My Journey
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This is goodbye. This is 'My Last Bit.' What a journey this was. I can't believe that it has already come to an end. After a full school year of ISM, I've learned more about neurosurgery and neurology than I had ever learned before, and I cannot thank Coach Goff enough for leading me on this journey. This is like a bittersweet ending to my journey, as I'll still be here at Frisco High School, just not taking the class next year. I have a bit of regret for not choosing to make room in my schedule for ISM, but I know that this is a good ending point to my ISM journey. I learned so much, and now I have so many new opportunities and ideas for what I can do in upcoming years prior to entering college. While I did not get a mentor from UT Southwestern, I still learned so much under my dad and was able to do research for two projects that made me utilize higher-thinking skills and pour effort into. ISM made my junior year incredible, and I wish all future ISM students the best in their endeavors. Having followed in my sister's footsteps and taking ISM, this is the last daughter of the Joe Family signing off.
Last week, I was finally 'Done With My Final Product.' I cannot say how great it feels to have gotten over the two big hurdles in this year of ISM. The amount of work I had to put into this class exceeded or was equal to the work of a 6.0 weighted class. The experience was amazing, and this class has introduced me to the idea of shadowing and pursuing mentorships before I get opportunities in college. Anyway, final presentation night is coming very soon. I didn't do so good on my rehearsal speech, but I will definitely work in it this week. I'll be at my HOSA state conference, so I'll have a lot of time to rehearse and practice my speech. I just hope that I won't end ISM on a bad note, because I'm nervous that I'll say something factually incorrect in front of my audience or that my final product will be disappointing to some people. All these doubts are something that I have to get over, and while I'm nervous for final presentation night, I am also extremely excited. I didn't have as many chances to begin handing out invitations, but I do hope that my friends will still come to celebrate this moment with me.
While my progress for my final product has been steady, I can't lie that the stress has been slowly building up. I cannot believe that 'Final Product Is Due In Exactly One Week'! It's a little bit crazy that all the time was gone when I blinked my eyes. Nonetheless, I am fully prepared for the due date. I'm really excited to see what everyone else worked on for this semester of ISM. I'm also a bit melancholic that this is going to be the last time that I will work on a big project for ISM. It was a great experience being able to work under a mentor and work on research that I was truly interested in, and I may do a mentorship outside of ISM, but it will be difficult to manage without a class period that I can use to dedicate to my work. I was considering not doing an AP class next year so that I could make room for ISM, but the amount of stress that I have due to constant deadlines makes me satisfied that I was a part of this program for a year. Anyway, final product is due exactly a week from now, and I cannot wait to see what everyone has done!
We are almost in the month of April, and 'Final Presentation Night Is Fast Approaching'. I am extremely excited but slightly nervous. While my progress has been steady for my final product, I have yet to completely finish anything aside from my research assessments that I did for this project, but I plan to change that by the end of the week. Some goals that I have set are to finish my product proposal by the end of the week, have Dr. Joe look through it, make any revisions, and then use the rest of my time making graphics to accompany my product proposal. I've already begun to write my rough draft of my product proposal, so finishing it will be a simple task as long as I continue to pace myself and complete a little bit of it every day. I hope that my product will be something that I can proudly show Dr. Joe and Coach Goff, but even if that is not the case, I will still be glad that I set up the footwork for a project that I can possibly expand on in my years of college. With the lack of funding I have and available resources, I'm unable to materialize this product, but I still believe that a proposal for the product gets the point across and allows people to envision how this product could possibly contribute to the medical community.
It is finally time to 'Start On My Actual Final Product.' I researched shunting, researched some more, consulted with Dr. Joe, and now it is time to finally begin working on my final product. I plan to make a design for my design, but more importantly, I need to write up a product proposal for the functions of the product and what exactly it adds to normal pseudotumor cerebri shunting. In this coming week, I think what I'll do is write my draft and then have Dr. Joe help revise it and make edits to it. It feels strange working on a project for an entire semester and then only being able to turn in a written proposal for said product, but with the funding that I have now and materials on hand, this is the best that I will be able to do. I do think that looking back, I would have regretted doing a surgery for my final product just because it does not contribute half that a shunt with a pressure reading would give to the medical community. Nonetheless, I have a lot of work to do this week, and I look forward to finishing it and receiving feedback from Dr. Joe soon.
