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The you and the world project was a very fun project. I enjoyed doing it because it made me feel like I was making a difference. The only problem that I had with it was that the time frame for such a big project was small so a lot of things had to be rushed. Overall I feel like one of my biggest successes was the bake sale because I was able to raise over $200. The thing that I feel like I could’ve done better is trying do my interview in person, because I attempted to do my interview over the phone but the autism society wasn’t picking up.  

My original research went very well. I was able to get a large amount of info from the website of the Autism Society, I was also able to get flyers from them. If I were to do it differently I would order autism awareness shirts and sell those to raise money instead. The reason why I would prefer to sell shirts is that I feel like they would last longer and would be better than the flyers since people most likely threw away the flyers.

Hello everyone! It has been sometime since my first blog post. In my first blog post I was basically talking about how much this generation's youth is not educated on what to do and what not to do when approached by a stranger and just the statistics. I have dived even deeper into my topic and found lots of shocking information. During the time of my last blog post I have discovered a lot of different information such as the different tactics, the way that police deal with abductions, and how age relates to the motivation that the abductor would have to abduct someone. Not only did I find out new information but I got an interview with a detective that specializes in child abduction. I had an interview with Supervisory Special Agent Kevin McShane.

After having the interview with Supervisory Special Agent Kevin McShane I thought that it was really cool how I somewhat got to have child abduction broken down. I am very happy that I get to share my findings with all of my viewers because it is not everyday that you get the opportunity to have an interview with someone who is in control of all of the abductions that happen from Virginia to Maine. For my original research I was originally was going to interview a close family friend that was a police officer. That changed when I found out that my track coach had connections to a person that specialized in child abduction. It was very hard trying to get in contact with Supervisory Special Agent Kevin McShane because at first I never got to talk to him personally and I would always get whatever needed to be said, said through my track coach. Another problem that I had was trying to find time to actually have the interview because Supervisory Special Agent Kevin McShane is such a busy person.

Like I had said before I dived deeper into my topic by surfing the web hours a day. The most interesting website that I discovered was a website that had a lady named Rose Muara write about the time when she herself was abducted at the age of 7. It was so attention grabbing because she talked about the what she was thinking, how she was feeling, and how she planned to make it out alive. When you read her story you kind of get an insight on what it is like to be abducted but then again you still will never feel the fear like she did.

Having the interview with Supervisory Special Agent Kevin McShane really helped me with my PIC issue because it helped me narrow down what I wanted to do for my Agent Of Change, as Supervisory Special Agent Kevin McShane answered the question that I had my brain began to buzz with ideas. Even though I got the answers to the questions that I have I will always be curious as to how you could just snatch someone away from the rest of humanity and keep them held in captivity like an animal.

For my Agent Of Change I want to do an informational skit. I want to take one of the tactics that abductors use and at it out and then show what are the do's and dont's when you are in a situation where you are approached by a stranger.

• This is a picture that shows a stranger trying to get a kid to go with him by using candy to lure him in

• This is a really cool picture that is supposed to say that going into the van is scary because once you get into the van the only emotion that you will feel is fear.

This was by far my favorite project that I've done all year. Not only was this my favorite project of the year but one of the most stressful. When doing a project like this there are gonna be many major glows and grows and I had just a few.

My first blog post was very exciting to write but I was also nervous about say the same thing over and over again. When doing the research I had to look at different accredited resources that gave me great information. The problem I had with this is that most of the websites said the same thing over and over again. So it took a lot of research for me to get to 500 words in that blog post. I wish I could go back and go more into detail about different types of childhood cancer and which ones are curable and not curable.

My blog post number two was definitely the most exciting. My interview was one of the best things I've done so far in my life. I was finally able to show someone that they weren't forgotten about by the teenage community. When going into this interview I thought it would be very sad, but it turned out to be a really good teenage conversation. The person I interviewed was very down to earth and funny. This interview showed met that life is too short to walk around sad and mopey and to live each and every day like it's your last.

