Senior Project

The theme of our group project is reminiscation. Our video reminisces over the events that took place during our senior year here at RCHS. My part in the project was that I helped with the editing process and choosing which images to feature in the video. The hardest part of creating our project was choosing an appropriate song to use in our video. The easiest part was choosing which pictures to use in our video because we had so many pictures at our disposal.

Senior Farewell Project

Victoria and Feven are in my group.
Our project is going to be a video that features pictures of events and RCHS students taken throughout the year.
I am contributing to the picture selection and editing process.

Capstone Presentation

At my booth, I had my name tag, laptop (which showed my end product- a video), my infographic, my trifold, and a folder with the most current draft of my capstone essay.

Overall, the whole experience wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The hardest part was waiting over an hour for the judge to come to my booth. At first, I was anxious, but after my judge came and I introduced myself, the anxiety went away. He was a pretty easy person to talk to and he didn't look so intimidating. He asked me several questions, some of which were challenging to answer, but hopefully I answered them sufficiently. The most fun part of the presentations was coming back on Wednesday, the day after I presented, and walking around to see everyone's booths. 

Capstone Presentation

For my Capstone Presentation, I will be using a 20x40 in. trifold poster on which to display my Capstone Poster on, as well as my laptop and/or a tablet that will display my website and my end product, which is a video.

Honestly because my topic is on mental illness stigma, I don't really think there's much else I could include on my table that would be relevant, so I'm hoping that my topic is interesting enough for people to want to stop by.

Website Link

http://endingthestigmaonmentalillness.weebly.com/

Infographic Poster

My infographic poster relates to my Capstone Project because it helps as a visual aid and shows my audience the main points of what I have learned from my research and what I wish to share with them. Thanks to the research I've done all school year, I did not have to do any further research. The easiest thing about creating the infographic was that I did not have to come up with what to say or put on the poster because I had all the materials needed to create the poster. On the other hand, the hardest thing about creating the infographic was that it was challenging to dig into my creativity and to come up with something original and aesthetically pleasing, which is a problem I think I still should work on. I created this infographic during Winter Term, but since then, I have made a few changes. After viewing some of my classmates' examples, I decided that it would probably be better if my poster didnt have so many words.

Infographic Idea

Possible ideas/basic flowchart for mental illness stigma infographic:
-cycle of how stigma works
-statistics on how many people are affected by mental illness
-info on why combating stigma is important
-info on how to combat stigma

PSA Project Concept

I addressed my statement of intent in my PSA by including common stereotypes revolving mental illness, mentioning statistics, and offering ways people can help combat mental illness stigma. I met all of the requirements except for one, which was the time limit. My video was 10 seconds too long.
In retrospect, if I could do anything differently with my PSA, I would have started brainstorming ideas sooner rather than later. The easiest part about producing my video was that I had most of the information I wanted to convey in it, which was due to the fact that we had been researching our topics for months now. The hardest part about producing my video was that I wanted my video to be as original as possible, but because I'm not so good with video-making software and because of time constraints, it didn't really happen for me.

PSA Intent

The article link was very helpful! Although I'm familiar with what the purpose of a PSA is and I've seen some before, I was clueless on how the one for my capstone should be like. The link reminded me what my PSA should include and how to effectively make one. I will definitely be referring to this link as I brainstorm more ideas for my PSA.

1. Mental Illness Stigma PSA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4208MaGYi0 

I liked how this video incorporated all types of commonly known stereotypes revolving mental illness. I hadn't thought about doing this at all, and I think if I address this in my own PSA it will have a bigger impact because these stereotypes are ones that my peers may think/believe about individuals with a mental illness. The video was also pretty simple and appropriately scripted for this type of topic.

     2.  Mental Health PSA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JcHu-Vs2_Y

I also liked this video, it was simple and the tone of it was appropriate for this topic. The message of the video was very clear. I liked how the different types of mental illness were illustrated by the girls in the video in ways that people are used to stereo-typically viewing them. The use of name tags were also very helpful in the video's message.



After looking at a few PSAs and the informative link, I've decided that because my capstone targets mental illness stigma, I will provide statistics, common stereotypes, the importance of this issue, and what can be done to combat this problem. Both the visuals and audio will appeal to the emotions of my audience. My PSA is serious. I am still working on the outline of the proposed structure of my video...

entry 1:capstone project statement of intent

As of right now, I plan on creating an informative video for my Capstone Project. This informative video will address/raise awareness on mental illness stigma and the importance of ending this form of stigma. The video will feature facts and statistics on mental illness, the stigma on it, what people can do to end it, and how people with a mental illness can do to combat the stigma’s effects; furthermore, I plan on recruiting a few (maybe 2-3) actual RCHS students who have dealt/are dealing with a mental illness and the stigma that may follow (either within themselves or from a person close to them). These students will help to advocate my idea that empowerment is a very effective way of combating the symptoms of stigma and maybe give a short testimony on how mental illness stigma has affected them personally. Mental illness stigma is an important topic to discuss because people everywhere, whether we know them or not, are dealing with a form of mental illness and its imperative that we understand how our words and actions affect them. These goals fit with my career objectives because I plan on becoming a physician’s assistant, and as a physician’s assistant I will most likely come into contact with patients who suffer from a form of mental illness and so I need to learn how to best interact with them. This message will contribute to society because mental illness is prevalent in our society and it’s important not only for individuals who suffer from it but for people who interact with them to know and understand the effects of mental illness stigma.