This is it! My English Benchmark is over! I won't have to submit another Blog Post until next year!

This entire project was definitely a growing experience for me, as it taught me a lot of things. It was AMAZING! I thought it was such a wonderful experience to understand the concepts of Leukemia and then be able to pass it along to anyone I can. An experience at different places and seeing how they all react to the problems of Leukemia is very inspiring.

First off. WHY I choose Leukemia as my topic to attack. I have had a brutalizing past experience with Leukemia, as it was diagnosed to one of my closest friend and brought their life to a close. And that definitely changed the way I think and feel about Leukemia. I hate it. VERY much. It gives me a reason to try my best and change the outcome of its patients. Not so they end up like my friend, but so they can end up living their life to the fullest,, without any real worries. I guess it gave me a reason to attack this topic head on and get everyone else to know what happened to my friend, so they can support it too, and make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else anymore

Second, my research. Oh my. Was it was filled with trials and tribulations? Yes! It was hard to contact the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, but after getting a tour of the building, I have had a wonderful yet very emotional tour of the building,  and got insight on how they treat their patients. After a wonderful tour with Dr. Green, I had made my second blog post, ready to be seen by the public.

Throughout this project, I feel that I've out my best foot forward to produce an accurate and all around high quality work. When looking back, there are things that if I had the opportunity to do over again, I would change. Starting with my initial research, I'm very pleased with what I had done, and the information I found. Being that it was the first stage I think the facts I got were good, but not as good as they could have been since I eventually did want a more complete illustration of this topic. I wish that at the time I had not only focused on the negative side of Affirmative Action, and try to advocate for the other side. I did do this in blog post two but it took time out of the other things I could have been focusing on. Adding this entire viewpoint would have without a doubt made my first blog post better. Being that the topic is so broad, I did not get to cover everything in this blog post and there are still questions to be answered. I did very little looking into this, so I wanted to know why the advancement of Affirmative Action for the physical and mental disabled has been so slow. The miniscule amount that I do know about it states that much is being done unlike the significant gains for African Americans and most frequently women.

When it comes to my original research, I believe I did an even better job than in the first stage of the research. I think it went very well due to me developing both a new idea of Affirmative Action, as well as really understanding the pros and cons of the issue. I used my original research to get a more personal understanding of the topic, and try to stray away from the facts and statistics that I used in the first blog post. Because I had set two exact opposite stances in one blog and gave sufficient backup to support both sides basically trying to really make a reader decide which one was good proved to be successful in this blog. The only thing that I would do differently is explaining the Bakke vs. California case which was a big event that promoted Affirmative Action into the public light. It would have been great to add one of the founding reasonings for why this became such a big thing, and use aspects of the case to support the negatives of Affirmative Action side. This would have breathed new life into that argument, and could have made it better than the side opting for Affirmative Action.

Glows

While doing this project, I was able to do the things I know, can change/prevent and support. Each and every one of can make a change to support the topic I know and love and that’s #BLM. I love how we were able to organize this benchmark, it was amazing that I can do each assignment without hassling through at once, we can take our time and being able to complete it. I also like where we extended the time. One of the others things that were awesome was me working with others that had a similarity with our topics, sharing information we can put on our resources as well was outstanding.

Grows

Things that could’ve been better were the time to do this project, I know that it was time consuming but   I’ve had extra time that I didn’t use towards this and that was a waste of good opportunities. Others were starting the project too late, haven’t recently gotten to it until a week after. It was bad but I was able to counter it, if I would gotten right to it is to go around the neighborhood and get people’s feedback. Instead I’ve used a website for it and it turns out people are more sociable on social media than talking face to face, that is part of the reason I’ve created my own website and so many feedbacks i got were outstanding.

Research

I wish I’ve known that #BLM did a movement downtown Philadelphia on 15th street, Black Lives Matter I would know ahead of time and get into the action, it turns out this happened during our Bm., Hearing #BLM on the news and people talking made me inspired, I would want to know more how movements are like, what goals we show and why? Who are we representing and why there should be a change?

Original Research

I think it went great for me overall, I really have enjoyed this time of a Benchmark one of the best ones i’ve had so far. I would change the time and changing the website to touring around Philly.

Agent of Change

I had the impact i’ve hoped for because all of the feedback I’ve got from sponsors and people, who actually care, it was amazing. I’m really glad we did this Benchmark.

The overall You and the World project was a great and new experience for me. I never have done a project like this before and as a whole it was semi-fun. At times the project became very stressful it felt like a mini-capstone but instead of a whole year we had one quarter. Considering that we had so little time I think I did an okay job on this project and there are many thing I could have done better, of course. But I am proud of myself and all the hard work,sweat, and tears I put into this project.

