August, 2021 - Journal 1
Coming back to school after two years of being virtual was a complete change. The first week of school was a slow start but a little exciting because I was able to see my friends everyday after about two years of being isolated. One thing that I had to adapt to is my sleeping schedule, I have to wake up about an hour earlier. Within the first week I grew exhausted having to sit and learn for about 7 hours. A pro that came with this year is being able to leave early for the whole first half of school. Even though I was tired during school I grew excited to go because of being able to socialize. The world around me was going through a crisis in Afghanistan as the Taliban people took it over and terrorized the Afghanistan that lived within. That unfortunate incident taught me a lesson that frequently returns, to be grateful for what you have because other people don’t have it as good. The times where I get upset about having to wake up early, do chores, or not getting something I want, I think about the people who have to fight for their lives. As the senior year started and new classes were introduced, I met one of the coolest teachers, Mrs. Boutilier. The famous capstone was also introduced to me and it took me by surprise because of how easy it is to get behind. I started capstone believing that I was going to be working with kids for charity or make bracelets to sell for charity but I shortly realized that those ideas weren’t going to work out for me. As I kept brainstorming ideas to work on, I fell behind from where I’m supposed to be at in terms of progression. Some students already have mentors, planned events, and are ready on their project but I can’t let that falter me from working on my capstone project. I am doing the SMSA cares project to help people earn money for their donations instead of people using their own money. I am designing bracelets for the school with SMSA cares in it which is something I planned on doing from the beginning. I recently went to a SMSA and Wethersfield football game. They both were a good experience as both teams won their separate games. I plan on being more active involving school and school events. I believe when my project starts to come together I’ll be able to progress and grow along with my project as a person. I plan to start looking more into college as the year progresses. I hope to mature with the new year and pass this year with “flying colors”.
September, 2021 - Journal 2
September was a decent month with school and personal life. I started customizing the bracelets for the SMSA Cares. I went through multiple websites to make the bracelets look nice and stylish to my classmates and I. I finally got a website where I could make the bracelets how I wanted and for a reasonable price. I made the bracelets black and blue with white text that says SMSA CARES on it along with tiger print photos and Mrs. Boutilier purchased 300 bracelets for the price of $100. The date for them to be shipped will be the 15th of October. I got a mentor for my capstone, her name is Anne Nguyen and she’s a business/marketing teacher at Rocky Hill high school. I contacted her to be my mentor and she kindly accepted and I also contacted her about my flyers but she has yet to get back to me about it. I plan on emailing her again about it. I have a lot of papers due this marking period. I believe that I have grown mentally throughout the first semester as I stopped making excuses for everything that I needed to do. I still often procrastinate doing certain tasks and I have to work on fixing that problem. My perspective changed on how I viewed certain things in life. Seeing the shooting incident in Texas made me realize not to take life for granted. We believe that school is a safe space to be but in reality a tragedy can strike at any moment. We don’t know what goes on in other people’s lives and yet we tend to provoke others. I attended my school’s football games where there were some losses and some wins. I also attended some Wethersfield’s high school football games with my very good friend Robert. Robert and I also hung out a few times more and all of my friends went to a surprise party for Daniel Ruiz even though he was spoiled the surprise. I helped my Uncle with doing some work at the Convention Center in Hartford and got my first ever paycheck which felt great to earn my own money and help my mother. At this point right now in my life I am stuck at looking for a job and getting my license. I’ve been applying for jobs around my area but I have yet to receive any offers from anyone. As for my license I have to talk to my father about the driving school he’s supposed to put me in. I believe that these minor setbacks can be overcome if I put some effort into my actions.
October, 2021 - Journal 3
In the month of October I believe I've done what I wanted to do and that’s being the best I’ve could've. My goals for quarter one were to do well in all my classes by averaging a B and above. I did exactly that by doing all my assignments with the exception of some late ones. I brought all of my grades up in my classes. I brought my psychology grade from a C- to a B by the end of marking period 1. With my fieldwork I feel as if I can improve by helping other people with their capstones. I believe I did well on my research paper and took the approach of a future graduate on it. I am proud that I brought that grade up because that was my lowest grade at the moment. My goals for marking period 2 is to have all my grades be a B+ or above grades and to get more moves on my capstone so I can get more fieldwork. My capstone project is still on hold because the bracelets were shipped but got stuck in Kentucky for about two weeks. I believe that happened because of the lack of truck drivers and the shipments being stuck out at sea. Other than that problem, my progression in Senior Seminar is doing well. I’ve done my best to do every assignment and on time too. I have to get better at organizing all my classes and work so I can get them all done on time. On the school field trip to the military rope course I learned that I like to be heard but I also back off if I am not heard. The teamwork for the trip wasn’t the best at most parts because everyone had their own ideas for the courses and we couldn’t get together to do the right thing to solve the course. I also learned that Sumeja is a horrible leader. Other than that the field trip was a fun experience and it was good to be free from school for a day. For the second quarter I need to work on my management skills.
