September Journal-
This year, I came into school fearing capstone, not only because of the work that needs to be put in, but how difficult it would be with hard classes, and the course inly being a semester long. However, once I started to brainstorm, I felt that coming up with several potential ideas would be easier than I thought.
The best idea I had, and the one ill be working with, is a fundraiser for the Wounded Warriors Project. For the actual fundraising, I will be hosting a 5k with the town of Vernon on June 6th. So far, i've had email correspondence with a representative with the WWP, as well as with the Vernon department of parks and rec. I met with Mr. Richard Durkee with the department of parks and rec this past week and we went over what we should be planning. Last week, I was emailed a list of tasks to consider and how to handle each one, for example ems, police, special event liability, and volunteers for the event.
I feel the biggest challenge now will be to organize each step and figure out what should be done first and what can wait. As of now, ive been working on a google website for the event and making posters. I also contacted Steve Jonas, creative services manager for the county of San Diego for marketing ideas, social media campaigning, and for creating effective marketing materials. With this, I plan to create a Facebook profile for the event in tandem with the event website.
As for direct actions related to the 5k itself, ive been contacting timing companies for quotes for the event, and I plan to get at least 5 different quotes for the timing. I plan to create checklists and project outlines for my own reference during the project, as Sun Tzu says “The general who loses a battle makes but a few calculations beforehand.” I will make detailed planning key to my projects planning phase to ensure a successful completed project in the end.
This year, I came into school fearing capstone, not only because of the work that needs to be put in, but how difficult it would be with hard classes, and the course inly being a semester long. However, once I started to brainstorm, I felt that coming up with several potential ideas would be easier than I thought.
The best idea I had, and the one ill be working with, is a fundraiser for the Wounded Warriors Project. For the actual fundraising, I will be hosting a 5k with the town of Vernon on June 6th. So far, i've had email correspondence with a representative with the WWP, as well as with the Vernon department of parks and rec. I met with Mr. Richard Durkee with the department of parks and rec this past week and we went over what we should be planning. Last week, I was emailed a list of tasks to consider and how to handle each one, for example ems, police, special event liability, and volunteers for the event.
I feel the biggest challenge now will be to organize each step and figure out what should be done first and what can wait. As of now, ive been working on a google website for the event and making posters. I also contacted Steve Jonas, creative services manager for the county of San Diego for marketing ideas, social media campaigning, and for creating effective marketing materials. With this, I plan to create a Facebook profile for the event in tandem with the event website.
As for direct actions related to the 5k itself, ive been contacting timing companies for quotes for the event, and I plan to get at least 5 different quotes for the timing. I plan to create checklists and project outlines for my own reference during the project, as Sun Tzu says “The general who loses a battle makes but a few calculations beforehand.” I will make detailed planning key to my projects planning phase to ensure a successful completed project in the end.
October Journal-
So far in my project, ive gotten the majority of planning completed. With that said, my next step is to confirm prices and dates with the organizations working with my 5k. I also need to register with the WWP in order to obtain their graphics package to make signs, posters, and to add their graphics and text to my website. With Rich on vacation for the past week or so, he hasn't revised and read over my preliminary budget. However, I spoke to a graphic designer, my uncle, who works for the County of San Diego. He will be giving me help and advice on marketing and social media strategy.
As for my schoolwork, im wrapping up this quarter with good grades so far. Ive also been wrapping up military academy applications for the schools themselves and the congressional nominations. Ive been having several interviews over the past few weeks. I first interviewed with the US Naval Academy in late August, which was a fairly difficult first interview. The interviewer, class of ‘09 graduate USMC Captain Blamey asked several difficult questions, for instance, he asked about the differences between accountability and responsibility in a Naval commanding-officer standpoint in wartime. He also asked me to define leadership, and what it was and explain the complexity of the subject in terms of a warfighting situation. The next interview I had was with NROTC in Holy cross, which was a fairly easy and quick interview. The hardest question he asked me was which Naval community I wanted to go in, if I didn't go into aviation, and I said Naval Special Warfare (Navy SEAL’s). The next interview was with USAFA Maj. Ness. This interview was more laid back than the previous two, but the questions were still somewhat difficult. The last interview i had was with Sen. Blumenthals office, which was still difficult but quick, for example, he reminded me of the fact that the country was still at war and theres no end in sight, and there is a very strong possibility that I would see combat. A humbling question, I had known this when I began applying and am still aware of that.
