Blog 26: Senior Project Reflection

1) Positive Statement

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

I am most proud of being pretty much consistent throughout my senior project. I persevered through times of trouble and came through with fairly decent grades. I learned a lot of new information and I feel that I am now able to use my research skills to educate myself and make sure the information that I obtain is worthy. 

2) Questions to Consider

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

I would give myself a P for my presentation. Although I jumped around with my answers, I believe I gave good information that was from reputable sources. The content of my presentation was for the most part solid. My room was also decorated nicely. 

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

P. My overall senior project has been well done. My interviews were from good sources, my presentations were pretty okay. I did a lot of mentorship hours of quality work and investment. I'd 

3) What worked for you in your senior project?

I didn't kill myself. 

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?

I would not have procrastinated on my actual 2 hour presentation. It stressed me out more than it should have and it showed in my presentation. I also would not have taken a two month break from mentorship. I would have gone during those 8 weeks and had I of done that, I wouldn't had have to of gone for every day for two weeks straight. 

5) Finding Value

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

The senior project has allowed me to become less shy and come out of my shyness bubble. I feel comfortable talking with strangers (because of interviews) and allowed me to be professional and talk about my accomplishments confidently (exit interview.) I have successfully put my research into what I think is a fairly decent iSearch paper and form my thoughts and information into well put together sentences and into a well flowing research paper. Mentorship has allowed me to understand the importance of community and what helping others does. It leaves you feeling more involved as it helps out dozens of people all at once. The overall senior project has made me into a more confident and social person. 

Blog 25: Mentorship

      Literal

·     Mentorship Log

·     Cherylee Grove (909) 397-4491 ext. 26574 (Hours are between 9AM-4:30PM Monday-Friday)
My mentor, Patti Azevedo, is currently on medical leave and will be until mid June. She will be unable to take phone calls during this time. Cherylee said she would confirm my hours in her place. 


Interpretive

The most important thing I gained from my mentorship experience is becoming 
more familiar with resources around me. It has helped me become less shy because I work with different people each time I go to mentorship and a lot of the work I was given was to make phone calls, meaning talking to complete strangers. At first, I was ridiculously nervous and intimidated by making phone calls to families. I was so nervous that I had to write out a script each time I called someone. Mentorship has also allowed me to be the best I can be as far as helping out. When going to mentorship, all I ask is, "Do you need any help?" It has taught me the importance of being helpful and why it is needed. I have gained the satisfaction in knowing that I helped make a difference this year for families all over Pomona. It has been an experience I will never forget and will cherish forever. 

    
Applied

What I've done at mentorship has helped me answer my EQ because a lot of what I've done has been helping families receive services for their mentally ill children. I helped them by connecting them to services they were unable of reaching on their own and needed assistance getting. My simple phone calls allowed them to make appointments and get the help they were in need of. Not only did I set them up with services, but I also would make follow up calls to see how the families were doing. Sometimes the families would forget about their appointments with services and I would help them set up different appointments to get the help that they needed. Through this, I learned the absolute importance of treatment for mentally ill children and families. When making follow up calls and asking how things were going with the family, a lot of them responded with positive things to say and would thank me for helping them get those services. It was an overall rewarding experience. 

Blog 24: Exit Interview Questions

1) What is your essential question?  What is the best answer to your question and why?

My essential question is: how can a parent best help their suicidal youth. My three answers are knowing the suicidal symptoms, seeking treatment, and becoming a part of the youth's life. My best answer is seeking treatment because treatment is what will ultimately help the youth. Treatment is referring to antidepressants and therapy, more specifically CBT, cognitive behavioral therapy. The combination of these two will allow the youth to improve mentally and learn new ways of thinking, ultimately allowing  the youth to stabilize their thoughts. This is most important in helping suicidal youth. Seeking treatment and becoming a part of the suicidal child's life is also important, but will not obtain the outstanding results that actual treatment will have.

2) What process did you take to arrive at this answer?