November, 2021 - Journal 4
The second quarter of the first semester started and I did pretty bad at the very beginning as I failed my unit 2 math test. But I started to bring my grade up and it’s slowly starting to get back where I wanted it to. My baby niece got sick for about a week or two and my whole family were a little afraid of what could be wrong since she had to be taken to Boston hospital for treatment. Thankfully, she was okay and is now at home being a brat. My father just got partial knee replacement surgery for his torn meniscus. He’s doing well and is at my aunt’s house for now. My oldest sister got a new job and my father got a new position at Xfinity since he got injured. I’ve been applying at multiple places for work and I think I will be applying to Walmart next. My SMSA care bracelets finally came in. I was excited to finally start selling them to the students at SMSA as people kept asking me when they were coming in. I didn’t expect to sell an entire bag for the first week but I’m pleased that they’re selling well. I’ve had many underclassmen purchase multiple bracelets. A AHA moment I can say would possibly be my current success in selling bracelets. I believe I’ve grown by being more responsible and taking action more. I’m trying to do more and get out of my comfort zone by being more active.
December, 2021 - Journal 5
For me to say I am necessarily ready for the adult world would be a lie. I need to work on myself to be prepared for the adult world because I still lack the maturity and the necessities. But I believe that I can easily adjust and work on this minor issue. I don’t think that I haven’t changed in a significant way within the month of December. I am continuing to search for a job and work on myself. For some of my setbacks, I have avoided them so I didn’t have to deal with the consequences coming from them. But I have gotten better at rebounding from my procrastination and my lack of responsibility all around. I did maintain most of my grades while trying to do fun things like I said I was going to. Now I have to work on getting my license and learning how to drive so when it’s time I’m ready. I can say I am approaching school like an adult because I do all my work, I take care of what I have to, and I show up. I am not completely self-aware, I don’t know when I am wrong most of the time but that’s something I have to get better with. I am proud of myself for still putting in effort everyday and not giving up no matter how rough times can get. I still have to work on personal skills and future goals but I am proud of my current self. I don’t think I have made a big impact so far within the year but I do like seeing my SMSA care bracelets on people’s wrists.
January, 2022 - Journal 6
January has been a weird month to say the least. I haven’t made much progress with my capstone project with the complications of COVID protocols. After most of the high school bought bracelets the first week of selling, there hasn’t been much purchases of bracelets since. I do not think that my capstone has made a positive impact on the people around me. The most I believe I’ve helped is giving a fellow student a $50 donation and selling coffee as well as water. My plan for the next semester is to hopefully be able to go to sporting events to sell some bracelets. For my field log I plan on helping and volunteering for other service projects to get my hours in. I also want to help my fellow classmates through these tough times with anything I can. Everyone needs someone there for support whether that’s family, friends, significant others, or even pets. These have been challenging times especially with COVID rates going up. I’m hoping for better things to come to everyone.
February, 2022 - Journal 7
The month of February was the month I started new classes. That also means I don’t have the capstone class to help me with my service project and that I’m all alone to do my things. From here on out this will test my ability to take responsibility and prepare for the adult world. I turned 18 this month on the 12th and it was a good birthday spent with my family and friends. SMSA was finally allowed to have spectators at the sporting events and I started to go to sell my bracelets with Daniel Ruiz. I started with the girls senior night on the 15th of February and I sold 69 total bracelets that night. On the 16th of February I went to all the boys basketball games from 3:30 to 8:15 pm. I also helped Makhi and Miguel sell their fan t-shirts. On the 17th Daniel and I started at the boys JV basketball games and Keturah helped sell bracelets. From the 16th to the 17th I only sold 14 total bracelets. On the 18th we went to the JV basketball game and stayed for the boys senior night game and sold around 80 total bracelets. The 22nd was the SMSA boys last regular season home game and we came in at 5:30 pm, we sold around 20 bracelets that night. The first playoff game vs Rockville on the 28th was a good game to watch and I sold more bracelets. Going to the basketball games to sell bracelets have been fun and I’ve enjoyed watching my team play. With the funds that have been raised we’ve decided to help fund Tony and Anel’s incentives for their capstone project. My interactions with the staff, family of the team, fans, and other players have been good and interesting.