So far in my project, ive gotten the majority of planning completed. With that said, my next step is to confirm prices and dates with the organizations working with my 5k. I also need to register with the WWP in order to obtain their graphics package to make signs, posters, and to add their graphics and text to my website. With Rich on vacation for the past week or so, he hasn't revised and read over my preliminary budget. However, I spoke to a graphic designer, my uncle, who works for the County of San Diego. He will be giving me help and advice on marketing and social media strategy.
As for my schoolwork, im wrapping up this quarter with good grades so far. Ive also been wrapping up military academy applications for the schools themselves and the congressional nominations. Ive been having several interviews over the past few weeks. I first interviewed with the US Naval Academy in late August, which was a fairly difficult first interview. The interviewer, class of ‘09 graduate USMC Captain Blamey asked several difficult questions, for instance, he asked about the differences between accountability and responsibility in a Naval commanding-officer standpoint in wartime. He also asked me to define leadership, and what it was and explain the complexity of the subject in terms of a warfighting situation. The next interview I had was with NROTC in Holy cross, which was a fairly easy and quick interview. The hardest question he asked me was which Naval community I wanted to go in, if I didn't go into aviation, and I said Naval Special Warfare (Navy SEAL’s). The next interview was with USAFA Maj. Ness. This interview was more laid back than the previous two, but the questions were still somewhat difficult. The last interview i had was with Sen. Blumenthals office, which was still difficult but quick, for example, he reminded me of the fact that the country was still at war and theres no end in sight, and there is a very strong possibility that I would see combat. A humbling question, I had known this when I began applying and am still aware of that.
November Journal-
November has come and gone, maybe because now we have to start getting ready for finals, maybe because its almost Christmas break. The month was overall pretty good, with some good work being completed and finished, and some work being started. The 5k project is coming along smoothly, however now I need to find a timer and some more sponsors for the event which should only take about two-three weeks of work. I finished the first draft of my Capstone research paper at a length of 21 pages, something im proud of, especially considering how much research I did for the paper. This was enjoyable for me and putting my own thoughts onto paper with facts from my sources. The book I read (about half), the Looming Tower, was incredibly well written with a ton of information about each piece of terrorism going back years. Editing the paper down, im not at a length of 17 pages and im continuing slowly but surely to edit this down into my second draft.
I finished my interviews for my military programs, and im finishing my applications for them. I am currently up for board review for AFROTC and NROTC. As for USAFA and USNA, I got a phone call from Congressman Courtney’s office a few Mondays ago, where the service academy coordinator congratulated me for getting Courtney’s nomination without the need for an interview for the US Air Force Academy. My fingers are crossed, and I am working towards an appointment for the class of 2024. As for backup plans, I finished my common app and am looking forward to hearing back from my top choice school on that list, UConn. UConn has so many programs and activities, it has great engineering and premed programs, and has a new student athletic center. There is so much to look forward to in the next few weeks, and I feel really good knowing that my hard work from the past few years and my turn around in sophomore year is really falling into place now. However, I am far from finished and I am aiming to finish with a high GPA this year to prove to myself that I can do it. Lots more to come with this year but I am in a good place and I am looking forward to any challenges.