Over spring break, although I did not take the time to research more about pseudotumor cerebri shunting, I had 'My Longest Mentor Visit Ever'. The convenience of having my father as my mentor allowed me to stay at his office for seven and a half hours, in which I was able to see him perform a variety of tests, diagnose his patients, and listen to the ailments his patients have. Surprisingly, on that specific day, there were many patients that came in with migraines, headaches, or problems with seizures. I thought it was interesting at how many patients Dr. Joe gets that fall into the category. Another thing I was able to see was Dr. Joe performing more memory tests. After having seen more than five memory tests being performed on a variety of patients, it becomes clear which patients have early signs of dementia and those who do not. I also saw that while some people did have early signs of dementia, there were also patients who simply took the test due to their medications causing them to have brain fog. In terms of my final product, I will complete my research on pseudotumor cerebri shunting and then consult Dr. Joe about the next step I should take in order to complete my final product.
This is the second time that I am saying this: ISM Showcase is this week! 'This Week For Sure,' ISM Showcase is happening this Wednesday. While I was disappointed that it was cancelled last week due to weather changes, I am almost glad. Last week I had orchestra UIL that Wednesday, so I woke up at 5:15 am, and although I was prepared to stay out until 8:45 pm, I was still dreading it. This week is much better, but I do have the SAT on Wednesday. Nonetheless, it is an exciting event that is worth the sacrifice. I am so excited to see what everyone else has accomplished, and I am excited to be able to put present my original work and move on to my final product. I also saw that this week, we will be having an almost progress check for our final product. To be completely honest, my work for my final product has been minimal as I have not had a mentor visit in a short while. I do plan to have one on Thursday, but I will have to confirm with Dr. Joe. I think that Thursday would be a good time to briefly discuss my final product some more as I did research in the past few weeks that allowed me to form questions to ask Dr. Joe.
ISM 'Showcase Is Here'! I am so excited to be able to show off what I did in my first semester of ISM to the people I invited. I do have a few more invitations that I can give out, but I've invited all the people that I initially wanted to, so at this point, I will be giving my invitations to my classmates tomorrow. Although I am excited about showing off what I accomplished in my first semester, I am more excited to see what my peers have accomplished. Just in my class period, Alexis was able to make an entire court case, and Emily made an entire business plan. The others accomplished just as much. I am also nervous to see how my mentor will view my original work. I think looking back on my original work, I could have picked something that was more helpful to the community, but at the end of the day, I am still happy with what I accomplished and can only look forward to doing an even bigger project for my final product. Other than showcase this week, I am also looking forward to my second mentor visit on Friday. If things go according to plan, then I will have the time to go to Dr. Joe's practice once again. This week is big!
This week, 'Showcase Is Soon.' I am getting ready to finish up my trifold, and I am surprisingly pleased with how it looks. I do believe that it could have been more proportional to my display board plan, though. I enjoy the process of assembling my trifold and am excited that the date is slowly approaching closer and closer. While I am nervous about the event, it is extremely exciting and I look forward to being able to show my peers and family members what I worked on in my first semester of ISM. Last week, I had my first mentor visit, so I'm unsure if I will end up having another mentor visit this coming Thursday. I might, but I'm also unsure. Dr. Joe told me that I can come any time that I am available, but I'm not sure if I am available because I believe that is a mandatory attendance class period of ISM. This week, I also have to get my digital portfolio finalized for showcase, which is something that I also look forward to doing. Something I realized in ISM is that I enjoy the feeling of being productive and learning about something that I am truly passionate about.
I was disappointed last week that the snow and ice disabled me from being able to attend my first mentor visit. But, I can confidently say that 'This Week Is Really My First Mentor Visit' and there are no doubts about it. I am excited to be able to discuss with my mentor about my final product and how I can begin working on it. Other than that, ISM is going to be very busy in these upcoming weeks. We have to have our display board completed by Friday, so I need to get started on that. I already have the plan, but I just need to print everything out and ensure that the board is exactly how I want it to look. I believe that the only difficulties that I will have is making sure the proportions are correct and cutting out the letters to make sure that it looks good. I am more so nervous for the actual presenting part of the showcase, in which I will have to speak in front of the people who I invited. Although I am confident in my original work, I have my doubts in how much effort it looks like I put into it and how my mentor will view it. Nonetheless, I am extremely excited to have finally reached the point in ISM where I am presenting the work that I have completed.
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AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
May 2022
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