Final Project and Presentation (Inspired Post 8)

When we originally picked topics for this project, I was pretty much open to any idea that wasn't super technical or very much based in science. I had no idea the depth of understanding that would be required, nor the amount of time that I would eventually put into the project. Our group put in more time on this single project than I have ever put in to a project in my life. For four weeks, every Sunday night, we met for two to three hours to work on the initial part of the project. Yet it wasn't until we were preparing for the presentation that we were actually able to put all of our ideas together and really gain an in-depth understanding of the issue at hand.

Today, we met at 4:00pm and it is 10:25pm and we are still going.

This is about how I feel after concentrating intently for over 6 hours....

I have never experienced such dedication to a project in my entire schooling career. Perhaps it is because it is an honors class, but I have drawn a separate conclusion. I believe that the intensity of having to give the presentation in front of a panel of judges initially led us to become completely invested in actually understanding as many facets of the problem as possible. This is rare--usually students (myself included) work to complete projects as fast as possible while covering their bases in the most efficient manner possible. This project was different in that we actually cared about understanding the ins and outs of the entire problem and wanted to become experts on it.

Coming into the project, the amount of knowledge I had on the Mexican drug cartels was nothing more than they were bad, dangerous and were making it so people thought twice about traveling to Mexico. I had no idea about the root of this issue, the programs we currently had in place, or how to best go about solving the problem. I didn't even consider Latin America, Europe or North Africa having an effect on the problem that I had previously associated as only being between the United States and Mexico. I now feel that I can confidently explain the problem to anyone and be able to hold up my end of a conversation about it. That is what this class is about--understanding the importance of being active in current events. Back in August, I said that I was hoping to get back into current events (I was heavily involved in Speech and Debate in high school) after feeling trapped in the bubble that Penn State has put me in. I can honestly say that this class has helped me pop that bubble and helped me become a more informed, educated citizen.