November has come and gone, maybe because now we have to start getting ready for finals, maybe because its almost Christmas break. The month was overall pretty good, with some good work being completed and finished, and some work being started. The 5k project is coming along smoothly, however now I need to find a timer and some more sponsors for the event which should only take about two-three weeks of work. I finished the first draft of my Capstone research paper at a length of 21 pages, something im proud of, especially considering how much research I did for the paper. This was enjoyable for me and putting my own thoughts onto paper with facts from my sources. The book I read (about half), the Looming Tower, was incredibly well written with a ton of information about each piece of terrorism going back years. Editing the paper down, im not at a length of 17 pages and im continuing slowly but surely to edit this down into my second draft.
I finished my interviews for my military programs, and im finishing my applications for them. I am currently up for board review for AFROTC and NROTC. As for USAFA and USNA, I got a phone call from Congressman Courtney’s office a few Mondays ago, where the service academy coordinator congratulated me for getting Courtney’s nomination without the need for an interview for the US Air Force Academy. My fingers are crossed, and I am working towards an appointment for the class of 2024. As for backup plans, I finished my common app and am looking forward to hearing back from my top choice school on that list, UConn. UConn has so many programs and activities, it has great engineering and premed programs, and has a new student athletic center. There is so much to look forward to in the next few weeks, and I feel really good knowing that my hard work from the past few years and my turn around in sophomore year is really falling into place now. However, I am far from finished and I am aiming to finish with a high GPA this year to prove to myself that I can do it. Lots more to come with this year but I am in a good place and I am looking forward to any challenges.
January Journal-
There have not been several developments regarding my project in the past few weeks, however I opened registration online and have met with Rich since. In addition, I received 6 free medals for the top men’s and women’s finishers during the race. The primary thing I need to be doing now up until June 5th is to get runners registered. This has been a challenge so far, even though registration has been open for only 3 weeks now. I have one registered participant, out of my anticipated 100-150 runners. I will be working this out for the next couple of weeks, focusing my efforts on getting runners signed up.
Over the past several weeks I have been patiently waiting for college admissions letters in addition to working on my 5k. So far, I have been accepted into Embry Riddle Daytona beach, University of Scranton, and Southern. Im still crossing my fingers for USAFA, or USAFAPS/NAPS which are both great programs. The entirety of our high school careers climax about now, as we wait for our ‘good problems’ to come in. Brian Kenny, my mentor, said when we get all of our admissions letters and financial aid packages, and are having difficulty deciding where to go is a good problem to have. Im beginning to get that feeling of accomplishment from acceptances right now, and from my progress on the race. On top of this, ive been applying to several scholarships and an internship with NASA, which I am still unsure about. At home, ive been working and saving every dollar I earn because Buffet reminds us that the rich don’t get rich by spending on liabilities. Hopefully soon ill be able to open up a few mutual fund accounts with Vanguard or Fidelity because its never too early to prepare for the future.
February is short, and im going to challenge myself to get as much done as I can for the project, and for my academics. Im hoping that any sort of school related stress distracts me from thinking about college decisions, because now all we can do is sit and wait.
There have not been several developments regarding my project in the past few weeks, however I opened registration online and have met with Rich since. In addition, I received 6 free medals for the top men’s and women’s finishers during the race. The primary thing I need to be doing now up until June 5th is to get runners registered. This has been a challenge so far, even though registration has been open for only 3 weeks now. I have one registered participant, out of my anticipated 100-150 runners. I will be working this out for the next couple of weeks, focusing my efforts on getting runners signed up.
Over the past several weeks I have been patiently waiting for college admissions letters in addition to working on my 5k. So far, I have been accepted into Embry Riddle Daytona beach, University of Scranton, and Southern. Im still crossing my fingers for USAFA, or USAFAPS/NAPS which are both great programs. The entirety of our high school careers climax about now, as we wait for our ‘good problems’ to come in. Brian Kenny, my mentor, said when we get all of our admissions letters and financial aid packages, and are having difficulty deciding where to go is a good problem to have. Im beginning to get that feeling of accomplishment from acceptances right now, and from my progress on the race. On top of this, ive been applying to several scholarships and an internship with NASA, which I am still unsure about. At home, ive been working and saving every dollar I earn because Buffet reminds us that the rich don’t get rich by spending on liabilities. Hopefully soon ill be able to open up a few mutual fund accounts with Vanguard or Fidelity because its never too early to prepare for the future.