Coming back to school after two years of being virtual was a complete change. The first week of school was a slow start but a little exciting because I was able to see my friends everyday after about two years of being isolated. One thing that I had to adapt to is my sleeping schedule, I have to wake up about an hour earlier. Within the first week I grew exhausted having to sit and learn for about 7 hours. A pro that came with this year is being able to leave early for the whole first half of school. Even though I was tired during school I grew excited to go because of being able to socialize. The world around me was going through a crisis in Afghanistan as the Taliban people took it over and terrorized the Afghanistan that lived within. That unfortunate incident taught me a lesson that frequently returns, to be grateful for what you have because other people don’t have it as good. The times where I get upset about having to wake up early, do chores, or not getting something I want, I think about the people who have to fight for their lives. As the senior year started and new classes were introduced, I met one of the coolest teachers, Mrs. Boutilier. The famous capstone was also introduced to me and it took me by surprise because of how easy it is to get behind. I started capstone believing that I was going to be working with kids for charity or make bracelets to sell for charity but I shortly realized that those ideas weren’t going to work out for me. As I kept brainstorming ideas to work on, I fell behind from where I’m supposed to be at in terms of progression. Some students already have mentors, planned events, and are ready on their project but I can’t let that falter me from working on my capstone project. I am doing the SMSA cares project to help people earn money for their donations instead of people using their own money. I am designing bracelets for the school with SMSA cares in it which is something I planned on doing from the beginning. I recently went to a SMSA and Wethersfield football game. They both were a good experience as both teams won their separate games. I plan on being more active involving school and school events. I believe when my project starts to come together I’ll be able to progress and grow along with my project as a person. I plan to start looking more into college as the year progresses. I hope to mature with the new year and pass this year with “flying colors”.
September, 2021 - Journal 2
September was a decent month with school and personal life. I started customizing the bracelets for the SMSA Cares. I went through multiple websites to make the bracelets look nice and stylish to my classmates and I. I finally got a website where I could make the bracelets how I wanted and for a reasonable price. I made the bracelets black and blue with white text that says SMSA CARES on it along with tiger print photos and Mrs. Boutilier purchased 300 bracelets for the price of $100. The date for them to be shipped will be the 15th of October. I got a mentor for my capstone, her name is Anne Nguyen and she’s a business/marketing teacher at Rocky Hill high school. I contacted her to be my mentor and she kindly accepted and I also contacted her about my flyers but she has yet to get back to me about it. I plan on emailing her again about it. I have a lot of papers due this marking period. I believe that I have grown mentally throughout the first semester as I stopped making excuses for everything that I needed to do. I still often procrastinate doing certain tasks and I have to work on fixing that problem. My perspective changed on how I viewed certain things in life. Seeing the shooting incident in Texas made me realize not to take life for granted. We believe that school is a safe space to be but in reality a tragedy can strike at any moment. We don’t know what goes on in other people’s lives and yet we tend to provoke others. I attended my school’s football games where there were some losses and some wins. I also attended some Wethersfield’s high school football games with my very good friend Robert. Robert and I also hung out a few times more and all of my friends went to a surprise party for Daniel Ruiz even though he was spoiled the surprise. I helped my Uncle with doing some work at the Convention Center in Hartford and got my first ever paycheck which felt great to earn my own money and help my mother. At this point right now in my life I am stuck at looking for a job and getting my license. I’ve been applying for jobs around my area but I have yet to receive any offers from anyone. As for my license I have to talk to my father about the driving school he’s supposed to put me in. I believe that these minor setbacks can be overcome if I put some effort into my actions.
October, 2021 - Journal 3
In the month of October I believe I've done what I wanted to do and that’s being the best I’ve could've. My goals for quarter one were to do well in all my classes by averaging a B and above. I did exactly that by doing all my assignments with the exception of some late ones. I brought all of my grades up in my classes. I brought my psychology grade from a C- to a B by the end of marking period 1. With my fieldwork I feel as if I can improve by helping other people with their capstones. I believe I did well on my research paper and took the approach of a future graduate on it. I am proud that I brought that grade up because that was my lowest grade at the moment. My goals for marking period 2 is to have all my grades be a B+ or above grades and to get more moves on my capstone so I can get more fieldwork. My capstone project is still on hold because the bracelets were shipped but got stuck in Kentucky for about two weeks. I believe that happened because of the lack of truck drivers and the shipments being stuck out at sea. Other than that problem, my progression in Senior Seminar is doing well. I’ve done my best to do every assignment and on time too. I have to get better at organizing all my classes and work so I can get them all done on time. On the school field trip to the military rope course I learned that I like to be heard but I also back off if I am not heard. The teamwork for the trip wasn’t the best at most parts because everyone had their own ideas for the courses and we couldn’t get together to do the right thing to solve the course. I also learned that Sumeja is a horrible leader. Other than that the field trip was a fun experience and it was good to be free from school for a day. For the second quarter I need to work on my management skills.
