Reflection on "You and the World Project"

I really enjoyed working on this project for English. There are many issues in this world that I follow casually (for example, talking about racism or gun control at the dinner table) and it felt good to “officially” research and delve deeper into one of those issues. Reproductive freedom (the topic I focused on) is a big mess of injustice, sexism, and many other things, and it is an incredibly frustrating thing to read about, especially as a young woman. All in all, though, I think my project went well. I was able to fully form concepts, ideas, and arguments about reproductive freedom that I would not have been able to articulate before we began, and I am much more well-read in the topic now. I am especially glad that we had to actually do something to help our issue, because before, I’d always complain but not actually act. The blog posts made it possible for me to reflect on my work along the way and give more thought to my project. I think that my blog posts were “glows” because they felt easy to write (in the way that I had so much to say), and I felt satisfied with my results. I think that my interview questions were also pretty strong (so much so that the woman with whom I was coordinating the interview said I was basically asking for a “program report”). Some “grows” were my timing with my interviewee, because there seemed to be lots of miscommunication there - I ended up having to turn in my blog post two and half weeks late.

For my research, I wish I’d read more about the technical aspects of who makes what decisions how. I know about the general way things work, but I don’t know, for example, who in Pennsylvania is the most powerful in terms of decisions or sending things to Congress. I wish I’d learned a bit more about how people my age can get involved (without a long internship) and help out my issue.

My original research went really well. I was able to speak to Adrienne Ralston, part of OIC of America. The program she is in goes around to schools and provides a sex-ed class for a semester. I interviewed her over the phone (she spent over an hour speaking to me!) and got lots of insight and information about my topic. I would not change anything about my original research. I do wish it had happened earlier, though, but that was not my fault.

I think that my Agent of Change went well - I got more than the number of signatures I was hoping to get. I don’t know if the petition has been sent out yet, but it feels good to know that I made a change. I’m hoping that there will be some results from this petition, and I will try to check the website every now and then to see.