STEM Senior Engineering

My initial thoughts and interests in relation to engineering and the Capstone Project.

I find engineering interesting because it pushes you to create and design different tools and projects to help benefit a community or small group of people. In engineering I like how you get to work with other people to try and attempt to solve problems. With what I know about the capstone project I think it is a cool way to get students to try and think outside of the box. It will be challenging to come up with an innovative idea but once my group thinks of one it will be fun to create and present our prototypes.

1. What are you passionate about, and how could you apply your passions to a possible Capstone project?

I am passionate about the environment and all of its natural resources it has to offer. The environment is full of life such as plants, bacteria and organisms. I like learning about these different forms of life and applying my knowledge to try and help the enviornment they live in. In order to help protect the environment I like to go and volunteer at different habitats during my free time. I love going to Bolinas lagoon and helping take out invasive ice plants that prevent the native grass from growing. Since I love nature soo much I could possibly study the population of endangered animals in marin and come up with a project to help protect the species. For the capstone project I can apply my passions by chosing a project that will allow me to work outside alot. However, the only way I will be able to apply my passions to the capstone is by finding other students who share my same passion for nature.

2. What are you good at/like to do, what are you skilled at?

I am good at being organized and making sure I have a planned schedule for the day. Taking notes and keeping a calender of all my activities for every day of the month helps me be a great organizer. I try not to procrastinate on my work and make sure I get most of my homework done before I have sports practice. This makes me feel relaxed and not stressed. During my free time I like to play basketball and work on different skills in defense and offense. I am also a talented runner.

3. Which new skills would you like to research and practice as you work on your Capstone?

I would like to become more self directed and goal oriented during the Capstone project. This project comes with a lot of new responsibilities and commitments that I hope I will be able to follow through with in other classes and college. Some things to practice include critical thinking skills when a problem arises and communicating ideas to groupmates. I want to research different types of math calculations that can help show how different parts and mechanics work in a physical model. I'm not the greatest at math so I want to improve upon this during the capstone.

4. How do you hope to apply your skills and passions in the Capstone?

Since one of my greatest skills is constantly having everything be organized and put back into place this will hopefully allow me to keep track of project materials and my journal. My journal will most likely be neat and not have sloppy handwriting which makes it easier to go back and look at past project proposal ideas. Some students struggle with putting off work until the last minute; however, that is not me. Being good at finishing my work ahead of time will influence my groupmates to do the same. This will be less stressful and leave plenty of time for our project to recieve critiques that we can fix. Since I am an athlete I work on different motor skills and dedication everyday. I can take this dedication and apply it to my capstone by understanding that not only sports but school work requires focus and hardwork.