Helping 2013

Who did you interview: Bobbie Rodriguez
What day and time: 4/25/12 at 3:00 p.m.

(1) What ideas do you have for your senior project and why?

She is very interested in doing something with homelessness or alopecia, which is a medical condition where people lose their hair.  She explained that she wants to know why people prefer to stay homeless instead of going to a home and what causes them to be homeless. She is interested in alopecia because both her brother and sister have that condition. She said that she was not very sure on what exactly she wanted to study about alopecia, but she is interested in learning how it impacts females and males differently. 

When I first learned about her topics I thought that they were great ideas! I think that it is interesting when people do their senior projects on topics that are not so common. I thought that these are fascinating and would like to know what she finds. I told her that I like how she is looking outside the box and looking for things that are close to her. I was just worried about how she could actually do her project. I recommended that she forms connections ASAP to make sure that she had resources to ask for favors. 

(2) What do you plan to do to complete the 10 hours of service learning (working with an expert) which is due prior to senior year starting?  Note: They also have to complete the 50 hours during the school year.

She explained that she has an Uncle who lives in a home and tells her about all the stories about being homeless. She was inspired by this story. She plans to do her service learning with him if she does end up doing that. if she focused on alopecia then she would work with her sister since her sister is very active in spreading awareness about this condition. She said that her sister was even thinking about starting a non-profit organization for people with alopecia. 

I told her that helping start a non-profit organization would be a wonderful experience and help with her senior project. I was not aware that they had to complete 10 hrs of service learning before starting senior year, but I told her that it would be a great way to see which topic interests her the most just in case she was not sure. I told her to make sure to get ready to send a lot emails just in case and. I explained to her that service learning is really helpful because it is the time for you to do hands on things and learn from those experiences, but her service learning advisor would be her main source so make sure that he/she is informative and willing to help! 

(3) What do you hope to see or expect to see when watching the class of 2012 present their two hour presentations?


She said that she hopes to see that the class of 2012 know what they are talking about and show that they have learned something new! 


I did not really understand what this question meant. I said that she should pay close attention to the different techniques that students are going to use to present their information. I told her to see what she likes and may do in her presentation and see what she does not like so she does not repeat the same mistake. I advised her to look at her surroundings and observe any creative ideas. Also, she should look at what the teacher advisors may say during the presenation and take a comment of any of their recommendations or accommodations. I told her to not fall asleep, but see this as an experience to get a sneek peek of senior project's do's and dont's. 

(4) What questions do they have about senior project?  What additional recommendations would you give the 2013 student about senior project?  Be specific and note what you told them.

She was really interested in the different components, and I explained to her the major ones like independent components, I-search, service learning, etc. I also talked about how early in the semester you are allowed to think about whether your service learning is something that you will be committed to, so she shouldn't be stressed if she still was questioning her EQ. I told her that she had time to change her EQ in the early school years. I made sure to warn her about the college process and senior project. I told her that she should make time to do the college application, but to always stay on task and remember about her senior project. I explained that time management is crucial. I advised that she kept a calender with all of the dates so that she would make sure she would not have to turn something in with poor quality. I also emphasized that the senior project is not as hard as everyone says! As long as you have a passion for what you are doing then senior project is not that bad, so she should choose something that she knows she will be interested to learn more about.