My free time is not spent on learning about bottle rockets and calculating functions using

quadratic formulas. As I found it to be extremely interesting learning how to incorporate every

aspect into this project I found that navigating around the meaning of Newtons Laws,
acceleration, initial velocity and the forces in which act upon each other was extremely
complicated. Concepts like these are exceptionally tough to teach to high school students and
quite frankly I lost motivation half way into this project. In ways I knew that I would not succeed
and get the full potential of my mind involved within this project. To be able to understand the
basics was honestly the first step I needed to achieve in order to fulfill this project and end with
a product. And would drawing help my mind achieve the full picture. YES! Incorporating all of
these small steps made me grasp onto this idea of how and why our rocket flew and how we
were able to figure out all of the little calculations that make up the total flight time.

One of my biggest successes was being able to work with a group member. I saw a
large amount of growth in myself when working with Jebby. It came down to the point that I trust
him and value the ideas that came up. By having that accepting environment to come to every
day I was able to enjoy that laughs, freestyles and hard work that we both managed to put into
this project. Dark shy shark was a challenge, yet we incorporated our shark senses and ate it
up!

To be honest my turning point in this project was to be able to walk up the road and see
all of the different creations. Test launching was a very enjoyable experience opening my mind
to others ideas and reactions. It is always exciting to see if your rocket actually flys and with
having mostly every single one fly it was reassuring that we were doing something right. I grew
to have so many connections at the end of this project by cherishing other people and finding
the people who are actually worth it.

After 2 years at this high school I am starting to get the groove of turing in assignments,
working, connecting and loving. I learned to not give up within the first couple of weeks. I hope I
don't sound cheesy when I say don't give up but this is my story behind why. I didn’t understand
Physics at all and while some are so involved with algorithms and functions I could care less.
Yes it is essential that we learn the acting forces that make us walk a certain or why we drop
something but the way that I was introduced the project was not eye catching enough. If I ever
have a project or assignment that obviously has some deeper meaning to it other than writing
and building I need to dive right in. Find the motivation in myself that knows I can complete the
project and release any worries I have upon my patterns or myself.

If I were to do this project again I would try to connect to my rocket. We learned all of
these concepts at the beginning of the project and I totally avoided what we had learned. If I
were to incorporate, research and refine answering and building off of the questions what shape
of fins makes the rocket fly and land the farthest, does splicing actually end up being the best
answer and how will the weight affect the flight path. I would one have more of an understanding
of why the projectile flew the way it did and how do forces enhance the ending result. I would
have wanted to work in a non negative space as well inspiring me to work, think and result in
the best. But by far this was one of my most complicated, growing and understanding projects I
have contributed to.