Blog #10: Self-Reflection

1.) How do you think you are doing so far in your senior project and why?

I think that my senior project is going fairly well. Or, more appropriately, my product is going well. The rest of my senior project is alright. I would give myself a P/P- right now - while in some aspects I'm doing very well (AE status), in other aspects I'm, er, not doing as well.

2.) What is one thing you think you have done well on and why?

I think what I'm most proud of right now is my product: the yearbook. What we have for this book right now is definitely the best work that we have ever produced. Beyond that, I am proud of the entire yearbook process, as of right now. We've turned in cover, endsheets, and first deadline all in on time. Our last proofs were only one day late, and that was because we had to call someone for a technical issue (which ended up being a good idea). This has never happened before. Not since I've been on staff, anyway. Not only that, but what we turned in was almost totally complete. This is partially because of the effort of all of the editors - we all know what to do this year, as opposed to last year, when we had no idea what we were doing - and also because of the staff. The entire staff seems to be more willing to work this year. I like to think that I've done something to aid in this.

3.) What is one thing you would like to improve on and why?

I really want to improve on what I have for science fair. I currently have a partially incorporeal hypothesis (that's what I've called it in my head). It's just not all there. There are patches of nothingness in several places. I have been setting aside some time every few days to look through science fair links that I've stored, but I feel like I am coming no closer to a corporeal-solid-solid hypothesis. I'm planning, either this weekend or during break, to take an entire day where I simply sit down and research for three or four hours. I also want to improve on getting things in on time, namely my second interview. It was a fantastic interview. I'm even thinking of using it as my best interview, just because it would be hard to top. A little bit of myself died when I realized I could only get an AP on it.

Blog #8: What I've Learned So Far

1) What have you learned how to do since you started working on your senior project?

Something that I've really tried to focus on while working on my senior topic is how to strengthen theme throughout the book. This is something we have gotten better at over the years, but still needs to be worked on. Something that schools often have to help strengthen their theme are theme pages. For this reason, I have been trying to figure out ways to make the theme more clear not only by putting in more theme pages, but by incorporating little things in the content spreads.

2) Post evidence of this accomplishment. It can be in the form of a picture, video, document, etc.

I just completed the ladder this past week, which is basically the list of all 128 pages that are going to make up the book (I would post in on here, but that gives away absolutely everything that is going in the book, and I feel that might be a bit too public.) If you look at this year's ladder in comparison to past years, you will notice the new theme pages and spreads that are going to be put into the book. There are five theme pages and an three spreads of opening. This may mean nothing to you, but considering that last year we only had one theme page, and the year before that zero, this is quite an improvement. We are adding in theme the way that Casa Roble and Brentwood do, which is something we have always strived to do. Also, the extra two spreads of opening is something that we rarely do. Normally, books have only one opening spread. Depending on how you do it, the extended opening can add to or take away from your book. This year, though, we have a solid theme, solid photography, and solid copy to go with it.

In any case, here is something that appears throughout the book and strengthens this years' theme of "Here." I wish I could reveal more, but a lot of our current stuff is being used for promotional purposes, so we'll have to make do.

3) What research helped you to do this and how?

One article that really helped me is "Why Theme Copy Works," by Crystal Kazmierski. In this article, Kazmierski talks about how students will often be overdramatic in their theme copy, trying to stuff it with clichés and SAT words. Yet, according to Kazmierski, theme copy should be just the opposite. Theme copy works because you are trying to reel the student in, trying to make them understand the theme in the clearest way: by talking to them in a way they would normally be talked to. Theme copy is informal, but with a strong voice, as though the book itself is talking to you. That is something that we have definitely incorporated into our current theme copy. The book sounds like a snappy and sarcastic, but in such a way that it seems to be trying to cover up its secretly sentimental side. It's the perfect voice for the year, and we are making sure that the entire book screams it.

Blog #1: Senior project topic

1.) What is your senior topic?

Yearbook.

2.) Why?

Yearbook is really what has defined my experience at iPoly, and has basically been my life over the past two years. It has sucked up lunches and many after-school hours. It has stolen my weekends and breaks with editor meetings. It has kept me staring at a computer screen for hours on end, sorting images, measuring internal margins, cutting people out of pictures, fooling around with type, and designing spreads and division pages.

Yet, despite all of this time that has been absorbed by the giant sponge that is Yearbook, it is still what I look forward to during the week. When I walked into Strand's room last year and sat in front of a computer, poring over the tiniest details then stepping back to make sure the layouts flowed, I was in my element. I liked doing the work. Not to mention people praised me for it, which made it all the more enjoyable.

Last year, I was elected Editor-in-Chief for iPoly's 2011-2012 yearbook. This was also a factor in me deciding my senior topic; I already knew it was basically mandatory for me to have my senior project topic be Yearbook, but I didn't mind too much. It was honestly a bit of a relief - this is something that I enjoy doing, and I also wouldn't be distracted from Yearbook by my senior project this way. I could focus on making this year's book.

3.) What do you hope to accomplish after studying this topic all year?

My main goal is to take this year's book to the next level, and produce a beautiful book. The book has improved drastically from just my freshman year, even from just 2010 to 2011. I plan to keep this progress going in full force, and I hope that studying Yearbook this year will help me.