The process I took to arrive at this answer was first and foremost defining my senior project topic. I narrowed it from child psychology to suicidal youth and changed my EQ to what it is currently. (Refer to 1st sentence to the question above.) There was no doubt in my mind that my best answer would revolve around something treatment related. Treatment is vital to suicidal people, especially kids. There were no other potential best answers for me other than treatment. This is because in all of my research, treatment is not only mentioned, but recommended as well.

3) What problems did you face?  How did you resolve them?

The first problem I encountered was finding mentorship for my project. I must have contacted 10-15 different child psychologists and none of them even responded to reject me. This made me feel inferior and unsure of where to move next in my senior project. Ortega knew I was struggling to find mentorship and decided to jump in and help me out. She contacted Patti Azevedo, a past mentor, and asked her if she would be willing to take me under her wing. She was happy to help and set up an interview with me, and I was in! I have now been there since October. Because of Ortega's initial help of finding me mentorship, I have ventured into a topic I never would have thought of without Patti.
The second problem I have come across with my project is making my activities work for my 2 hour presentation and fit the P criteria. It's been difficult mostly because people know what suicide is. It's hard to teach a topic that is generally understood. Of course the specifics are unknown, but teaching them is difficult as well. Through the difficulties of finding activities, I went to tumblr. I happen to follow a lot of depression/suicide blogs and through scrolling through thousands of posts a day, I have found videos, pictures, and activity ideas to work into my 2 hour. They're eye catching, informative, and I think they will get my message across. These blogs have even helped me with my own issues.

4) What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?

1- My first most important source is my mentorship at the Pomona Unified School District of School Mental Health because without it, I most likely wouldn't have focused on suicide at all. The idea of suicide only came along because of Patti when at my first day of mentorship, I attended a crisis meeting with her where she discussed how to deal with suicidal youth with administration members of a local elementary school. Working at the district office of mental health has allowed me to work with treatment resources for mentally ill students. Helping these families find resources to help them with their mental issues has allowed me to see the importance that treatment has.
2- My second most important source is an article from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. I chose this particular article because it goes into detail what treatment does for suicidal/mentally ill people and why it's necessary. It even specifies what treatments are best for certain illnesses and why they're the best choices. It stresses the importance of treatment, backing up the best answer to my essential question.

5) What is your product and why?

My product is learning the importance of finding an outlet, or some type of treatment, because this will ultimately allow the youth to get better and recover from suicidal symptoms and thoughts. I found my outlet through writing short passages about how I felt when those suicidal thoughts came to mind. Instead of making plans to kill myself, I wrote why I felt the need to no longer live and it made a difference. How do I know it made a difference? Well, I'm still here today. I went through some serious dark times over the last year, where I made legitimate plans to end my life early, but I didn't go through with them because I found what made me feel better. Without finding that outlet, I would not be here to write this blog post or be in this interview. 

Blog 23: 2014 Interview

1.  Who did you interview and what house are they in?
I interviewed Vanessa Machuca from west house.

2.  What ideas do you have for your senior project and why?
I am faced with multiple options, most of which have something to do with biology. One option is that I find a mentor at the Aquarium of the Pacific where I have volunteered for two years now, I believe. Another is that I conduct summer research at the Oak Crest Institute of Science having to do with water quality and such. I recently read an article about the effect of pharmaceutical residue on biofilms and am hoping that, if I am accepted to the aforementioned research program, I can investigate this a bit more and perhaps extract an EQ from it... If all else fails, I have my love of art to fall back. There are a few cool art programs at the Pasadena College of Art and Design, and UCLA. I plan to major in biology in college and have considered a minor in some sort of art.

3.  What do you plan to do for your summer 10 hour mentorship experience?
I probably will conduct some research and perhaps find a mentor in Manjula Gunuwardana at Oak Crest of one of the graduate students who work there. I will definitely complete six hours at the Aquarium anyway, since I volunteer for three hours each month. There are multiple people there who work do as a mentor and would gladly accept me as a shadow - aquarists, veterinarians, seal and sea lion trainers, etc. As for my plan B of sorts, I met this cool artist at Norton Simon a few months ago who could be my mentor or could refer to somebody.

