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Capstone process paper
Jorge Dasilva Everyone remembers something. It could be from 50 years ago or from just a week ago. We all have good memories and the ones we don’t want to dig up. These are some of mine.

I grew up living in a dorm that is part of a college campus, the University of Pennsylvania. We’d call it “the quad.” There were college kids around. Some were our baby-sitters and some would wave at us. Most of these memories are scarce and not very detailed. When I look back in time I mostly see general colors and shapes of buildings. I do have one very vivid scene: I see an open field with a tent. At the same time, I’m inside the tent looking at a picture book about crabs. It’s a white crab holding a fish in one claw and on the back of the crab’s shell are tiny red dots and then that’s it.

At the very beginning of this process, my idea was of organizing a photo exhibit at the Green Line café. I took about 50 photos in three weeks, and I also used photos that I took beforehand. I looked over them in my free time, and I made slight edits to them. Most of my edits were because I’d rather have them be as raw as possible, as a stylistic choice. I’ve cut them down to 25 photos, to pick the 15 I have as the end result and for the final project.

I went through the process of selecting the final group of photos with my mentor Lori Waselchuk, who is a professional photographer. Together we looked over the 25 photos to choose what works and what doesn’t work, Choosing each by what photo really means and looking deeper into each photo by looking at emotion, meant also looking at colors: How the colors work, how the shading works, and how it looks in a total of how everything in the photo works together.

I worked at the Green life Café as a dishwasher, and I thought it would be a great place to host a photo exhibit, it’s easy to get to and very accessible by trolley, and it’s a nice space that already had the art of other artists up on the walls. So I had a plan to ask my boss for the permission with hosting it there, after my shift. The photos would have been 15 x 36” each, in simple black frames, either made of wood or metal depending on what’s available. I wanted them hung on the walls where viewers can walk around socializing while looking at the photos.

But now all social events and gatherings are canceled and we are having a virtual presentation“ and I will have each photo on each Google slide that I will talk about, according to each memory I have of that certain place or thing.

I thought this was going to be a foolproof plan but ith the Covid-19 pandemic cancellations. My plan for the capstone idea was to host a photo exhibit with 15 or fewer photos that will be hanging up in the green cafe on May 20th. But now the pandemic made sure that no one can leave the house, no social events, I thought of an alternative solution to so I’ll still be able to have my capstone project. The new plan is to have a google slide presentation to show my photos and have assigned writing according to the photo. This was the biggest challenge for my capstone. Overcoming this hurdle was seamless with creating a google slide with the photos that I’ve chosen. The biggest help that I received in creating this capstone was through being a part of the Teen photo program at the Philadelphia Photo Arts Center (PPAC). In this program, we learn about other professionals and about the history of photography. This is the place that I was planning to use for printing out each photo and framing them.PPAC is a program where a gathering a couple of students who are all interested in photography add in high school and practice and learn more about photography

With slight setbacks, I believe I am most proud of is that I had a backup plan to follow the rules of social distancing and another thing that I am very very proud about is how much improvement my photos have shown throughout the years since when I picked up a camera, which was at least five years ago. I impressed myself with my art and that is the best feeling. I am also very proud that I was accepted at a university with these photos as part of my portfolio, which is really great. I had the idea of having my photo exhibit for a while now, and I am not very happy that I could not finish it. But everything happens for a reason I guess,

Hey all! I’m Zeniah and for my capstone I founded a non-profit called Women4Women. I was motivated to prevent women incarceration by tackling issues in our neighborhoods that brought down young women. Originally, I had an event planned. However, I’ve been able to help women in different ways during C0-VID 19. I am still motivated to cultivating self worth and women empowerment especially during these hard times where one is found questioning one’s worth. Love yourself always!

For my capstone, I wanted to create several fidget mechanisms for kids who have autism and highschool students who get disengaged easily. Once the fidgets are made I would examine how the kids interacted with them and if it had any impact. Creating fidgets for kids with autism and highschool students will make sure that when they are disengaged that they will still be present in class. These mechanisms consisted of spinning and sliding movements because it’s the simplest way to stay occupied with two things at once for highschool students. For kids that have autism, it will help calm their nerves since a lot of them feel so on edge since they aren’t in their own comfort zone. Creating mechanisms as my capstone is very important due to the fact I have a brother who has autism. He and several other people I know that have autism always carry an object that helps them calm down and attentive to what is happening.. To make it even more personal, I struggle with focusing on classes due to me getting easily bored. In order to stay focused I would spin my air pod case in my hand or roll a pen on the desk.

Process paper link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1o5GgDQ_OUM7rRY8bxN9-hKsro8J-Gja_iGBD1ivoCTc/edit?usp=sharing

For the final event for my capstone I wanted to hold a skin care workshop but due to obvious reason I cannot. The goal of my capstone was to reform the way we look at skincare and make people feel more confident in their natural skin. My inquiry question was “How do the products people put on their skin impact them?” I created all natural body butters, using raw unprocessed ingredients. I made a lot with essential oils with different benefits, like lemon, bergamot, peppermint, jasmine and Lavender. I sold the body butters to different people and had them send me reviews. Some reviews I wrote down for feedback and others were put in the video. The video depicts me talking about my process, a tutorial and reviews.

The Self-Confidence Project is a research project orchestrated by myself and Oszain Bangura. Together, Oszain and I conducted a thorough study and completed extensive research on self-confidence within the minority adolescent communities. We took this information and formed our website as an accessible way for young women to engage, learn, and build their self-esteem by sharing experiences with others like them. In addition to this, our project included 6 digital interviews with people from different communities, different backgrounds, and different ethnicities. It is extremely crucial to us that the people we asked questions were always comfortable sharing their personal experiences. Consequently, the interviews were made anonymous with a choice of being identified if they wanted. With that being said, our main goal was to capture and accentuate the powerful and esteemed experiences of these young women who reflected on their journey of self-confidence.

