Kai Palmer

Final Capstone Reflection Journal Entry

The Capstone is a unique and demanding challenge. In completing it, what did you learn about
your subject? Your skill set? Yourself?
My Capstone project ended up being a lot more difficult than I thought it was going to be.
Even something as simple as making videos to put on the internet comes with so many
challenges that I did not anticipate. The actual content part was very easy for me, simply
because after spending so many years playing baseball I’ve picked up a lot of information.
Brainstorming ideas for the videos to make was very easy. However, I learned that there is a lot
more restrictions than I initially anticipated when it came to filming. Creating well-made videos
that were cinematic and eye catching was largely dependent on things like weather, and
because of the snow that comes in winter, it restricts my videos to being made indoors, which is
not what I wanted. I also learned that my time management could be a little better, as I did get
my videos done but I wasn’t very happy with my overall product. If I managed my time a little
better, I would have the extra time to perfect my project.

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

My project is very relevant to me and many people I know. Injury is such a big part of
baseball, which is an unfortunate reality. Being able to identify when something is wrong with
your body and prevent injury is crucial to having a long and healthy career healthy career. Ever
since I was young I’ve been told the horror stories about players having career ending injuries,
and not only do I have personal experience with injury, but I have former teammates who
cannot play anymore because their arms are permanently damaged from overuse. It hurts me
personally knowing that I have friends who also love the sport that I love, but cannot play
anymore because they did not receive the proper information or training that would have kept
them healthy. That is the main factor that made me choose this project. I want to minimize injury
in younger players and keep them playing the sport that they love.

What impact if any did your Capstone project have?

My capstone does not have a direct impact on anyone right now, simply because the
channel is not out there. It has the potential to make an impact on younger players if my videos
are put out there for them to see, but I would need to advertise them or let people know about
them. Getting the information out there and available is very easy, considering I play for a
baseball club that has many different age groups and levels that are all learning new information
to get them to the next level.
Thinking about the whole process and your finished product, what are you most proud of?

When it came to editing the videos, I was most proud of the information I was able to
give out and everything I had learned. It’s a great feeling knowing that you can share this info
that has been passed on to you, to the next generation of players. Being able to explain how to
do certain drills and explaining why they are beneficial is a big ego boost, and knowing that this
useful information may save someone from injury in the future makes me feel very proud of this
project.

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

The biggest problem I uncovered with my project is that creating good videos is very
weather dependent, and having your capstone project take place in the winter is not the
greatest. The snow limits what I can do outside, which was very unfortunate. While it’s not what
I wanted, I ended up filming the videos inside if I needed to. This ended up stressing my filming
schedule and forcing me to take advantage of any time it was not raining or snowing. This may
not seem a huge setback at first, but when you consider that I’m already working around a busy
schedule, and filming a well-made video takes multiple tries, bad weather can really change
your game plan.

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

If I could change one thing about my project it would be how many videos I ended up
making. While the videos I made were nice and informative about their topics, I still ended up
with some video ideas that never got turned into videos. I’m not too upset about it though,
considering the video ideas I had planned were a little bit harder to complete because I needed
to borrow some equipment and facilities.

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

The most important singular piece of advice I can give is to use your time effectively and
responsibly, because you will most likely uncover a lot more difficulties then you originally
anticipate. Setting specific time stamps to work on your capstone and following that schedule
very strictly is necessary if you want to complete your capstone to the best of your ability. And
with that said, when you have idea for your capstone, you need to either write them down in
detail or act on them immediately. There is plenty of time, but it’s very easy to forget your plan,
and there will be challenges that you did not account for, so do not waste time.

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

The greatest source of information that helped me with this project was actually the
survey that I created and posted to my social media. That primary source of information gave
me results from people around my age group, which is probably the most relevant information I
can get. It gave me a better understanding of how much information the people that took the
survey had on taking care of their body.

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

I wish I had dedicated more time strictly for working on my capstone earlier in the year
before the bad weather came, because that was the biggest contributor to the challenges I
faced. If I had successfully recorded the videos that I wanted to outside before the snow, I would
have been less stressed about creating content and meeting the standards I set for myself.