The Research part of this project was maybe one of my favorites. I found so many disgusting facts it was appalling. But I wish I could have dug a little deeper into other fast food restaurants. I mean I found out some stuff about Chic-fil-a chicken sandwiches but I wish I could’ve dug a little deeper into that. I also wish I could have really gotten into what is in Chipotle’s food. It looks like an okay place to eat but I really would like to know if it is for real. But that might have to be some individual research I’ll have to do and I’m fine with that.

The Original Research aspect of this project I wasn’t really a fan of. My results for my survey came out horribly. I think I should’ve asked better more centered questions that no one knows about. My blog post was terrible too because I think I could’ve did so much better I forgot the little/BIG things and it really frustrated me because I know I could’ve done better than what I did. But if there was a next time I would do something completely different for my Original research. I don’t know what but something better than what I did.

My agent of Change I am kind of iffy about. With the topic I chose for my project it was kind of hard to pick what I wanted to do for my Agent of Change because what can I actually change? No matter how many disgusting facts you tell people about what they are eating they might get disgusted but they are still going to eat it. I just wish for my Agent of change that I could’ve did something that made a bigger impact on people. Something that would have made them stop and really think about what they are eating. But I think I did an okay job on my Agent of change but like I always say I am my biggest critic so I’ll never think anything is good enough.

All in all I think my project went okay. I’m happy it is finally over. This project was one of the most stressful projects I ever had in my life. But I’m happy i stuck through it. Throughout all the pain and tears I think I had a successful project and I am semi-proud of myself.

And now, Reflection Time with Paul-Ann Whyte. So we are just about finished with with this year and with this Agent of Change.  I think this is an appropriate time to go back and look at everything we have done and how it could have been different. Or maybe things that we actually did right. Let’s start all the way back from blog post numero uno.

Blog Post #1, the research. The research by far was my favorite part. My Agent of Change was trying to raise awareness for Mental Illnesses. I chose this topic because I have friends who have this mental illness yet it shames me when I have to ask them “What is that”, when they tell me what the name of the illness is. Also I have a mental illness and I am also in the learning phase of what exactly is wrong with me so this was a learning experience for the both of us. The research taught me things I had completely overlooked as well as new information. I wished that I had researched more about the common mental illnesses as well. That would have been interesting that instead of focusing on a select few mental illnesses I could have branched off.

Then we move on to Blog Post #2, the original research. Easily coming in second for the things that I enjoyed with this project. The original research I believe could have went so much better. It could have been better but it was not my least liked part of this entire project. I completely ignore Ms. Gikinis’s suggestion of surveying a larger selection of people so it was much harder for me to interpret and use the results as I would have liked to. I wish that i could go back and ask a different set of questions and then send it out to a larger group of people. Not just a select few. Other than that, this section ran pretty smoothly.

Now it is time for the dreaded Agent of Change. My least favorite part of this entire thing. I believed if things had went differently that I could have easily enjoyed this part of the project but this project as life would have it, the odds were not in my favor. My Agent of Change was a walk/run to raise Awareness for Mental Illnesses which was on Saturday, May 16, 2015. The Wednesday of that week I took sick and on Thursday I went into the hospital. As life would have it, I didn’t come out until Sunday and even then I was encouraged not to do any physical activities. So no big problem right? Just think of something new. Well then that week that I came out of the hospital, I went right back in. My schedule was thrown off track with that and in the end I was not able to do anything for my Agent of Change. I was disappointed in myself because I was looking forward to actually making a change and doing something that would influence my life and the life of others. So definitely not my favorite part at all.

Glows and Grows

For my You and the World project, I dived into a topic that I wouldn’t have otherwise, which was Women’s Rights in the workforce. It was a topic that I really hadn’t put much thought into before since I didn’t think that it affected me. I knew that my family was made up of strong and independent working women so me joining the workforce was just expected but now I realize what actually takes place behind the scenes and how serious the whole situation really is.

The original research part of the project was probably the most successful, since not only did I collect actual facts and statistics, but also personal opinions and experiences. I learned about how much of a difference gender actually does make when in the workplace which hadn’t occurred to me before. Equal pay, gender stereotypes, low percentages of women, and inadequate benefits are just a few of the issues I touched on and also spread awareness of through numbers and facts, but I mainly got personal accounts from issues such as lack of confidence, lack of self-belief, and also lack of self-application. I think that was another successful part of this project, reaching out to people. I was able to conduct a survey with the help of a senior and her feminist blog, which got twenty-two results, and I also led two interviews with Buzzfeed workers which was a huge accomplishment. Aside from that, I heard numerous personal accounts from people which added greatly to my final product. One thing I would have changed are the types of questions I asked because they seemed a bit redundant and at times a bit irrelevant.