February is short, and im going to challenge myself to get as much done as I can for the project, and for my academics. Im hoping that any sort of school related stress distracts me from thinking about college decisions, because now all we can do is sit and wait.
February Journal-
Since last month, I’ve been trying to figure out my marketing strategy for my 5k. With this, I’ve created a few more marketing materials including a poster PDF, an Instagram, and I have contacted my local gym about putting posters up in the gym. In addition, I’m working on creating a ‘contact’ lost, of people I will be contacting about the race. I plan on contacting the state police, a few military recruiters, and local high school cross-country coaches. I figure that these individuals know who will run or will participate in the 5k.
In terms of academics and everything in school besides my 5k project, I was accepted to a few schools and plan on visiting U Scranton one weekend. I’m still crossing my fingers for USAFA because that is my top choice because of all of the opportunity’s students can take advantage of. As I’ve been waiting for school acceptances, I’ve been completing scholarships. I haven’t heard anything back yet, but I am waiting patiently.
The biggest challenge I’m having now with my 5k is A: figuring out what exactly I should be doing to market the race and B: finding proper action to put that plan into action. Now is the time for me to do both, fairly quickly because June is 3 months away. Within the week, I plan to email the state troopers PR division, and begin contact surrounding schools and their athletic departments. In addition, I’ll ensure Rich has shared the poster with the Vernon schools.
Since last month, I’ve been trying to figure out my marketing strategy for my 5k. With this, I’ve created a few more marketing materials including a poster PDF, an Instagram, and I have contacted my local gym about putting posters up in the gym. In addition, I’m working on creating a ‘contact’ lost, of people I will be contacting about the race. I plan on contacting the state police, a few military recruiters, and local high school cross-country coaches. I figure that these individuals know who will run or will participate in the 5k.
In terms of academics and everything in school besides my 5k project, I was accepted to a few schools and plan on visiting U Scranton one weekend. I’m still crossing my fingers for USAFA because that is my top choice because of all of the opportunity’s students can take advantage of. As I’ve been waiting for school acceptances, I’ve been completing scholarships. I haven’t heard anything back yet, but I am waiting patiently.
The biggest challenge I’m having now with my 5k is A: figuring out what exactly I should be doing to market the race and B: finding proper action to put that plan into action. Now is the time for me to do both, fairly quickly because June is 3 months away. Within the week, I plan to email the state troopers PR division, and begin contact surrounding schools and their athletic departments. In addition, I’ll ensure Rich has shared the poster with the Vernon schools.
March Journal-
As I am writing this journal, im at home as are the rest of us. It still seems too surreal to be actually happening to us but being anxious about what’s to come is very real. Will we get to graduate together, will I get to visit my college, will I be able to see my friends and teachers one last time? I’ve been distracted with these questions which have been bouncing around my head whenever I see the news, hear anything about school, or review financial aid paperwork. But there isn’t time to be anxious, worried, or nervous. There is only time for action, planning, and self-discipline to power thru and do the best I can do, do what I can control.
With my 5k, ive been working on figuring out promotional strategy. As of now, the 5k will proceed as planned on June 6th. Rich and I will be watching CDC guidelines and will discuss moving the 5k if needed. I will have to figure out refunds for those who cannot attend the alternate date.
With regard to schoolwork and AP exams, ive been practicing on my own for physics and math. The college board will announce on April 3rd the final plan for the AP exams and what they will look like. On this past Saturday I attended a virtual preview day for the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania. If I don’t get an appointment to USAFA, I will be attending the college. It looks like a fun place, small, community oriented, and has lots of opportunities for engineering students which is what I will be focusing on in college.
