Rylan Ezra

Final Reflection

This is my final capstone reflection. I decided to do something that I know how to. Woodworking. I have
been doing woodworking for the past 6 years of my life. This has been something very dear to me for
those past 6 years. Something I have grown to love. Helping my grandpa build small projects and going
wood hunting with him.

This capstone challenged me in many ways, but I learned just as much. I found what my passion is and
what I really want to do after high school. This subject that I attacked showed how much work I put into
this capstone. I was extremely ambitious to try this project, and I am so grateful that I did this. I feel like I
finally learned how to challenge myself during this project. This project shows the determination to
succeed and how hard I have worked to get a good mark.

At the start of this project, I was hoping that I would get my project shown around and maybe I could
get a job because of it. This project is relevant to me because I have been working on woodworking for
all my high school years and it has become my life. I had just received a call from my brother-in-law's
partner in the trades, and he mentioned that he had been shown the bar that I had made. That same
guy has offered me a job for the summer and for next year because of it. This was exactly what I was
hoping for, and I am so grateful that this has happened.

The 6 core competencies were used while making this bar. Personal Awareness and Responsibility were
showed in my understanding of how to make the bar. I showed this core competency as my drafting of
the project. The drafting was a very personal responsibility of this project. Social responsibility was
shown in this project because I am making this project for my dad, that he has always wanted to have.
He decided to renovate the basement and he asked me if I wanted to do something for him. Critical
Thinking was used in the making of the bar because if anything had occurred that was not supposed to
happen then I had to think about how I can adapt and fix the problem. Which had occurred on many
occasions during the making. Creative thinking was I think the most important part of this project
because I had to create this from absolutely nothing. I had no design that I wanted to follow. I wanted to
create something that was mine, no one else. Communication was a part of this project in two parts.
The first part was the communication between me and the camera. I made two videos explaining what
machines I used and how the machines helped me to make the bar. The second part was
communication between my teacher Ms. Dahl and myself, this was important because I needed to have
full communication with my teacher to have any idea of how and what to do next. Personal and Cultural
Identity was a small part of this project but was still especially important. This part was shown in myself
and myself after I finished the project. I am so proud of myself and what I have made.
I started this project thinking that it did not impact anyone or did not help anyone. I was wrong. I have
realized that this bar has a long-time impact. Because of this bar I now have a full-time job where I can
help build homes for people. So, the bar helped me get to the step where I want to be and now, I can
help people.

Throughout the whole project I knew that in the end I would be most proud of the way I think of myself
now. I know understand that I am meant to be in the trades and that I would do amazing work in the
trades. I am so proud of the work and the challenging work that I put into this bar.

In this process of building the bar, I faced many problems such as wood supply and incorrect
measurements that were messed up due to a small mistake. I faced problems when I was trying to make
up the framework. It was very challenging to get the framework done while still planning out what the
proper sizing would have to be. The size of the bar turned out to be the exact size that I was looking for.

One thing that I wish that I could change about my project is that I could have a larger bar. I wish that I
had more space to have the bar placed because I feel like the bar will be too cramped in the basement.
But if I had more room to work with, I feel like I could have built a better bar that has more techniques
that I could have used.

The advice that I would give another student would be that this is a very hard project, take it very
seriously, don’t waste your time, and get your stuff shit done before you get too stressed out and before
it's too late. (Sorry for swearing but it's needed in this text)

The best source that I used repeatedly were the videos that I showed in my first sources. Those videos
gave me the ideas of what it should look like and what techniques I should use to make it look the best it
can. Those videos inspired me to make this project even better than the other videos.

Honestly, I would not choose a different approach, I would not change anything I did. I believe that I did
everything right and I am so proud of the result of what I have made and what I have accomplished in
this course.