The Opioid Epidemic

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1T1jw75y7E7jFlFu-1pjUIwYY7WAzoBjB/view?usp=sharing

For my capstone, I created a mini YouTube-style documentary that was around 10 minutes long and talked about the history of opioids. It talks about how the drug works, how it became an epidemic, the solutions that have been implemented, and what should be done to deal with the issue. Throughout the video, I combined real photos and AI-generated images to bring attention to certain words and information that I talked about in the video. I also used background music to intensify and draw attention to important points.

My goal while creating the capstone was to bring more attention to the opioid epidemic. As a resident of Philadelphia, I frequently see news about fentanyl overdoses and see homeless people who appear to suffer from drug addiction either while using Septa or while walking through city hall. The thing I’m proud of during the creation of this documentary was getting new skills and doing things I didn’t think I could do before. For example, at first I thought it would be challenging to talk to a camera and edit the video since these aren’t skills I had before, but I was able to do both successfully. I am also proud that my video conveys the core message I intended to communicate.

Website (with bibliography): https://sites.google.com/scienceleadership.org/fortheloveofthrifting?usp=sharing

I created a website with a guide for thrifting in Philly, while educating viewers on the topic of thrifting and its benefits vs. alternative, more common methods of shopping. I made purchases at most of the stores I visited and used them to curate outfits and photographed them on myself and 3 other models. I knew I wanted to do something related to clothing and fashion, and when my first idea didn’t pan out due to funds I thought doing something based on thrifting, an affordable alternative which I am passionate about, would be a good idea. I learned a lot about what thrifting means to low income communities and how gentrification has poorly impacted them, yes in terms of affordable housing, but also affordable clothing. Thrifting has long been a method of acquiring affordable clothing in low income communities for the working class. It has since been noticed as a trend by middle class citizens who have hijacked the business model and blurred the line between thrifting and reselling more expensive or rarer items, sometimes for even higher prices. This new demand has caused many thrifts to appeal to these wealthier customers, thus taking away from those working class citizens. One of my greatest joys this year has been thrifting and putting together new looks and people have started to notice. Underclassmen have been coming up to me asking where I got pants or a jacket and I’m happy to tell them to come watch my capstone presentation to give them some sauce so they can expand their own closets with something unique and true to them.

The Car Maintenance Guide For First Time Car Owners was a guide designed to help new car owners. Not only was it made for first time car owners but it could be used by people who may have had more than one car and yet still don’t understand much about what certain parts of their cars do or are telling them.

In the beginning of my capstone I had originally planned to do an EMT course and demonstrate my skills and understanding from the course to help educate others at our school. In the end I didn’t get much support therefore I had to change my capstone to another passion I had. This passions prime focus was on cars.

I have always loved cars since I was a young kid, but what I loved more was taking things apart and putting them back together. I was a Lego kid, and one summer I got the chance to work on someone’s car and try and figure out what part of the car did what and how did it work? with all these questions I wanted to know more.

For my capstone I decided I would try and understand as much about certain car parts not just for myself but to also inform others so they can fix there car without having to pay someone a lot of money for a maintenance that they could do on their own. This became my capstone, which was to make a guide to help inform those who don’t know much about their own car.

Quick to Save is an app that I designed and developed to teach people in the moment how to perform CPR and rescue breaths. The app provides clear step by step instructions through videos and pictures. A feature unique to this app is its ability to track the user’s location and display it on the screen both by coordinates and an exact address. If a user is unaware of their location then this feature would help them relay this information to emergency services.

Most of my time was spent thoroughly researching CPR and how to make simple projects in Swift. In addition to my CPR research, I talked to two CPR certified people as well as a CPR instructor to make sure I had the most accurate and up to date information. From there my partner and I created six videos: three that were for each age group with water ingestion and three for regular CPR. Since both my partner and I were learning new coding languages we often leaned on each other for help a lot. In the end, I am proud of what I made but the process was not easy. It seemed that every step forward I took two steps backward. I quickly realized that taking breaks and having a positive outlook was going to allow me to have better progress. I also realized that getting stuck is progress too, it means that I’m learning how to do it as I go and that code may be more complex than the tutorials.

For my senior capstone project, I painted a mural on the SLA rooftop terrace. I collaborated with various members of the community including students, teachers, Braskem, and Mural Arts. Over this year, I have worked to make something that I would be proud to be a part of, an aspect of that was going on a personal journey. Creating this art was an experience with the community as well as an experience with myself and my artistic talent. I started by creating various sketches of the mural, by hand and also digitally. In my art design, I chose to feature many endangered marine animals, such as the blue whale, green sea turtle, hammerhead shark, and coral. I did not only want to make art that was inspirational, but also important. Once I had my plan for my art, I started to research materials. I collaborated with various artists who advised me on my art and helped me find supplies. I did extensive research on the proper materials for the wall. Once I got my materials, I got my design approved and started painting. As I painted, students were encouraged to help paint. Since the art was for the community, it made sense for the community to be able to come out and work on it. My biggest challenge throughout this process was creating the artwork itself, but I am proud of the work I have done.

Link to Annotated Bibliography

For my Capstone project I designed and painted a mural on the formerly ugly wall on my block. When I heard of this project, I almost immediately knew what I would be doing. I’ve always liked art, but mostly small things like drawing and small paintings. I knew going into this that a mural would be tough work, and I wasn’t wrong. Getting the materials for this was also tough, because of the way I chose to go about it. I decided that I would not be buying paint for this, so all the paint used here was either trashpicked or something I already had. After the design was done, I started sketching out my work on the prepped wall. Then I painted it. Painting took the longest out of everything, and was definitely the hardest. But I did finish, and I am happy with the product. This mural includes a welcome to my neighborhood, “Francisville”, a map of the place, and some architecture you will see when you visit. I went in on what would be good for my community on this project, and I think I succeeded. Having completed this project, I know all the mistakes I made along the way, and have learned so much. For example, don’t mix oil based paint with acrylic paint because it will turn into sludge. But more importantly, doing something kind for your community is very important, and something everyone should try and do, no matter the size of the action.

Seen above is the completed mural that I designed and painted with all recycled (or trash picked) paint.

“Song of The Heart” is a book that aims to teach students how to songwrite. The book features basic music theory, song analysis, my personal experiences, and writing prompts and tips to help students navigate the songwriting process. To create this book, I had to plan the chapters and their order, listen to and analyze songs, read sources, find images, and write everything comprehensibly. I spent time editing, creating the covers, planning the format, creating a template for song analysis, and structuring the information. All of my hours were spent creating an over 130-page book. Most of my ideas about how to create the book were run by my mentor, Mr. Speaks, to see if it would help. I also relied on what I thought would be helpful to think about as a songwriter.

Through creating this book, I learned about the history of the different genres I covered. Each section was prefaced with a summary of the historical background of the genre in America that contributed to its evolution through several decades. It helped me gain a clearer sense of the connections between different genres of music, despite how different they sound. I also learned a bit about how music theory can be applied to song analysis. After learning about music theory, specifically chord progressions, I noticed the same concepts in the songs I listened to. If I listened for long enough, I would also be able to hum the progressions.

Song of The Heart: A Guide To Songwriting https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GpTgKHfGaFufm11YPa2ISMoKYDML6OpX/view?usp=sharing