There’s a mix of good and bad things in everyone’s lives right now, but its important to remember being negative and thinking negative helps no one. Thinking and being positive affects those around you, and what you think about the situation we are all in now.
As I am writing this journal, im at home as are the rest of us. It still seems too surreal to be actually happening to us but being anxious about what’s to come is very real. Will we get to graduate together, will I get to visit my college, will I be able to see my friends and teachers one last time? I’ve been distracted with these questions which have been bouncing around my head whenever I see the news, hear anything about school, or review financial aid paperwork. But there isn’t time to be anxious, worried, or nervous. There is only time for action, planning, and self-discipline to power thru and do the best I can do, do what I can control.
With my 5k, ive been working on figuring out promotional strategy. As of now, the 5k will proceed as planned on June 6th. Rich and I will be watching CDC guidelines and will discuss moving the 5k if needed. I will have to figure out refunds for those who cannot attend the alternate date.
With regard to schoolwork and AP exams, ive been practicing on my own for physics and math. The college board will announce on April 3rd the final plan for the AP exams and what they will look like. On this past Saturday I attended a virtual preview day for the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania. If I don’t get an appointment to USAFA, I will be attending the college. It looks like a fun place, small, community oriented, and has lots of opportunities for engineering students which is what I will be focusing on in college.
There’s a mix of good and bad things in everyone’s lives right now, but its important to remember being negative and thinking negative helps no one. Thinking and being positive affects those around you, and what you think about the situation we are all in now.
April journal-
The pandemic has caused so many problems, im not sure how we will return to normalcy. Not only did it cause my 5k to be canceled, it caused the fun parts of senior year to be canceled, it caused orientation to be canceled, and its caused millions of Americans to be without jobs. Any job that puts food on the table is an essential job, no matter who says otherwise.
With the rant out of the way, im glad I had the capstone experience I had. I may not be able to hold a 5k, but I may be able to work something out in the future. I have experience planning a 5k! I can readily plan a race, and work with others to get a race up and going.
Senior year is over as quickly as it begun, without any senior activities including prom or our senior prank. I sure hope that we will plan something out for the summer and postpone these events rather than cancel them. Not only was this school year messed up, my college career may also be delayed! I’m still in a bit of disbelief about what state we are all in, and im quickly brought back to reality when I see people in Stop and shop.
Its been a strange experience, and I wish that I had been able to live the true senior experience. Cheering at more games, going to the dances, and living a little more. I wish there was a sure way to know you’re in the good ole’ days before you leave them. My final thoughts are that I wish I had more time to be a kid, I wish we had responded better to the virus as a country, and I wish for a great college experience to come.
The pandemic has caused so many problems, im not sure how we will return to normalcy. Not only did it cause my 5k to be canceled, it caused the fun parts of senior year to be canceled, it caused orientation to be canceled, and its caused millions of Americans to be without jobs. Any job that puts food on the table is an essential job, no matter who says otherwise.
With the rant out of the way, im glad I had the capstone experience I had. I may not be able to hold a 5k, but I may be able to work something out in the future. I have experience planning a 5k! I can readily plan a race, and work with others to get a race up and going.
Senior year is over as quickly as it begun, without any senior activities including prom or our senior prank. I sure hope that we will plan something out for the summer and postpone these events rather than cancel them. Not only was this school year messed up, my college career may also be delayed! I’m still in a bit of disbelief about what state we are all in, and im quickly brought back to reality when I see people in Stop and shop.
Its been a strange experience, and I wish that I had been able to live the true senior experience. Cheering at more games, going to the dances, and living a little more. I wish there was a sure way to know you’re in the good ole’ days before you leave them. My final thoughts are that I wish I had more time to be a kid, I wish we had responded better to the virus as a country, and I wish for a great college experience to come.
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