 Through this project, I have been inspired to be active in my beliefs, rather than passive. I now see that it is very important to not only express your passion through words, but also by being proactive.  For my research, I found extensive information about the impact mental illnesses has on society(i.e suicides, bullying), I wish I would have found more information about more ways the mental illness is broken and unrepaired.This would have definitely enhanced my first blog post because it would show my readers that the problems I described in my blog post actually exist. For my original research, I stumbled upon some disappointments such as getting no response from a lot of organizations and people whom I reached out to. This was discouraging ; however, it was not enough to stop my determination. Initially, I wanted to interview Eleanor Longdin because I had watched her Ted Talk, "The Voices In My Head", where she explained her struggles with mental illness and the reactions of others around her. I figured she would have a lot to say on my topic( America's broken mental health care system). I google searched her, hoping she would have a website, by which she could be contacted, but I was not that lucky. I soon realized, after research, that I would only be able to reach her through social media, which appeared to be a long shot, due to the many farce 'personal' accounts titled 'Eleanor Longdin' on twitter. I decided to abandon my pursuit of Longdin and instead use sources more local. I called about five psychology professors at Penn, but got no response, which is expected looking back in hindsight.  After those attempts failed, I used one of the closest sources available: The teachers and students at SLA. I first created a survey that gauged the knowledge of my freshmen peers about the broken system. I decided to do this because I wanted to reach out to the youth because we are future leaders. Moreover, I interviewed Jevon Price and Ms.Menasion, my advisor, about their opinions on the dull mental health care discussion and how the discussions are resuscitated by tragedy(Newtown).  I decided to interview Ms.Menasion, not only because she is very supportive, but also because she is a special education teacher. Her responses were insightful and very helpful. Ultimately, I felt equipped with my 50 survey responses and two interviews, although that is not originally what I wished my original research to compile of. If I could change anything, I would have used sources closest to me(family, friends, teachers, etc.). My Agent of Change was trifold, including two collaborations.  I was not originally planning to collaborate, however, when I was aked by Opoku to help out with hi bake sale raising money for Autism Awareness, I knew I had accept because it was my very own autistic brother who inspired my topic for this project. Together, we donated $245 to an Autism Awareness Research office in New Jersey. I felt like we made an impact because we contributed to research, which will find new treatments and therapies. Also, we created awareness within our school by distributing autism informative brochures to those who bought our baked goods. Next, I decided to give a presentation at TFI to educate my peers and bring awareness to the gaps in our nation's mental health care system. I found this to be very successful, despite video uploading errors, because my audience looked genuinely interested in what I had to say and I received a lot of compliments afterwards. At last, I combined forced with Jae Regino and Jhazzelle Majarucon and created a social anxiety awareness website. I am really happy with the way it turned out. It is both aesthetically pleasing and educational. Jhazzelle, through her own research,  even discovered the already existing tongue twister challenge, which brought awareness to the complexities of the lives of the socially anxious.  I really enjoyed my three-part Agent of Change awareness-bringing activities and do would not change them if I had another chance.

In my Blog Post #1 and Blog Post #2, I gave a tiny overview on Leukemia and what I did to learn more about it. Blog Post #1 was why I decided to do some research on the topic and my ties with it. Blog Post #2 was where I went to develop more information on the topic and explain even more facts to those who are concerned. And now I have reached my third Blog Post, and boy was it depressing.

Originally for my Agent Of Change, I was going to apply to the Ronald McDonald House of Charities to try my best and volunteer at a Family Room at The Children's Hospital to entertain and provide hope to different leukemia and cancer patients. Unfortunately for me, even when they promised a reply from their office in three days via email, I have yet to receive one. With my hope slowly deteriorating, I fled to The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's website to submit another application for a one-time volunteering option. This time, the response time was a day at least. I believed that I had found my Agent Of Change yet again! Instead, I was emailed back almost instantly, stating that options was "No Longer Valid for Volunteering Options". I hope scattered, I believed my chances were slim for getting an uplifting grade on this project. I had only one option left, and I needed as much help as I could get. So I emailed my fellow classmates in Orange Stream and asked them to wear an orange specific shirt or accessory to show support for this cause.

