My final presentation went super well! I was extremely nervous at first because I was worried no one would really be interested. You have to like horses in the least way to care about taking care of them, and I certainly understand this, so it scared me to know that some people might think my senior exhibit was extremely boring and it was just a waste of 30 minutes while they could be doing homework or playing a game on their laptop. However, it didn’t really matter if they were interested or not because they were still going to have to listen to me talk about it no matter what. I had English right before my presentation and I could hardly concentrate because I was nervous about how it would go and I was so ready to get it over with as well. I got out of class a little bit early to head to Mr. Reed’s room so I could set up.
Due to my computer crashing, I lost the video I had created that I showed to the 5th graders for my application, but I still had the power point that I had made. Thankfully, I decided to use a program that is on the internet instead of just doing regular power point and saving it on my hard drive.. or else I would have been completely out of luck with no presentation! Anyways, I had created notes so that I had an outline of what I wanted to start off talking about and all the things I wanted to say so that I didn’t forget. I took what Mrs. Blashford, Mrs. Hunley and Mrs. Hoppel had said from rehearsal and changed the things they thought I should add/remove. They had given me really great feedback and showed me things about my presentation that I had never previously thought about. It really helped me pull together my final presentation and feel confident about what I was presenting to my peers without all the stress of being graded and having 25 people in the room watching you. (AKA I think the rehearsal with a few teachers was a GREAT idea!)
Anyways, back to my final presentation… all I had to do was hook up my computer and get prepared to show the slideshow and then lay out the tools I had and poster I made. I brought in some bandages, vet wrap, syringes, ointment, thermometers, a stethoscope and a tool called hoof testers for everyone to see. I also created a bulletin board with pictures of me riding when I was little to show everyone just how much horses and helping them means to me. I got this idea from the suggestion of teachers during my rehearsal so that I could give a better reason as to why I chose this topic. The board also had a coggins (which as I explained in my presentation is like a physical for horses) and a few other mementos from riding I have such as the stall tag I had from when I showed in Lexington at state finals. It has the horses name, rider and owner name, contact numbers, vet and hotel numbers, etc. so if anything were to happen to the horse while it is staying overnight at the show grounds people would know how to help it.
After setting up, I just had to wait for people to arrive so I could get started. As soon as they did, I began and started off with showing the power point. I went right into why I did this, what I did and where, what I learned, etc. I had most of my pictures from the summer and then from my application in the power point, and then I showed them the tools I had brought in and asked them if they could guess what the clamps or “hoof testers” were. I believe Jonathon answered and he actually was pretty close.. most people think they are for pulling out teeth or something. It seemed that the teachers and the seniors were the most interested and active ones during the presentation, but that is understandable. They are the ones who are more understanding of what we are going through while we are up there presenting. Overall, I think the presentation went well and those that I talked to afterwards seemed to really like it. I felt so much better after it was over and could not have asked for it to go any smoother.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Journal 1
THIS IS ACTUALLY MY FIRST JOURNAL.
Journal 1 – (Junior year planning)
I have set up who my mentor will be . I was sure to do it early because I knew I wanted Mrs. Hoppel and figured she would be asked by other people and didn’t want to not get her because I took too long to ask. I have also been thinking about ideas for my exhibit and have pretty much set on doing Equine Veterinary. It’s something that I already know a little bit about, while there’s still so much more I could learn. I have heard I’m pretty good with it. It’s something that I am interested in, and comes easily to me. I have also heard from others that I do well under the pressure, and am able to handle the stressful situations that you are generally put in while being an Equine Vet and working with large horses that are sometimes acting up since they are hurt.
I have made further progress on my learning activity! My mother has set up a summer activity for me with the Vet we use for our horses. It is called Rappahannock Equine Clinic and there are three different vets at the clinic, and I will go in most likely around once a week this summer to help out/intern one of the three vets. It is not something they normally let anyone under 18 do, but because I have known the vets for a while and will just be 17, they have agreed to let me do this with my parents having to sign a waiver. I am really excited because I already know two of the three vets, and like them both very much. One is an older, more experienced vet and the owner of the clinic, while the other is young and fun but still knowledgeable. Both of them have taken care of my own pony, which shows that I already know and trust their work. However, I still have not decided what I will do to apply this. I have thought about teaching a class but it doesn’t appear to be something that the average person(at FA) would like to learn about, or at least in my opinion. I plan to talk about this with Mrs. Hoppel as soon as I get things together and set up a meeting with her.
