Kara Rosenberg's Capstone
Over the course of my four years in high school, I have been diagnosed with anxiety, watched it grow, and learned how to overcome it. Anxiety is a part of my everyday life. At first, I felt alone, but then I realized how many other people suffer from the same problems I do. I decided to create a capstone that reflects how many people have anxiety, and how different anxiety can look from person to person. The goal of my capstone was to not only show people these differences, but to also simply spread awareness of how common anxiety is and can be.
I created a blog where I, for the first time, publicly told my story with anxiety. Not only did I post my story for the world to see, but I regularly posted my daily feelings of anxiousness. This aspect of my project helped me deal with my anxiety in a way I wasn't used to. I also interviewed people who wanted to share their stories with anxiety. I conducted 5 filmed interviews of my SLA peers, and many written interviews of people of all kinds. With the filmed interviews, I created a montage film of all of the interviews combined. This video clearly displays how different anxiety can be.
My goal is to continue the blog after graduation. I also hope to create a submission space for visitors to post their stories on my blog. I started the blog in March, after my original capstone of a pet adoption event fell through, which is why the blog posts don't start until then.
Bibliography:
I completed a bibliography for my old capstone, which is what I received my original grade for:
1. "Buying vs. Adopting." Pet Adoption: Why Adopting Is More Humane than Buying. American Humane Association. Web. 03 Feb. 2016.
This article discusses the difference between buying and adopting an animal. It explores the benefits of both, but goes into depth on how to go about buying an animal from a responsible breeder. This source is mostly informative, however it is a little biased towards adopting animals rather than buying. This source also defines what a responsible breeder is, and how to tell the difference between responsible and responsponsible breeders. This source will help me most when making flyers about breeders. I don’t want to make it seem like all breeders are bad, so this will help me inform people on how to responsibly buy an animal if they choose to do so.
2. Stilwell, Victoria. "Shelter vs Breeder." Positively. Victoria Stilwell. Web. 03 Feb. 2016.
Victoria Stilwell is a world renowned dog trainer. This source is her blog, Positively, where she tells you everything you need to know about owning a dog. This article explores the pros and cons of both adopting an animal and buying an animal from a breeder. Some of the benefits she lists of adopting a pet is that you will save an animal’s life, most animals already have their vetting, and most of them are already potty trained. However, some of the challenges she lists are that some of the animals have had traumatic pasts, so it’s unclear how they will act in your home, and also that the animals may be mutts, so you won’t know their breed. It is a truly unbiased view from a very credential professional. This source will be beneficial to my project. I will mostly be using this for background information for my flyers.
3. Best Friends. How to Conduct Successful Adoption Events. Kanab: Best Friends. Print.
This manual is arguably the most valuable source to my capstone. It is an extremely extensive manual that walks you through every step to running a successful adoption event. Best Friends, who published the manual, is an organization dedicated to saving the lives of homeless animals, and now all animals. They started off with opening animal sanctuaries around the nation, and now they have multiple spay/neuter clinics as well. This manual first lists steps that you need to take to organize an event, then it also gives resources such as a timeline as to how to plan and conduct the event, as well. It is clear how I will use this source, as I will use it as my guide to completing this project as a whole.
4. "Success Stories." Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society PAWS. Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society PAWS. Web. 03 Feb. 2016.
This is a page dedicated to animal success stories from PAWS, the shelter I am partnering with for my capstone. There are many different stories about different animals’ lives- how they got to the shelter to where they are now. I’m planning on using success stories as advertisements for my adoption event, and also for the pro-adoption campaign part of my project. However, I don’t know if I’m going to use the stories on this episode or if I’m going to use actual people that I know. If I can’t find anyone in real life, I’ll probably use these stories. I also have an idea to use these stories for flyers and maybe take videos of interviews of people I know since those might be more in depth.
5. "Ten Reasons to Adopt a Pet." The Humane Society of the United States. The Humane Society of the United States, 9 July 2015. Web. 03 Feb. 2016.
The Humane Society is definitely on the side of adopting rather than buying animals. This source is an article published by the Humane Society, listing ten reasons why everyone should adopt a pet. The reasons range from that you’ll save a life to because you’ll get to brag to your friends. One reason that really stood out to me was that by adopting an animal from a shelter, you’re ultimately fighting against puppy mills. Puppy mills are factories for breeding puppies, and put profit over the dogs’ lives. After every reason, there is a description supporting it. This source is also important for background information to use for my posters and advertisements.
