Reflection

               All in all, both my Genius Hour project and my sophomore year have been great. I have had fun, made new friends, gained some hobbies and self-confidence, and I am a little sad to see the year come to an end.

               My project finally came in today! I feel bad because I finished and had it ordered last Sunday, then last Monday I had to reorder it because somehow it got messed up, even though it looked fine when I ordered it originally, and the guaranteed shipped by date was yesterday! But, have no fear, it is in my hands now, it is going in my backpack right now, to ensure that I don’t forget it. As I was looking through it, I was proud of myself for accomplishing it. I learned about photography, took nice photos, and made a photobook in only a couple of weeks, and I think that that is something most teenagers do not get the opportunity to do, much less in class. There is only one page that bothers me a little. I had to photoshop quite a bit of it, and I knew that because it was going to be blown up to fit a whole page, the photoshopping would be visible. Though, in the printed book, it is more obvious than I thought.

               I do plan on extending my project. Photography is just one hobby I have found that I enjoy this year. I like nature photography, like what I focused on for Genius Hour, but I also want to get into doing cities and streets, especially at night, and rivers or lakes. I can use my photography skills, that I plan to develop with more research and practice, to photograph any family trips I go on, and I can make a photography book to always remember the trip. I also found out this year that I like choir. I haven’t taken choir since fifth grade, and my friend and I signed up just because we heard it was easy to get a letterman jacket (don’t tell Mr. Marcum I said that). But throughout the year I have made more friends than I thought I would, I have really enjoyed the class, and I am even auditioning to be on the varsity choir for next year (fingers crossed!).

               This year has also been a learning experience for me friend – wise. In intermediate school and most of freshman year, I struggled with having close friends. I tended to rely on one person only after only knowing them a couple of weeks, and more than once I then realized that I did not really like the person or want to spend time with them, so then I would feel alone and like I had no one I could trust to tell my problems to. This year, though, I got into the groove of having friends. I have five close friends, and I know I can trust each and every one of them with my secrets, but I also know that I am not too reliant on one individual. We are all close, so next year will be strange and a bit of a challenge because we are taking many different classes, so the likelihood of us sharing classes is very slim.