I recently have started second guessing my original topic, but have no idea what to replace it with. So far, I still have not been able to figure out what to do with my application and its making me unsure if I still want to keep this topic. I really like the idea, because it’s something I’m interested in, but if I can’t find a way to apply it, it may not work. I am having trouble coming up with other things that I am interested enough in to consider for my topic but I will continue thinking on it.
My most recent idea for a new topic was doing Forensic Science and taking a week long camp on it this summer. I got a packet in the mail from a program that does many different types of camps, one being on Forensic Science. Since it has always been something that seems to interest me, yet I know nothing about, I thought it would be really fun. The camp looked great since it was close, seemed knowledgeable and you get college credits for completing it. It wasn’t until my parents saw the price of the one week camp that I realized it wasn’t going to happen. So, yet again.. I’m back to square one with Equine Veterinary.
After hearing that my mom has talked to the vets and they have agreed to let me meet with them even under the circumstances that I’m not as old as the people they usually allow, I think it shows that this is something I should move forth with. It’s something different then many of the other topics my peers are doing, and I feel that with my interest in horses already it will only further my knowledge about them. I am looking forward to this summer when I will be riding around with the vets and helping them out.
I am still worried about what my application for my topic will be. I have talked a little bit about it with my mom, and she is thinking that once I get to work with the vet in the beginning of the summer, she will be able to figure something out for me. The further time goes on, the more I will be able to get a feel for what exactly I will be doing and that way I can think of some way to apply it. I also have to figure out a contract between my parents and the Equine clinic, just for legal issues and everything.
Journal 1 – (Junior year planning)
I have set up who my mentor will be . I was sure to do it early because I knew I wanted Mrs. Hoppel and figured she would be asked by other people and didn’t want to not get her because I took too long to ask. I have also been thinking about ideas for my exhibit and have pretty much set on doing Equine Veterinary. It’s something that I already know a little bit about, while there’s still so much more I could learn. I have heard I’m pretty good with it. It’s something that I am interested in, and comes easily to me. I have also heard from others that I do well under the pressure, and am able to handle the stressful situations that you are generally put in while being an Equine Vet and working with large horses that are sometimes acting up since they are hurt.
I have made further progress on my learning activity! My mother has set up a summer activity for me with the Vet we use for our horses. It is called Rappahannock Equine Clinic and there are three different vets at the clinic, and I will go in most likely around once a week this summer to help out/intern one of the three vets. It is not something they normally let anyone under 18 do, but because I have known the vets for a while and will just be 17, they have agreed to let me do this with my parents having to sign a waiver. I am really excited because I already know two of the three vets, and like them both very much. One is an older, more experienced vet and the owner of the clinic, while the other is young and fun but still knowledgeable. Both of them have taken care of my own pony, which shows that I already know and trust their work. However, I still have not decided what I will do to apply this. I have thought about teaching a class but it doesn’t appear to be something that the average person(at FA) would like to learn about, or at least in my opinion. I plan to talk about this with Mrs. Hoppel as soon as I get things together and set up a meeting with her.
I recently have started second guessing my original topic, but have no idea what to replace it with. So far, I still have not been able to figure out what to do with my application and its making me unsure if I still want to keep this topic. I really like the idea, because it’s something I’m interested in, but if I can’t find a way to apply it, it may not work. I am having trouble coming up with other things that I am interested enough in to consider for my topic but I will continue thinking on it.
My most recent idea for a new topic was doing Forensic Science and taking a week long camp on it this summer. I got a packet in the mail from a program that does many different types of camps, one being on Forensic Science. Since it has always been something that seems to interest me, yet I know nothing about, I thought it would be really fun. The camp looked great since it was close, seemed knowledgeable and you get college credits for completing it. It wasn’t until my parents saw the price of the one week camp that I realized it wasn’t going to happen. So, yet again.. I’m back to square one with Equine Veterinary.
After hearing that my mom has talked to the vets and they have agreed to let me meet with them even under the circumstances that I’m not as old as the people they usually allow, I think it shows that this is something I should move forth with. It’s something different then many of the other topics my peers are doing, and I feel that with my interest in horses already it will only further my knowledge about them. I am looking forward to this summer when I will be riding around with the vets and helping them out.
I am still worried about what my application for my topic will be. I have talked a little bit about it with my mom, and she is thinking that once I get to work with the vet in the beginning of the summer, she will be able to figure something out for me. The further time goes on, the more I will be able to get a feel for what exactly I will be doing and that way I can think of some way to apply it. I also have to figure out a contract between my parents and the Equine clinic, just for legal issues and everything.
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