4.  What do you hope to see or expect to see in watching the 2013 2-hour presentations?
I will be playing close attention to each senior's EQ, get an idea for how specific mine should be. I hope to see seniors passionate about their subject, itching to let juniors dip into its glory, hope to be inspired, and motivated. Watching these presentations will clear the cloak of mystery and fear that has obscured my idea of senior project since I first learned of its existence.

5.  What questions do you have that I can answer about senior year or senior project (or what additional information did you tell them about senior year or senior project)?
1st question: How did you decide on your final EQ?
My response: I decided on my final EQ after specifying my topic. I went from child psychology to suicidal youth, and that was because of my mentorship. Finding a good mentorship is hard to do, but worthwhile in the end. It can definitely be the most helpful tool during senior year.
2nd question: What do you think the trick is to actually having fun with senior project rather than seeing it as an obligation?
My response: In order to have fun with the senior project, pick something you love. You're going to be spending 9 months researching and surrounding your academic life around it, you want it to be something you actually enjoy. Don't pick something just because it seems easy. I promise that you will regret it.

At the end, I gave her some words of encouragement. 

Hey, you seem to have some kind of idea of what you want to do next year, which is fantastic. Don't let senior year intimidate you or anything. You can do it. Have a nice rest of junior year! 

Blog 22: Final 3-Column Chart

3 Column Chart

Blog 21: Independent Component 2

LITERAL
(a) I, Marissa Hayman, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.
(b) Mentor: Patti Azevedo. Phone Number: (626) 665-2343
(c) Independent Component 2 Log
(d) Through these 30 hours of work, I have helped not only the women that work at the Pomona Unified School District of Mental Health with their workload, but I have also helped families within the district receive much needed services, whether it be mental help, financial assistance, or simply just someone to talk to. 


INTERPRETIVE 

This is a stack of Healthy Families surveys folders that I counted
all of the surveys for and helped Cherylee see how many students
took the survey.

This is what the scan-tron for the Healthy Families survey looked like. I counted over a thousand surveys, woo!

Some more Healthy Families survey folders I calculated data for. The entire box was filled with folders. Lots of counting.... 

I was on hold with Pacific Clinics, calling in to do a checkup on  a student in the district who was going to therapy. 

Inside Zangle, inputting data for Marynell for an
event called Shoes That Fit. 

For Shoes That Fit. There were long lists with the names of the
children in need of shoes that fit from the different schools
within the Pomona district. Input these names into Zangle with
updated and correct information.  

Here are most lists of children who had to be
input into Zangle.

This is what Zangle looks like after logging in. It's a well put together system.
It's a little slow, but it  organized well. 

Getting ready to make a poster for Family Fun Day!

Finished product. 

This is significant to my project because one of the answers to me EQ is finding treatment for suicidal youth and through my mentorship, families are able to receive treatment for their children. I help make this happen when I make phone calls to parents making sure that they are in need of services and checking up on the kids to make sure they're doing well. Inputting data into Zangle is helpful to my project because the organization of the program allows me to understand what is going on with this children and families that I call.



APPLIED
This component helped me answer my EQ by supporting the necessity of treatment for suicidal youth. When looking through students' folders before calling parents to verify their need of services, I have to read through what has already been done for the child. In most cases, a child starts feeling depressed and is in need of therapy or medication of some sort. Through my mentorship, they are able to get the child the services they are in need of. They have connections with just about everyone to help out the families in the district as best as they can. When I finally get what's going on, I make the call to the parent to ask how their son or daughter is doing and whether or not they would like to continue the services they are receiving. Most of the families respond well and say that their child is doing much better and because of the assistance my mentorship provides, they are no longer in need of services, therefore closing the case and allowing the office to move onto a new one. With all of this being said, this completely supports my best answer of finding treatment for the suicidal youth. 

Blog 20: Three Column Chart First Draft

Three Column Chart