Erika Pinochet Pinochet 1

Ms. Mathis

Senior Project

12 December, 2022

December Reflection

In my last reflection, I discussed how I didn’t quite know a lot about the ACL until I

started this year-long project. One thing I did know, was that I wanted my project to be based on

a part of the body that is a common injury target for athletes. The more I thought about what I

was going to base my project on, the more I kept hearing about the ACL. My dad, uncle, and

friends have all experienced an ACL tear, some in the most painful ways. Hearing about this

more and more caught my eye, because ACL tear is a common injury in the knee that is prone to

athletes. After I did some research, I knew this was going to be the topic of my project. So, I got

started researching everything there was to know about the ACL, the knee joint, and the

recommended physical therapy. Everyone knows the ACL is one of the most important parts of

the body because, without it, the knee joint would easily slide or shift causing major damage to

the knee.

Although I have not experienced working with physical therapists and shadowing their patients, I

have researched enough to get a rough idea of how the treatment would go. One thing I have

learned since the start of my research was that therapy for an ACL tear can take up to nine

months. Nine months is a long time and in some instances, therapy doesn’t always work. If the

nine months are up and you don’t see changes, you would need to seek your doctor for

alternative treatment. Knowing about the different surgery and non-surgery options is crucial to
include in my pamphlet. If someone were to pick up my pamphlet in the health room or SLC,

they would want to know different options for treatment as well as the function of the knee as a

whole. My goal for displaying the pamphlet at school is to educate teens on the importance of

this ligament. I want my fellow classmates and future high schoolers to know about this common

injury and have the information easily accessible.

For December so far, I have started on the final draft of my pamphlet. I found this month most

frustrating, due to the lack of time I’ve made to complete everything I had planned to already

have finished. I do take responsibility for some of the time I have not dedicated to sitting down

and working on my project, even if it’s thirty minutes. The past week, I have been working on

my project more trying to catch up on the things I planned to complete. In November,

Thanksgiving took a bit of time away from me as well, because I spent the entire week with my

family and did not work on my project at the end of the month. I did make a ton of progress on

my project in early November by dedicating a portion of my time to researching. I don’t

necessarily need help with my project in any way, other than having my mentor read my

research. This project is my responsibility to have completed so I can walk the stage at

graduation with my classmates, but It won’t happen unless I dedicate myself to it. So, after my

exams are over, I will be meeting with my mentor at least once a week for about an hour to go

over the work and or progress I have made. I will also be dedicating my own time to working on

my project to catch back up on what I’ve been slacking on. This project can be very helpful for

my future career, considering I will be majoring in Hospitality Management and or Sports

Management. The more work I put into this project, the more knowledge and guidance I have

going into college.