Introduction

    Hello, my name is Will Mullins and this is my first semester presentation of learning. Today the project i will be discussing is the Social Justice project done over most of the first semester. This project was intended to teach us about social justice and how it is implemented in various non-profit organizations. Social Justice is the idea for a universal justice and fair laws, disregarding race, gender, or any other difference. At the beginning of the project no one knew the definition of social justice, let alone what it is good for or how it is implemented. This is important for us to learn of now because now that we are growing into adults we need to know the truth about injustice and how to combat it. We also should now begin to figure out what sort of kind of non-profit organization we favor, seeing as how we must collect a number of community service hours, which might as well be spent on what problem we want to fix. As we learned about Social Justice through videos and a documentary we saw that there are many ways any can help and should help. This message to us is very important and the extensive research and work put into this project only further drives home this point.

The Social Justice Project

          This project began with the writing of a research paper. This was the second major research paper that i had written, but it was different than the rest. The non-profit organization I chose to base my project on was called the Sierra Club. I did this because, one i needed a non-profit and this was the best one I could think of, but also because I have been to a couple of National Parks myself and I see how big they are and how expensive their stuff is and I wanted to know what they do and why. The Sierra Club was created to aid the National Parks. My original idea was do discuss the effect of new technology on the attendance of National Parks, but that had no social justice in it at all. I decided to write my paper on simply how National Parks do their jobs and what exactly their job is. Focusing on the Sierra Club itself, which is what I had to originally research, I learned a good deal about what it does and its purpose. Primarily the Sierra Club provides funding to National Parks from donations, but it also provides political pressure on congressmen to force them to uphold the safety of National Parks. The Sierra Club also combats other problems, such as air pollution and raises awareness to problems that people create for National Parks. From that I was able to find more reading and write my paper.
           On the topic of social justice my learning came quick and at the beginning of the project. One the first day of the project I was explained what social justice was by Ms. DeGrano and that is where my rough knowledge of the definition of social justice comes from. I wasn’t until we watched that Invisible Children documentary when how real this idea was and how abundant world problems are. From that documentary I learned of the horrors many children either endure or are forced to run from by the evil people in this world. I learned how complex and difficult it is to run an organization like Invisible Children, but i also learned how easy it is to start, all one needs is an idea.
           GIMP was my major challenge in this project, but it ended as a success. At first I had major trouble with GIMP. Not only was i not imaginative enough to figure out a good idea, but I was not skilled enough with GIMP to execute any of them. My first attempts failed miserably and i thought I would fail. My savior came in the form of Tristan Bench who had experience with GIMP and he helped me create my best GIMP picture ever. I am actually particularly fond of that image.

The research process was rightfully the longest. It required the navigation of numerous humongous websites and the bookmarking of nearly 20 just for basic research and quotes. Once I had done the research I began to write the actual paper. This was not a problem because it was a first draft and mistakes and a short paper were allowed. Once I showed up for the first pier edit and got my paper back I realized how small and bad it was. By the time of the next pier edit I had added facts and other things and by the time of the final draft, after much stretching, I had the necessary 8 pages. This writing went surprisingly well.

My time was not used very wisely in this project. I did procrastinate a great deal and I ended up pressed for time. Although I did meet the benchmarks set up by Ms. DeGrano I would have missed them all if I had set any personal ones. This was a problem, but it ended peacefully and I completed the project well and on time. I ended up lucky after procrastinating.

If I were to attempt this project again I would have first forced myself to get at least more of the project done earlier to avoid any haste and staying up late. to I also would have bought transfer paper rather than relying on the limited supply of 4 sheets at my house. Other than that I see nothing to change, I am happy with the results. I would only stress the idea to not procrastinate.

Reflection and Goals

    My academic progress, especially in English, is marked by my new skill for writing. I am still by no means great at writing, but I am now comfortable with writing a paper of almost any length. Writing used to be an impossible chore for me, I was terrible and never knew where or how to start. After this one semester, however, I can write much better and more comfortable all thanks to those timed writes and papers we have written. My papers reflect it all. My newer papers display a better style of writing and they were done faster than any others even though they required the most work. I learn most effectively when I am told “here is information, remember it.” The very straight forward way that is often ineffective in the long run, but it allows me to retain what I want and like, but writing I have never retained for long or liked. Although I despise project based learning it drives home the real skill set over and over until i learn it. By writing both the papers in English and US History I have become much better at the skill and hope to only get better.

Still I lack the most basic of skills required of any student, time management. I am rather effective at remembering homework or studing when I need to, but I never get it done early. I often work hard on any project twice. Once at the beginning because I want to get it all done and again right before its due because I got lazy in the beginning. This sort of failure has lasted my entire student life and still plagues me. To become a better student and better learner I must drop this habit of procrastinating. I must get my work done before I do anything else and do it efficiently. This is easier said than done, but I sincerely hope I can do it.

I am not at a total loss as a student. I have been able to develop the skills to test well and pass classes. I can hard memorize fact, especially math oriented, and I can do all of my homework quickly, often because i have to compensate for procrastination. I also am a very high aspiring student. i take all of the honors classes I can and strive to get A’s; often met with success. These abilities benefit me as a student, but i am no where near perfect.

Working collaboratively is one thing i am not too good at. i can work in a group with people I know because I am not afraid to talk to them or I am not thee leader, but it is another story when i don’t know even their names. During the second project of the year my group was often disbanded, but I never was able to make myself speak up and tell them what to do, i think I was either too embarrassed or simply socially awkward and our group suffered for it. In either case this sort of problem always arises and I am met with the same seemingly impenetrable wall. Other than that problem I am relatively good at dividing work or listening to others, it is just speaking up myself that I am bad at.

The school culture at LVCP in unlike all others. We are so small that any person can change, or at least make an impression on, the entire school if they try. In my own way I have done this. i attempt to tell all of what I do and how amazing it is. I will often end up bragging in one form or another about cross-country attempting to get the sport better known. I also have joined a number of clubs, math club, robotic, etc. that all reflect a different personality of the school. In this club/sports-driven way I am contributing to the culture of LVCP.

The most memorable event of this year was the first period of the first day of school. This was the first time I had ever me Professor Henig and he made an immediate good impression on me. I loved his first lecture and he really pulled me into the subject and gave me hope for college. This may not sound like a big event, but it truly was, Professor Henig continues to be a class I enjoy even now.