Reflective Introduction

Portfolios are not something that I enjoy doing. I actually really dislike them. I have now had to complete two of them for my chemistry lab, and did several in high school that really left a sour taste in my mouth. It has tainted my ability to ever enjoy making portfolios. This portfolio was different. I enjoyed making this portfolio. I enjoyed almost every one of the objectives, and I feel like I have learned a lot from the experience of making this portfolio. I found it difficult almost to procrastinate during this project. It was intriguing to me, and each of the exhibits offered something different, moving topic to topic, before my mind was wondering off to something else. There were several exhibits that I enjoyed more than others, and some that I believe were more rewarding than others. Each of the objectives were special in this way. Each of these was developed to further my growth and development as a learner, as a student, and as a person. These are skills that will serve me throughout my life, not only on an academic setting, but also in the real world. These are skills that will serve me in a job, for hobbies, for different activities that I’m involved in, and just being able to balance all of these at once. That isn’t something that is easily achieved, and it won’t be even with this training that has been awarded to me. However, that doesn’t take away from the meaning of this project. I feel as though I am more prepared than many of my other classmates that didn’t have the opportunity to take this class. I have skills that will serve me throughout college, in turn helping me to do better in school, and overall succeeding in everything that I will take on. The exhibit that was the most fun for me was the first self designed exhibit I did which was on exercise. In that particular exhibit, I was able to be outside, and be getting healthy. There are not many classes that promote that kind of a thing for a grade. It also helped with my time management, which was another exhibit that really helped me out. I have never really been one for scheduling, at the most I would write down what needed to be done on any one given day, maybe two days, and cross off items once they were completed. This has adapted into something far better through the course of the exhibit on time management. I know have a schedule for what I am doing at any given time during the day. This is something that I try to follow as closely as I can. It has helped having items planned out a week ahead of time, or sometimes maybe more. I have developed putting more and more tasks into my phone calendar and setting reminders that have helped me to keep on top of what I’m doing, without forgetting to do other things that are due. I have gotten much better at remembering bigger assignments before they are do, and getting them done in a much more efficient manner. The two exhibits that I believe meant the most to me, are the ones involving the people who are teaching me. The Post-test analysis, and the professor interview were great insights into the world of our teachers. It shows who they really are, and not just what they seem. In both instances I was welcomed by the professor, and was shown attention that gave away that they really do care about how I am doing in the class. I believe that this is especially true if we (the students) reach out to them first. Unlike in high school, the professors can not reach out to every student that needs assistance. It would be an impossible work load, and the students must learn to do things for themselves. Once that initial contact is made however, there is much more communication between the two groups that is beneficial to every one. The professors opened up to me in both instances, and I felt as if they genuinely cared about my grade. They both said that I could take as much time as I needed and were quite open to staying longer than was intended. I remember my chemistry teacher saying after a 45 minute chat, “That’s all?” in a tone that showed how he may have talked longer had I had the time to give on that particular day. I have heard about students getting to know professors, and being able to comfortably joke around with them, and learn from them, but I imagined that it was for more of a select group of both students and professors. This experience has shown that this is not the case however, at least so far. All in all each of these experiences has developed me in many ways and I am a better person for it. While my project may not do each of the exhibits justice, I believe that all of them have done their part in making me a more well rounded individual.

Objective 1

Objective 2

Objective 3

Self Designed Exhibit 1

Self designed Exhibit 2

Objective 4

Objective 5

Objective 6