For my agent of change, I created a presentation where I summarized the information I collected and taught my classmates about the injustices that afflict the female working world and also how things are getting better in this day and age. Most of my peers partook of social media trends and school-wide protests but I decided to take a different route, one that I knew couldn’t end women’s issues as a whole but would at least educate my classmates on a topic I’m very passionate about. The result was great and I was successful in bringing this issue through to light, not only through my blog posts but through my Agent of Change. I almost wish I had started a petition or a strike or something a bit bigger that would have a larger impact, but I feel that education is the strongest form of change and taking that information, I went forth and made my presentation. One thing I would change though, is the amount of time I put into the initial rehearsal, since I was pretty much winging the whole thing, which most times I’m good at but this time a bit of practice wouldn’t hurt.

In my first Blog Post, I mentioned Online Predators. In a nutshell Online Predators are people who commit child sexual abuse that begins or takes place on the Internet. This needs to be brought up and have more awareness for many reasons. One; most children are not educated or not educated enough about this topic. If we could teach kids how to be safe Online, there would be a lot less of this crime going on. Two; some parents are not educated enough in this field. If more parents knew the signs of a predator, then more of these instances can be avoided or cut off before it goes out of control. And finally; our society is mostly based off of modern technology. This allows Predators to stalk in the depthness that is the internet and can get away scott-free. If we educate and teach more individuals about this issue, more events like these can be stopped. There has been cases where some police units are trying to bring up awareness, however it is not brought up enough on a global scale. So what are some of the signs of an Online Predator? According to the Washington Police there are several tricks Online Predators use including, but not limiting to; chatting privately, flattery, intimidation, asking for personal information, and sympathy. The main way predators lure in their victims is by ‘grooming’. “Grooming is how online predators manipulate children into meeting in real life with their sole goal of having sex with them. Predators will spend weeks, months, and/or possibly years "grooming" their victims before asking them to meet in real life.”

In my second Blog Post, to find out how much our students actually know, I gave out a quick survey regarding Online predators. Most people in fact did not know the first signs which are chatting privately, flattery, intimidation, asking for personal information, and sympathy. Participants stated that the first signs were asking to meet up or pictures. These are when the Predator already has you in their grip. So this means children are being taught what the most noticeable signs are, but not necessarily the first red flags.

For my agent of change I decided to bring my project closer to the SLA community. I wanted to actively show how to stay safe on the internet. I wanted to make a direct impact. My solution to this was to give a presentation about Online Predators and how to stay safe on the internet. So that’s what I did. I created a google presentation and showed some of my classmates and advises what to do Online and what to look out for. The video can be played below.

Doing this project was definitely an adventure. From having no idea what to do, to making a great presentation, to scheduling presentation dates, rescheduling. Overall it was challenging, but still felt like I made a difference, no matter how small. If I could’ve done this again, I would definitely done something a little more big. Maybe a presentation at a middle school or at TFI. If you still want to make a difference, learn the signs, be safe, and tell others. After all one person saved is another gained to spread the word.

Blog Post #1 shared the point of Black Lives Matter, people who stands up for what they believe in. Black Lives Matter stands up for what you believe in, and what I am doing for this Blog Post is exactly what I want to do.

Black Lives Matter, and Trayvon Martin

For me previous work, I’ve found a video that talks about different people who needs to respect the laws, a guy at the time who was 20-30 years old randomly stopped a Police Officer by the Law of Washington State/RCW. The law stated that anyone who has an unmarked vehicle, is hereby banned to drive. The cop had an unregistered unmarked vehicle and he was using it for undercovering. The citizen gave the cop a huge warning to the cop making him to register the vehicle. The citizen stated there is no mark or indication on the car and the Driver/Cop known as Deputy Canfield have been stopping people in the vehicle in an unregistered vehicle. Everyone needs to respect the law, even the people that are under the power as well.

What I pursued and learned more information about is the laws in the states There should be a change in the community we live in, because people are getting disappointed in the way that they’ve been treating and now it leads to chaos more people are following the ways of mankind.

#BLM Survey

This helps me inform the concept I am learning/researching, it gives us a valuable source of what is happening around the world that demonstrates the cause of these things. I believe that everyone who have heard about this topic is furious about this but we all have a same/different theory about this, we agree and disagree on what we are doing and who we are becoming, but if you actually look at the cause and effect of what’s happening from the past to the present, you would see a huge difference then what society had on us then before.  

This help me of my understanding by showing the concept of why we do this, we do this because we want what’s best for the future, we don’t want a cruel world where we look up to people by example and teach all of us from right to wrong, we want to teach one another respect and acknowledge the fact that we need to do the best we can to raise our children. So my understanding would be the leaders stepping up not just for kids, but for all of us around the world.