SPRING TERM 2016 PERSONAL NARRATIVE

Write a reflection on your Spring Term, broken into the following sections:
1. Introduction (Give an overview of your term, including both highlights and low points. Explain
your most significant experiences and lessons learned)
This term was difficult, but that didnt mean that I didnt learn anything or that it was too
much to handle. I got myself into much more I could handle at ECHO and at my CCV Stats
class, and both experiences taught me to know exactly what Im signing up for beforehand, as
well as conflict resolution skills. On the bright side, though, a huge highlight came in the form of
my internship at Orchard Vet, which I consider the best internship I had during my time in Big
Picture.
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2. Learning and Project Plans
1. How did you do writing your learning plan?
My learning plan was very basic, as ones for previous terms have been. It is still hard to
stop myself from just going ahead with a project rather than spending a significant amount of
time planning.
2. State each goal, summarize how well you did meeting those goals, and reflect on
reasons for success or lack thereof.
ECHO internship: With a switch in volunteers I was working with as well as changing the
day I was working on, allowing me to do more feedings, my experience did end up improving
significantly.
Orchard Vet internship: I had a very positive experience at this internship- I feel as
though Ive gone over it so many times its just a known fact by now!
CCV Stats class: I enjoyed the beginning of this class, where we were working with more
concepts and moving at a slightly slower space, and appreciate the learning I did during that
portion. As speed picked up and the problems we tackled started utilizing more formulas, I
started to fall off track and I will always take responsibility for not reaching out for help from my
professor, Big Picture advisors, or advisor at CCV.
Judaism project: This was just a simple research project, and while Im not planning on
expanding on the learning I did Im happy that I did it.
3. Give a summary of how well you did meeting each learning standard.
a. Apprenticing: I had both very positive and negative experiences with my
internships and learned valuable lessons from both.
b. Communication: Writing was still my primary method of relaying information for
projects..
c. Civic & Social Responsibility: I made significant progress on my STP and
continued to be the best member of the Big Picture community that I could be.
d. Reasoning & Problem Solving: While I did not pass my Stats class, I feel as
though I was able to demonstrate high school-level knowledge in statistics.
e. Personal Development: It was a struggle to take care of myself while also
owning up to what I had committed to, but Im still here.
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3. LTI Experience
1. Four goals of LTI: ECHO
a. Mentorship: My mentors were mostly absent during my time there, and I spent
most of my time working under volunteers who had been there for much longer.
b. Learning: Being there on Wednesdays allowed me to do more feedings, and I
quickly settled into the protocol for each (I usually did the newts and frogs!).
c. Success skills: In figuring out next steps following my skipped shifts, I learned
a valuable lesson about conflict resolution and reaching out for help before things go too far.
d. Real-world contribution: ECHO relies on volunteers to get things done, so at
least I can be confident that the work I was doing was well needed.
2. Four goals of LTI: Orchard Vet
a. Mentorship: I worked closely with both of my mentors (Dr. Eustis and Jess
Harms) while I was there, observing Dr. Eustis during surgeries and exams and performing
simple tasks alongside Jess.
b. Learning: I learned a great deal about day-to-day life in a veterinary clinic, as
well as about the wide range of tasks that vet techs carry out.
c. Success skills: While I was able to ask questions and learn while clients were
not present, I had to learn how to balance that learning and being professional while clients
were in the room.
d. Real-world contribution: I would like to think I made the techs' jobs a little
easier while I was there, as I was able to take over simple tasks (blood and fecal tests,
monitoring animals after surgery, filling vaccines, etc) to free their hands to attend to more
complicated work.
3. Reflection on learning: ECHO
While I learned a bit more about how ECHO works and the ins and outs of caring for the
animals, the most valuable learning I did was the realization that I need to be able to speak up
for myself when things arent going well instead of trying to figure things out on my own and
failing.
4. Reflection on learning: Orchard Vet
Being at Orchard gave me a lot of hope for my future, as I was doing the work that I want
to go to college to do and I enjoyed every single day I was there so much. Every day, I learned
something new- in fact, on my last day there, a new (paid) tech was on her first day and I had to
show her how to conduct a SNAP test and refill the vaccine cabinet!
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4. Culture and Community (Reflect on your role in the Big Picture community and culture.
Explain what you contributed and ways in which you detracted from a positive culture. Use
examples from experiences such as community meeting, self-directed learning time, and
advisory. Explain how you want to improve your role in the community next term; this can
include anything from finding a way to stop distracting others to leading an initiative or
committee.)

I still consider myself a leader in the Big Picture community, but it was a struggle to keep
my own negative experiences from detracting from a positive culture. Even though my time in
Big Picture is ending, I hope to end the year strong and leave a positive impact on the students
staying next year.
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5. Questions and Goals (Think about questions you want to explore and goals that you have for
yourself. Some of these can form the basis of your second quarter learning plan, but don't limit
yourself only to what you want on your learning plan next quarter. This is a section where you
can really brainstorm.)
Theres a lot involved in transitioning out of high school and into the workforce and
eventually college- my main goal for next year is just to get myself a little bit of money built up
and to really solidify the basis for my being financially and emotionally independent.
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6. Missing Work (Feel free to include other sections that are significant to your Spring Term
experience. This could include anything from talking about your transition into Big Picture,
talking about a specific challenge you overcame, explaining a future project that particularly
excites you, etc.)
My STP and the Cafe 3 mural still arent quite done- the mural just needs one more work
day that I can even put in over the summer, and while the actual portfolio portion of my STP is
almost done Ill need to meet with Kevin about its scale to determine whats realistic to aim for
by the end of the year.