November, 2021 - Journal 4
The second quarter of the first semester started and I did pretty bad at the very beginning as I failed my unit 2 math test. But I started to bring my grade up and it’s slowly starting to get back where I wanted it to. My baby niece got sick for about a week or two and my whole family were a little afraid of what could be wrong since she had to be taken to Boston hospital for treatment. Thankfully, she was okay and is now at home being a brat. My father just got partial knee replacement surgery for his torn meniscus. He’s doing well and is at my aunt’s house for now. My oldest sister got a new job and my father got a new position at Xfinity since he got injured. I’ve been applying at multiple places for work and I think I will be applying to Walmart next. My SMSA care bracelets finally came in. I was excited to finally start selling them to the students at SMSA as people kept asking me when they were coming in. I didn’t expect to sell an entire bag for the first week but I’m pleased that they’re selling well. I’ve had many underclassmen purchase multiple bracelets. A AHA moment I can say would possibly be my current success in selling bracelets. I believe I’ve grown by being more responsible and taking action more. I’m trying to do more and get out of my comfort zone by being more active.
December, 2021 - Journal 5
For me to say I am necessarily ready for the adult world would be a lie. I need to work on myself to be prepared for the adult world because I still lack the maturity and the necessities. But I believe that I can easily adjust and work on this minor issue. I don’t think that I haven’t changed in a significant way within the month of December. I am continuing to search for a job and work on myself. For some of my setbacks, I have avoided them so I didn’t have to deal with the consequences coming from them. But I have gotten better at rebounding from my procrastination and my lack of responsibility all around. I did maintain most of my grades while trying to do fun things like I said I was going to. Now I have to work on getting my license and learning how to drive so when it’s time I’m ready. I can say I am approaching school like an adult because I do all my work, I take care of what I have to, and I show up. I am not completely self-aware, I don’t know when I am wrong most of the time but that’s something I have to get better with. I am proud of myself for still putting in effort everyday and not giving up no matter how rough times can get. I still have to work on personal skills and future goals but I am proud of my current self. I don’t think I have made a big impact so far within the year but I do like seeing my SMSA care bracelets on people’s wrists.
January, 2022 - Journal 6
January has been a weird month to say the least. I haven’t made much progress with my capstone project with the complications of COVID protocols. After most of the high school bought bracelets the first week of selling, there hasn’t been much purchases of bracelets since. I do not think that my capstone has made a positive impact on the people around me. The most I believe I’ve helped is giving a fellow student a $50 donation and selling coffee as well as water. My plan for the next semester is to hopefully be able to go to sporting events to sell some bracelets. For my field log I plan on helping and volunteering for other service projects to get my hours in. I also want to help my fellow classmates through these tough times with anything I can. Everyone needs someone there for support whether that’s family, friends, significant others, or even pets. These have been challenging times especially with COVID rates going up. I’m hoping for better things to come to everyone.
February, 2022 - Journal 7
The month of February was the month I started new classes. That also means I don’t have the capstone class to help me with my service project and that I’m all alone to do my things. From here on out this will test my ability to take responsibility and prepare for the adult world. I turned 18 this month on the 12th and it was a good birthday spent with my family and friends. SMSA was finally allowed to have spectators at the sporting events and I started to go to sell my bracelets with Daniel Ruiz. I started with the girls senior night on the 15th of February and I sold 69 total bracelets that night. On the 16th of February I went to all the boys basketball games from 3:30 to 8:15 pm. I also helped Makhi and Miguel sell their fan t-shirts. On the 17th Daniel and I started at the boys JV basketball games and Keturah helped sell bracelets. From the 16th to the 17th I only sold 14 total bracelets. On the 18th we went to the JV basketball game and stayed for the boys senior night game and sold around 80 total bracelets. The 22nd was the SMSA boys last regular season home game and we came in at 5:30 pm, we sold around 20 bracelets that night. The first playoff game vs Rockville on the 28th was a good game to watch and I sold more bracelets. Going to the basketball games to sell bracelets have been fun and I’ve enjoyed watching my team play. With the funds that have been raised we’ve decided to help fund Tony and Anel’s incentives for their capstone project. My interactions with the staff, family of the team, fans, and other players have been good and interesting.