The Self-Confidence Project Official Website Link:

For my Capstone, I decided I wanted to do something with the dance community. I took it upon myself to use my Instagram page where I would let people see how dance helped me express who I am. Over the course of the year, I would post pictures and dance videos of me and let people see how dance is a passion of mine.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bboy_manman/

Link to the slide show: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1VOxzBPHgzlnMSU0h_82R5odb8BRYJ853MaqDFvKct74/edit?usp=sharing

For my Capstone, I wanted to teach people about Lab-grown Meat and the advancements they have made in their product. The goal in mind was to teach people as well as get their opinions on it at the same time, to do this I created a website that had information about LGM that I thought to be important. I also created a survey that would help me get an idea of what people already knew about LGM and how they felt about it. When creating the website, I had to be mindful of how I worded things because I wanted to avoid portraying the wrong tone. I wanted to make sure I didn’t sound too opinionated because it might make people close-minded, Afterall my goal wasn’t to persuade them but to inform them. The survey helped me to figure out what things I should leave in and out of the website, and that was important to me because I didn’t want it to be too confusing for anyone reading it. I chose to make my Capstone to be about Lab-grown Meat because it is fascinating to me that technology like that even exists, along with that I think it has a lot of potentials to be something that could help us cut down the demand for livestock.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_eIsXrZVJcx8671a1HYm-9hCLKbVtL1vCXc9km0WRrI/edit?usp=sharing

For my capstone, I decided to create a BSU Archive. The purpose of my capstone is to give future leaders of BSU a guide full of tips and tricks so they can run the club easier and more efficiently. It has a series of google docs and videos that discuss key concepts that will be helpful in running the club successfully. As the President of BSU 2020, I recognize that in order for the club to grow each leader will need to build on the progress from the last. This project will provide the tools to do that.

Hey guys! For my senior capstone, I decided to create a website that would be a platform to donate dresses. My original plan was to collect dresses and then hold an in-person prom drive. Due to COVID-19, this was not possible. The dresses that I collect will be used for the following prom season. (2021) Although I was not able to attend my senior prom I attend my junior prom so I knew first hand the financial strain that attending prom brings to a family. If I can help someone to allow another girl to attend her prom I am glad to do so. The process of my capstone was a very challenging one and I faced many obstacles along the way. When looking at the process of how a prom drive could be possible I began to think of the benefits this would bring. I started by getting the word out through social media. Then once I had those who were willing to at I made them sign a contract stating they were giving there dresses away. Switching gears to the website which is that I am the most exciting. This website is easy to maneuver around. I believe this is very important because it helps all backgrounds to be able to access a dress if needed. In the end, I was able to collaborate with girls all over the city to donate dresses. I set a goal of 30 dresses when starting this journey I have fallen short by just a few dresses. With your help, I could reach my goal ;)

Link to Annotated Bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/18z7UfjLaoshTh4Rb-Y68C_vBbciwWcS6-T-IAhSPWLc/edit

website link: https://oadebayo20.wixsite.com/mysite

For the final senior project of the year, I decided to learn how to play the piano. Which I have been focusing on for the whole school year. However, my intentions were to learn how to play this instrument and then play it for the school. Not just for the school but for graduation, which both plans have been ruined due to the pandemic. My main reasoning for choosing to take on the piano and performance was to see how far I could challenge myself in a short amount of time of learning something new. I wanted to bare the fruits of my labor and be able to show it to my peers and community. During the time of this idea, the Science Leadership community has gone through hard times, being forcefully relocated on multiple occasions. This has brought stress to the individual students, parents, and faculty of the community. As a result, I wanted to play music for everyone to ease those struggling times.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1No1ir_ZeISNykPcTvXEEB27mS_2gW5ezFemmen9IuTk/edit?usp=sharing

For my Capstone, I wrote a play to share with my community. Originally, I would have also put the play on had the school year not ended too soon. I wanted my senior project to be about something that I find joy in, but also challenged me. Theatre has always had a special place in my heart and is a passion I know I will have for a long time, leading my interest to a project in that field. I knew that putting on the play would be the easier and more enjoyable portion for myself, but writing a play from scratch would be the part of this project that challenged me the most. I wanted my project to be something that other students at SLA interested in theatre could be a part of and create together. Now, I hope my play can teach students about playwriting itself, or give them inspiration for a topic. In order to complete this Capstone, I did the most thinking without writing for a long time. I continued to go back and forth on my ideas, struggling to stick on one. However, after the huge amounts of brainstorming and doubting my own ideas, when I eventually landed on one I felt excited about, I began to write. After that, a large part of playwriting was receiving feedback from my peers to then revise and make it better. I am incredibly proud of myself for putting the work in and making something that I enjoy. Secondly, I am very proud that I so accurately captured the feel of the story I told.

Below is an excerpt of my play:

(Dimitri stands up, removes an inflatable couch from his backpack and shakes it until it’s inflated. While this is happening the rest of the counselors are having low murmured conversations, laughing, and lounging around. Also while this is happening Reese and Ella are close together and laughing.) (Dimitri sits down on the couch. Reese goes and sits beside him, while Ella follows behind. Everyone is still in their respective groups. The three of them sit on the couch, Ella and Reese remain looking at each other and sitting close together)

Link to my Are You Aware? Website: https://sites.google.com/view/are-you-aware/home

Bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zMBTXoHqsaeRLXcWYHKach_YpLunvsGpG8C_e6nOX1M/edit?usp=sharing