Culminating Blog Reflection

   To complete my capstone project I had to use critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. Although there were obstacles I had to face using these things, I ultimately gained much more than I thought I would have and it made me consider getting into a career that I never would have before.

   When we were first given the project I had no idea what I wanted to do my paper or physical project on. The project was so broad and the fact that you would be spending all this time on it scared me. At first I wanted to do nursing, but then I thought I would get bored with that. As time started getting closer to due dates, I began to feel the pressure to find a topic for my paper and a mentor. At the last minute I ended up picking a daycare for my physical project only because I needed the grade. However, when the time came to pick a topic for my paper, I decided I needed to reach out to Ms. Dekoven for help. With her collaboration, we came up with the idea of doing my paper on teen substance abuse. To make this topic not so general and make it more specific, I used critical thinking and creativity to try and focus the topic more. As a result, I came up with the idea of explaining the physical, psychological, and sociological effects of alcohol and marijuana use on teens. However, after doing some research on my topic, I found there was a lot more information on people in general so I decided to not do just teens. When I really started going with my mentor I had a hard time communicating to her what the project was and where I wanted to go with it. With communication I was able to come up with things to do so I would get something out of doing this. This pushed me to be creative and come up with things I could do with the kids to gain something from this experience. 

   In doing my Capstone project, I gained more things than I expected to. To begin with, I learned that I like kids, but I don't want have a career with them. I've always thought kids were cute and easy to take care of. It was a big wake up call when I started working at the daycare. I'm usually not around a lot of kids, so it was surprising how difficult it was to keep your patience. I think now I want to get into a career that involves teens, maybe something in the medical field or psychology. As a result, I decided to major in nursing, instead of being a pediatrician, because I don't know if I could handle seeing all those sick babies and kids. Socially, I gained better people skills and become more outgoing. This project forced me to go outside of my comfort and  be able to communicate with my mentor. Lastly, I gained more knowledge about a huge problem in America that most people over look. While completing my essay, I learned so much about what drugs and alcohol can do to you. The fact that I will never forget is how 100,000 people die every year from substance abuse. Not only that, but us Americans spend half a trillion dollars on the costs of this abuse. It made me reflect on my life and how deadly substance abuse really is. 

   There were many challenges that I had to face while doing this project. Whether it be having to pick what to do my project on, writing my paper, completing my mentor hours, or discovering I did not like the career I shadowed, I had to overcome these obstacles to finish my project. I overcame these challenges by using critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. Without communication and collaboration I would not have been able to decide on a topic for my project. Without critical thinking, I would have been unable to complete my essay. And without creativity, I would not have gained the experience I got from being with my mentor and the kids. 

Day 7 at Daycare

On May 10th, we made a Mother's day project. There was two things they made. One was a flower pot and the other was a pasta bracelet. We made the flower pot out of a paper cup and filled it with sand. Then we put stems in the sand and glued pom poms to the top of them. We had to make the flower pot for the kids but they were  able to paint and decorate the pot by themselves. For the pasta bracelet we let the kids dip the pasta in food coloring. My mentor and I then put the pasta on a piece of string form them. When we finished the project we fed the kids lunch and got them ready to be picked up. As each kid got picked up it felt good when they showed their parents what they made. It was really nice when a mom came to pick them up and they gave them their gift. Even though it was a challenge to get the kids to focus, I'm glad we did it because it was worth seeing the smiles on their parents face.

Time Logged This Time: 4 Hours
Total Time Logged: 25 Hours and 15 Minutes

Day 6 at Daycare

On May 8th, I had a reading circle with the kids. I told them they could choose 2 books from the shelf. While I was reading to them I was surprised how they were so interested and how they actually understood the story line. When they were supposed to laugh they did and when it was sad they were all quiet. After I finished the first book, the second one was a book about colors. I would point to a color and have them guess which color it was. When they didn't know what it was I would say it and have them repeat it after me.  After a while they started picking up on the colors and saying them without me even having to point them out. I felt really proud when they started remembering them. It was a challenge at first because I must have said each color about 5 or 6 times, but it was worth it in the end. One of my goals before that I never did was to create something for the kids to take home. This was my goal for my next visit.

Time Logged This Time: 4 hours
Total Time Logged: 21 Hours and 15 Minutes

Day 5 at Daycare

On May 7th, we took a field trip to the park. Before we left we packed them lunches which consisted of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a banana, and a carton of milk. After we packed their lunches, I had to put sunscreen on all the kids and put their hats on. We then walked to the park which is about 10 minutes away from the daycare. At the park we played tag and duck duck goose. For a while we sat down and let the kids play on their own. After an hour of playing, everyone sat down to have some lunch. Once we were finished eating, we headed back to the daycare because it was almost nap time. It wasn't very hard to get the kids to go to sleep because they were tired. When they woke up, we packed their bags and prepared them for pick up. It was really fun because I could tell the kids were having a good time. My goal for the next time we meet is to have story time and hopefully teach them their colors.

Time Logged This Time: 4 hours
Total Time Logged: 17 Hours and 15 Minutes

Day 4 at Daycare

May 2nd was "Outdoors Day." I got there around lunch time, so I help them serve lunch. For the big kids they had spaghetti and fruit. The babies had blended fruits and vegetables. Once they were done eating, we put their hats and sunscreen on and took them outside to play. We played follow the leader and simon says. We also drew on the concrete with chalk. I talked to my mentor about doing more stuff with the kids and that's why we went outside to play games. I'm glad I did this because now I'm having more fun with my mentor and I can see that I'm gaining more patience with the kids. My goal for the next time we meet is to create a project that the kids can take home.

Time Logged This Time: 5 hours
Total time Logged: 13 hours and 15 minutes