover the new protocols.

 What is one thing about your finished project you wish you could change? Why?

I wish I was able to stick to my original plan and actually host the event under my
leadership. I feel that I understand my plans better than others and things might get
mixed up or misinterpreted without my help. Of course, this would lead to more work for
me but I feel that I would be fine with that if it meant making a successful festival.

 What advice would you give to a student who will be completing their Capstone
Project next year?

One advice I would give to a student next year would be to be flexible. It is important
to be able to adapt to the world around you especially during COVID where things
 could get better or worse at any given moment. Being stuck in your ways and not
adapting to your situation would only make your project turn out worse.

Another piece of advice I would give would be to plan ahead. There are many things
that could go wrong in your capstone, and it is important that you understand how to
combat that or fix your mistake. For me, I wrote out a list of concerns and things that
may derail my capstone project and then researched how to solve any issues I may
find.

 What source from your research helped you the most? (or least?).

The internet was the only resource I really used, so it was definitely the source that
helped me the most. I learned many things about my capstone that I just wouldn’t
have been able to learn without it. Things like how to plan a festival and how to
format a research paper. I learnt that other schools have hosted Multicultural Food
Festivals and I was able to draw inspiration from those schools.

 What is one thing about your approach to your project that you wish you could
change? Why?

I wish that I approached my project better prepared. I did not really know what I was getting
myself into when I first decided to make this capstone, and it was certainly stressful trying to
start it without knowing what to do. I spent a lot of time reading at my computer desk just
trying to find information on what I should do and it was very hard to start my research without
having a clue on what I should write.

Submit your final reflection on TEAMS and also upload it to the “Artifacts & Evidence” page of
your website.