6. Brandow, Michael. A Matter of Breeding: A Biting History of Pedigree Dogs and How the Quest for Status Has Harmed Man's Best Friend. Boston: Beacon, 2015. Print.
Michael Brandow’s A Matter of Breeding is crucial to my project. This book is about how purebred dogs are always on demand, however it’s not because people want to honor a tradition, but because purebreds are a status symbol for success. The book goes in depth on the history of dog breeding, and how our focuses have shifted from the well being of the animal to our own appearance. These poorly thought of animals are paying the price with bad health, while the owners show them off like trophies. This book is great for turning people off of breeding. I think that this will be a great aspect to my project, whether I use it in posters, advertisements, or an introduction on my website.
7. Walkowicz, Chris, and Bonnie Wilcox. Successful Dog Breeding: The Complete Handbook of Canine Midwifery. New York: Howell Book House, 1994. Print.
Bonnie and Chris’s Successful Dog Breeding is a guide to breeding. Both of the authors are long time dog breeders, citing their personal experiences throughout the chapters. The book is aimed towards any person who is interested in dog breeding, whether it’s your first time or you’re a long time dog fancier. The book is made up of personal experiences from the authors and other breeders, and also from research from veterinary journals. This book is a good source for my project as it argues the other side, that breeding is worth-while and a great option. It also gives a lot of information to inform me on how breeding actually works.
8. Garecht, Joe. "How to Build Your Prospect List." The Fundraising Authority. The Fundraising Authority. Web. 04 Feb. 2016.
The Fundraising Authority is an organization on fundraising. Their website is very informative, explaining the steps to take if you need to fundraise for an event. This specific article explains how to build your prospect list. A prospect list maps out the people who will be donating to your cause. One of the points they give is that the closer your relationship is to a person, the more likely they are to donate. However, they also say that you shouldn’t limit your donors to those who you know, because there are many people in the world who probably want to donate to your cause that you simply don’t know about. This source is crucial to my project, as the main part of my capstone is an event that I will most likely need money to run. This will help me fundraise for my event and know the right people to ask for donations.
9. "City of Philadelphia: FAQ." Managing Director's Office. The City of Philadelphia. Web. 04 Feb. 2016.
This source is the frequently asked questions page of the managing director’s office of Philadelphia. The questions specifically relate to special events. Most of the questions have to do with permits, and what permits you need to receive to host a public event. One part of this website that is very important to my project lists what open spaces you can rent out for an event. This is important because while I don’t know where I am having my adoption event yet, it may be outside, so I will be needing to get a permit and file a lot of paperwork to conduct it. This FAQ lists all of the questions I could possibly have when thinking of conducting the event outside, so it is very important for the planning aspect of my capstone.
10. Rubenstein, Eliza, and Shari Kalina. The Adoption Option: Choosing and Raising the Shelter Dog for You. New York: Howell Book House, 1996. Print.
Eliza and Shari’s book, The Adoption Option, explains the animal adoption process. It informs readers on how to go about choosing the right dog for their family by first determining what type of dog is best for you, and also how to find a good shelter to adopt from. The Adoption Option also gives very helpful information to how to raise your dog once you bring it home, and what to expect when it is transitioning from a life on the inside to the outside. This book is another good resource for my project explaining the adoption process. This can help me when I am actually at the adoption event and people don’t know what animal is best for them.
However, I did use this source for my current capstone:
"Understanding the Facts." Anxiety and Depression Association of America. Anxiety and Depression Association of America. Web. 19 May 2016.
This article published by the ADAA, Anxiety and Depression Association of America, explains what anxiety is. The article starts with a definition of anxiety, then some facts as well. What I find most interesting about this article is the chart that explains the differences between everyday anxiety and anxiety disorders. This chart in specific is very helpful for my capstone because it shows how the word “anxiety” can mean different things. Some people have an anxiety disorder, and others just have everyday anxiety, but they all are feeling some form of anxiety. This is a good foundation article for me to use for simple definitions of anxiety, especially for my blog.
Comments
No comments have been posted yet.
Log in to post a comment.