I decided to make my awareness page on my existing Gold Award website because I knew it would get more traction than if I had made a brand new website that had not been shared already. I have heard from a couple people outside of those who I told about my project, but who also saw my website, that my awareness page made them think twice when setting off fireworks. That made me feel like my project could actually make a difference. I am also starting to prepare my trifold for my poster presentation that I will present at Girl Scouts of Western New York Annual Award Ceremony. I am planning to make sure to highlight this advocacy as part of that trifold so when people take my Gold Award brochure and are accessing my website they look for this information.
I think i became a better advocate throughout this project. I knew this was an issue prior, but I had never taken the steps to do something about it. I struggled to come up with a meaningful project that was possible to finish in the given time because there really has not been a lot of work in this topic before. Those who suffer from PTSD are often quiet about what triggers them, and that is something we as a whole society need to work on. Even though mental health is talk about more there are still many stigmas surrounding mental health. PTSD is so misunderstood and can be extremely challenging for those suffering and their support systems. I would like to continue to raise awareness about PTSD and how fireworks can affect those who live everyday with it. I would like to see laws about firework regulations be stricter, or even move away from traditional fireworks all together and implement something quiet and better for the environment. As I go on to college and study Psychology I can see myself focusing more on PTSD to prepare for my career. This project helped to explore my career ideas and made me excited to learn more.