Project Reflection #2

 -What happened over the last cycle?

Since the last time I posted, quite a bit has happened. I've begun to realize how much I will need to accomplish in such a short time. This class is a quick eight-week section, and we are already five-ish weeks in! In the last couple days I've gone back over the assignment requirements for my educational product. There are quite a few components required for a quality educational product to be delivered. While I would love to be ambitious and accomplish a massively impactful product, I need to be mindful I really only have two more weeks to get it done at this point in time. What makes it even more difficult is the holiday season is right upon us with Thanksgiving. In addition to all this, I have 20 credits this semester worth of work to get through. Talk about an overload! Some of the options my professor gave us of an educational product are youtube videos, blogs, facebook pages, or instagram accounts. There is a wide breadth of different options we could deliver for our final product. I need to stay mindful of my audience as well, and what is an effect way to deliver my product to my audience.At the end of developing this educational product, I must give TedTalk style presentation about the efficacy of my product. Knowing I now have all the components laid out in front me, I am confident I get all the puzzle pieces in place. Let's get to work and bust it out!

(wc: 254)

            -What did you learn (be specific!)?

I really learned the scope of the project since my last post and the parameters I will be working in. One major component of this project is developing an annotated bibliography of sorts. This bibliography will be added into a "Wiki" of resources for me and my other classmates to use. My topic of choice is Mass Incarceration and the Criminal Justice System. I feel drawn to this issue personally since I have personal family members that have been incarcerated for extended periods of time. From my own personal experience from hearing testimony from my relatives and from the initial research I've done, I've learned is a deeply layered and complex issue. There are many factors that stem into the cause of mass incarceration, and there are many players in the game keeping it alive. Some articles I have found have showed me that mass incarceration hosts many problems: poor living conditions, poor medical treatment, common re-conviction of felons, and these have only been exasperated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. I also started to learn about the history of mass incarceration, and how the War on Drugs really amped up the carceral state in the United States. I also am learning the Netflix original Series, Orange Is The New Black was quite forward at the time of its creation. While the show is a dramatization of a singular woman's experience in the industrial prison complex, many elements of the show ring true for the actual individuals incarcerated. I'm excited to dive further into my studies within this project.

(WC: 258)

            -What challenges did you face?

The challenges I faced since my last post were quite immense. I am on track to graduate in May, and in the process of completing transfer applications for Fall of next year (whoop whoop!). While I'm excited at this next step in my journey, I truly didn't expect the amount of work it would require to complete all my applications. I am a theater major applying for acting programs, so in addition to my regular common application essays, transcripts, and recommendations, I have to prepare multiple monologues for auditions. Most programs in light of COVID require what are called "pre-screens auditions" which are pre-taped videos of your monologues you send in. I've never done this before, so I face this new challenge in addition to my school coursework! I consider myself a great performer, but I have never had to be a director, cinematographer, and editor before. Not to mention to challenge of time-- there are approximately only two weeks left in this course and I have to deliver an educational product and meet my application deadlines. Did I forget to mention that Thanksgiving and the holiday season is slowly upon us as well? Not to be dramatic, but shizz is hitting the fan! The challenge of staying focused, staying prepared and on task will be critical and vital to my success in this course. 

(WC: 227)

            -What are your next steps?

Thankfully my next steps in this course are laid out well before me. My first step is deciding on what type of educational product I want to deliver for this class. For my topic of Mass Incarceration and Systemic Racism, there is so much knowledge and information I am learning for the first time. I had no idea there were so many groups, networks, initiatives, and organizations compiling research and data on this issue. There are also many groups actively working with incarcerated individuals to alleviate many issues they face. Deciding on a product, I want to be able to highlight the information I am learning and present it to my audience in a very digestible way. I am leaning towards creating an instagram account, facebook page, or a twitter feed where I can share the information I am compiling. In our 21st global world, we are seeing an ever increasing leaning on digital media and marketing strategies. I feel a digital educational product will be a great fit. In addition to selecting my product and beginning the working on it, I need to complete and submit my source list on Mass Incarceration. I will need to find a few more sources and complete some summary write-ups on each of the sources I choose. After that, I also have video discussions in class I am required to complete. These video discussions pair hand in hand with our weekly literature circles. I have a full plate this Thanksgiving, and it's time to get chowing down!

(WC: 255)