And I was surprised by how much cooperation I had received!

For my research, I wish I had found sources outside of my school, to add more information to my survey results. I also could have gotten adults to fill out my survey, because I mainly got students from the school to fill it out. I want to know to whether certain individuals reacted in a way that was different from doing nothing. Were there any physical or verbal fights, because one was simply labeled?  I only want to know that, because in the survey, I just asked how they felt, but now I want to know whether they reacted out of those feelings they had.

For my original research, I did I survey and sent it out to the girls in the school. The sad part about it is the fact that not many people took it, and ever since I added a question, some people retake it. If I were to it again, I would first make sure I have a draft of the survey, before I send it out to people. The good thing is that people took it, otherwise I would have nothing for my research.

This project was the most interesting of them all, You and the World project actually changed my views on a lot of different things and it was because of the different project that everyone did. Some glows that I had were the presentation that I did in class, I thought that doing this project was the biggest glow because this project was so personal I feel like I'm helping my Mom in so many ways possible that I didn't think I could do. Some Grows that I have would be to continue this project outside of class because it become something that I enjoy doing. I enjoyed doing the Original Research, but lets start at the beginning of the project, I’m not talking about the Research part of the project I’m talking about the proposal. Coming up with a topic to actually research was a little difficult but the way I actually got my topic was from my Mom, she thought that doing this would raise awareness to the topic and get people thinking about it and though the entire project that was what I went by. Now the Research part of the project I was easy but I wish I could find more infomation on my Mom Ms so that I could share with all of you. It’s a lot still to be discovered and I will continue you update you guys if anything changes.

My Original Research was interviewing a doctor, which was scary. I thought that I wasn’t asking the right questions and getting enough information, but then I thought well it's good enough to actually write about. Things that I would do differently is maybe not have a bunch of kids there in the background making a lot of noise. I enjoyed doing the Original Research I thought that part of the project was most interesting part.

For my Agent of change, Me and My Family took part in the MS walk in late April to Early May. The walk raises money for research and new medicine, things like that maybe even finding a cure. I also did a presentation to the class, I was going to do it for advisory but plans got changed. I thought that it went well I just wish the entire class was there to see it. I hope to have a bigger impact and I’m thinking about doing something similar for capstones my senior year at SLA.

As an artist I use painting as a way to cope with my everyday life, especially situations I find stressful. I find the stroke of the paint brush calming and I am filled with a sense of pride whenever I finish a piece. My favorite way to paint is by using acrylic paints. I like to paint solid pictures or pictures that don’t involve a lot of blending with these. When I use water colors, I’m better at blending. I normally paint scenery whenever I use watercolors. Currently, I’ve been really interested in landscapes and fantasy paintings. I try to use these elements in my current work. I hope you enjoy my fourth quarter portfolio.

Something I wish I would have been able to do is having actually been able to do an interview with a victim though there was, and still is, a very slight chance that could be possible. I think that if I was to be able to do this, I would of found a lot of more personal information that would of been very interesting to my audience. So what I do want to know is basically just the other side of the story. The more detailed, more visual side. But I do think that what I accomplished with interviewing an expert on helping victims, was a great addition to my findings. This gave me a sense of what goes on from the personal researcher’s point of view and I believe that was what made my argument strong.

I think my overall performance was pretty great. With the resources I had and time frame, I feel that I did well with dealing with this Sex Trafficking issue. If I had to change this, like I said before I would see if I could actually meet a victim or listen in on a conversation of an expert with the victim because of the different type of information I would receive.

My audience seemed to have a positive response towards my project and seemed to have learned a lot from it and fairly enjoyed reading about it in my series of blog posts. I will not be able to know this information, but I hope that the people who stop to read my stickers actually visit the website that is being promoted and inform themselves on the issue going on around them. I also hope that they share the information with more people so that more of the community are aware of the situation.

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.