Senior Project Reflection

1) Positive Statement

What are you most proud of in your 2-Hour Presentation and or/senior project why? 

Although this may sound mediocre, I am proud of the fact that I made time on my 2-hour. This is because of the situation that I was in. As I began to conclude my 2 hour presentation, Mr. Pang passed me a sticky note stating that I only had 14 minutes of talking time. This meant that I had 16 minutes of information that I had to present otherwise I would have to re-present. The problem was, my powerpoint was out of information, and I was blanking out of what I knew. Somehow I managed to pull through and make time, and in the words of Mrs. Pittman, "it's a miracle that you made it."

2) Questions to Consider

a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your 2-Hour Presentation (self-assessment)?

AP

b.     What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project (self-assessment)?

P-

(3) What worked for you in your senior project?

In my senior project, my mentorship worked really well for me. This may be due to the fact that I have known my mentor for a few years, and the fact that karate has always been a passion of mine. I found it very easy to find the motivation to go to mentorship, that I believe I wouldn't have had if any other topic was my senior project. Because I enjoyed mentorship, it made other things such as interviews, surveys, and science fair easier for me to complete.

(4) (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would have you done differently to improve your senior project if you could go back in time?

There are two major things that I believe brought my senior project grade down. 

1. The first being my 2-Hour presentation. If I had the opportunity to, I would simply prepare more, so that it wasn't as bad as it was. Specifically, I would add more to the powerpoint, concerning research and amount of slides in general. I would also make sure to cover more specific points. 

2. Another thing that I struggled with was research. Although nearing the end of the year, I picked up on using books and good sources, at the beginning of the year I was using a majority internet articles. I also used blurbs, which didn't further my research at all. If I had the chance to go back and do it over, I would simply just jump straight into the good sources, to ensure my topic had a solid foundation.

(5) Finding Value

How has the senior project been helpful to you in your future endeavors?   Be specific and use examples. 

This maybe very late, but I learned how to prioritize. Prioritizing is important as an adult because there are many important things that you may need to do that you don't want to, and finding the strength to prioritize them over things such as, watching T.V or taking naps is required. The fact that it's senior year was a big life lesson to me. How? Well, because of the senior atmosphere, I began to become too carefree, and in turn this let my work slip away. Eventually, I caught up, and began to prioritize and this allowed me to maintain a steady workload while at the same time, enjoy my senior year.

Independent Component 10: Family

     One of the biggest things I've acquired from karate is a second family. With this family comes a second home at the dojo. My karate family has been there for a majority of my life and behind my actual family, they are the most important people in my life. Putting karate aside, we have been through a lot. I'm not a fan of sappy, writing, but I genuinely wouldn't know what to do without them. They have anchored me and taught me much of what I know. They have built my confidence and have seen me evolve from a small pre-pubescent boy to the young man I am now. They have truly been my best friends from the beginning. Although I haven't really mentioned them throughout my project, their importance in my life is far greater than what I credit them for. 

Independent Blog Post 9: MMA Classes

     The karate studio I do mentorship at also offer mixed martial arts (commonly known as MMA) classes. Due to the fact that I am on very good terms with the owner of the studio, he allows me to jump into the MMA classes and sometimes even teach it. Because of this, my my basis of fighting knowledge has expanded greatly. MMA has many different techniques from karate, and having the opportunity to do both makes me feel very lucky. The basic differences of the styles are fairly simple. Karate focuses of strikes and forms, while MMA focuses on grappling and conditioning. Together these styles compliment each other and it helps to know both.

MMA Examples

Boys grappling match.

Girls grappling match. 

Independent Blog Post 8: Black Belt Classes

     Being a black belt comes with its perks and disadvantages. A black belt class is both. Black belt classes are extremely strenuous on your body, but on the plus side you are learning advanced concepts. The typical black belt class begins with a warm up. This warm up feels as if it was designed for spartans. You begin with the basic stretching, and go into 100 pushups, and follow up with 300 sit-ups. If that's not enough you do various exercises to ensure the legs are dead before the class starts. After the gauntlet known as the warm up, we do one of three things. We practice katas (forms), we learn advanced combos, or we spar. Although these sound fairly normal, they aren't. They are intensified versions of what the colored belts do. The forms are perfected to the tee, the combos are extremely hard to keep up with, and the sparring has much more contact. Like I said before, black belt classes are supposed to be one of the perks of being a black belt, but cause you suffering instead. After the suffering though, you only benefit. You become better as a martial artist, and one step closer to becoming greatness.

     

Independent Blog Post 7: Fun and Games

     Doing karate isn't always serious. Later on in the night when many of the students have already left, and there aren't any classes, the black belts come out to play. We use the mats to our advantage and practice our gymnastic and acrobatic moves. Although this is fun, it also requires us to learn how to use our bodies properly. There is a lot of technique that is required for these flips. You also need conditioned legs to leap at the beginning of these moves. Although we teach the students respect and life lessons, the black belts need time to release stress as well. We use these rare occasions to goof off and mess around. We turn on music and we have fun. 

     

Independent Blog Post 6: The Fight Scene For Drama

      In the middle of the year, Mr. Hogan asked me if I could choreograph a fight scene for a play he was holding and I told him that I gladly would. In my free time, I created a simple, yet cool fight scene for the drama play. This lead to me being in the play bill and being credited for my work. The fight scene is below. I personally think it turned out well.

     

Independent Blog Post 5:

     Throughout my competitive karate life, I always manage to get 2nd places. Truthfully, I do have 1st places, but a majority of my trophies are 2nd places. During my early days as a karate practitioner, a.k.a non-black belt divisions I dominated mostly all of my divisions. As soon as I got my black belt, my skills instantly became second rate. In a majority of divisions I competed in, no matter what the size was, there was always that one person that was better than me that took the first putting me in second. I am hoping that my senior project will help me break my habit of second place and put me on top.