mackenna Final reflection

Going through this capstone adventure really gave me quite a sense of how much I can fully
accomplish if I really put my mind to it. The number of things I had learned, not only about
myself but about the topic of hair, creating a website and creating a whole Instagram account
really made me think about the actual things I can do with my life. I truly learned that I am a
person who will give up easily when things get tough which is not good, but I also have learned
that I just got to try and look on the bright side and power through the tough to see the
beautiful product. I can also use that when it comes to hair, so not giving up when things get
challenging but maybe trying a different approach or even a different angle. I'm hoping that by
learning and starting to work my way into hair and beauty as a career I can help the community
by giving people fun hairstyles for things like dances, weddings, birthdays or any type of event
they might have. I know there are a lot of people who are always looking for people to help
with things like hair, I don’t want to just focus on hair though I would like to work with makeup
and things like that. I would say the thing I'm most proud of when it comes to my capstone
project is the Instagram page as I never really understood how to create something I can put
out onto the internet and people able to see my work even if I don’t know them. I put quite a
bit of effort into it when it comes to finding the right aesthetic and hairstyles that would go with
the aesthetic, can be hard so that is something I will forever be proud of even if I don’t use the
account in my future.
In the beginning stages of my capstone, I didn’t fully know what I wanted to do, which for me
really stressed me out because I just felt like I really didn’t have any interests so I definitely had
that as an obstacle, but I had asked around my friend group at the time and asked them what
they see me doing in the future, and well they said I should do something involving beauty
because they know how much it makes me feel confident when I look my best. I want people to
be able to feel confident so that is kind of how I decided on my project. Growing up I never
really had anyone to do my hair so I think that is why I never really felt confident in my own
body, I only felt good when my grandmother would do my hair for ballet, and it was nice and
neat in a bun. I want to give girls who don’t really have anyone to do their hair the best chance
at feeling confident and loving themself so I'm hoping to make an impact on younger
generations.
The 6 core competencies:
Having to include the 6 core competencies honestly felt like a big struggle for me, but in the
end, I felt like no matter what I had done I was able to fit them without me knowing I was
demonstrating them. For the beginning I was struggling with personal awareness &
responsibility because I just wasn’t using my ability to actually do something I would be proud
of so when the end came and I was able to see the final product I realized that I had actually
done something and that I was responsible for something aka meeting a deadline and knowing
me I tend to procrastinate but I was able to fully accomplish something I didn’t think I would be
able to do. When it comes to social responsibility, I didn’t really think much of how it would be
included but then, boom it popped into my head I needed to be able to talk to people about my
capstone to also then get a mentor for my project. Honestly, I have built a better relationship
with my friend who has helped me with advice for my capstone and I will forever be thankful
because I felt like before we were just drifting away, and this seemed to bring us together.
Throughout my whole process I didn’t really understand if my capstone would have purpose
but as I got more into it and I found my groove I realized that honestly there was a lot of
purpose and I'm glad I chose this as it demonstrates critical thinking. I've talked quite a bit
about my Instagram page and how that fits in with creative thinking because originally, I wasn’t
going to create an account I was going to make a few YouTube videos but then I thought to
myself let's try something else out as part of the creative thinking part of this whole project. For
the communication aspect of this capstone, it was important to me that I had good
communication skills because I would be doing a lot of listening with my friend to get advice
and I also had asked around to my friends who went to hair salons about how they learn new
tricks, so I feel like I got good at the listening part which is good evidence for communication.
Personal & cultural identity I think was my biggest struggle because ever since grade 11 being
somewhat introduced to the idea of capstone I had tried and tried to figure out what would be
the best solution for me but fast forward to this year when I tried new hairstyles I would
constantly get compliments from people which then boosted my confidence and that became a
strength of mine and I could finally realize I truly did have a strength I could showcase off.
If you asked me if there was something I would change about my capstone I'd probably say use
my time better or something like that but honestly no I think I would change the whole thing
itself I think if I had chosen something to do with makeup, I would have put in a lot more effort
than I have and yes I know I could have but that was before I kind of had a better idea of what I
wanted to do with my life. When doing my capstone, I found that having templates and full-on
instructions have really helped and have resources there to help you because if you had just
given me the booklet and really said nothing else, I would have completely messed up so I'm
very glad I had all the support that did. The thing I would say that helped the least was probably
not the entire semester doing this project. I think if I had more time, I could have figured it out
and done way more research than what I have now. My dream that I have had from the
moment I knew I was going to do my capstone project on hair I really wanted to be able to go in
and shadow my friend in a day of her hairstyling career so I could have seen the behind the
scenes instead of more just the finished product, I wish that instead of only hearing advice from
her I could have seen it in action. Finally, the last of this project, the advice I would give to
anybody who hasn’t done capstone yet would probably be, don’t be afraid to ask questions and
ask for help. People are there to help you, they want you to succeed and not fail, I wish I knew
that, but it takes a lot of convincing for me. I would also have to say, use your time wisely don’t
be silly and slack off the time is given to you for a reason and you will feel way more
accomplished if you just put your full efforts into this project because years down the road you
can look back and see that you can do anything if you really put your mind to it.