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Final Journal Reflection

Grace created a footstool for her cousin who has dwarfism as her capstone project. She learned new woodworking skills and about problem solving when issues arose. Grace also learned about herself, realizing she gets anxious when taking on new challenges. Despite struggles with anxiety, she was proud that she overcame her fears to complete the project, which she hopes will help her cousin experience less pain.

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46 views

Final Journal Reflection

Grace created a footstool for her cousin who has dwarfism as her capstone project. She learned new woodworking skills and about problem solving when issues arose. Grace also learned about herself, realizing she gets anxious when taking on new challenges. Despite struggles with anxiety, she was proud that she overcame her fears to complete the project, which she hopes will help her cousin experience less pain.

Uploaded by

api-633264803
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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FINAL JOURNAL REFLECTION

GRACE FANDRICH

T HE C APSTONE IS A UNIQUE AND DEMANDING


CHALLENGE . I N COMPLETING IT , WHAT DID YOU
LEARN ABOUT YOUR SUBJECT ? Y OUR SKILL SET ?
Y OURSELF ?
`

For my capstone, I focused on woodwork, creating a footstool for my cousin.


Throughout the whole process, I learnt a lot about what is important to have to work on
a woodwork project. Since machines being used for the process could cause unexpected
problems, you will really need to have a great problem-solving skill. For example, in my
project, when I glued together the sides, I noticed that my corners were not flush. I
decided to cut out all the corners and insert a wooden strip into each. This fixed the
problem that I had, as well as giving a nice accent to the wood. I have learned a lot of
new skills doing this, such as creating a mitre joint using the table saw and creating
bigger piece of wood by laminating pieces together. But I have also noticed that I
already have a lot of skillsets in woodwork that most people do not poses. I could
analyze what had gone wrong, and find a quick solution for the problem, and be creative
with how I achieve a particular goal in creating a piece. One thing I learnt about myself,
that I could see clearly throughout creating this project was how much anxiety I had
with doing something I was not particularly confident in, which resulted in confiding my
woodwork teacher a lot, to sort of get permission to do one thing. I would get so scared
that I would cut myself, or mess up the project very badly, or somehow destroy the
machine. This prevented me to move forward with the project confidently, and often
got slowed down, because my anxiety will prevent me from taking the next step to finish
the project.

H OW IS YOUR PROJECT RELEVANT TO YOU , THE


SCHOOL , OR THE COMMUNITY - AT - LARGE ?

I have made this footstool for my cousin who I am very close with. She was born with
dwarfism, which causes her to have a hard time accessing stuff around the house. Since I
will be moving to Indiana for my post-secondary school, which is where she lives, I really
wanted to make something that could help her. When I reached out to my aunt, she
explained that my cousin is in constant pain, and one way I could help relieve that pain
is to make a footstool for her. Since most chairs are big for her, her legs end up dangling,
which causes strain on her back, causing more pain. I knew she also has a great passion
in woodworking, so this seemed like a perfect project to make for her. Since I also grew
up with many disabled people around me, I have always wondered how to make
furniture more easily accessed by these people. This capstone project has helped me
investigate and research more about accessibility for disabled people, especially those
who have the same symptom as my cousin.

H OW DID YOU DEMONSTRATE THE SIX C ORE


C OMPETENCIES THROUGHOUT THIS PROJECT ?

[C R E A T I V E T HI NKI NG ]
Once I got the request to make a footstool, I immediately took out a piece of paper and
started to draw out the designs my brain started to produce. Making a woodwork
project really requires a great amount of creative thinking. I could have made a simple
stool that would have taken less materials and time but being creative is the part that
makes woodwork such a wonderful way to express yourself. Since my cousin loves
cheery wood, I designed the stool to have cherry wood incorporated with it and using
other wood to accent the beech wood.

[C O M M U N I C AT I ON ]
For this project since I was making it for a chair that is in Indiana, a lot of communication
between me and my aunt was needed to figure out the dimensions of the chairs and the
ideal dimensions of the footstool as well. Once that was figured out, I have spent the
whole process going back and forth with my mentor about the best ways I could
accomplish what is in my mind into reality. Since there were new skills to be learnt, she
also helped me to learn the new techniques while also giving me the chance to figure it
out myself.

[P E R SO N A L & C ULT UR AL I DE NT IT Y ]
My strengths and identity that I think really helped with the project is 1. I care deeply
about people and go out my way to do something for them 2. great at finding solutions
when there doesn’t seem to be any. Since I am making this footstool for somebody I
deeply care for, even when I ran into problems that were hard to overcome, I pushed
through. There were times when I felt as though my anxiety will stop me from finishing
up the project, but I was able to push myself since I really wanted to finish this project
for my cousin and have the time to make it perfect instead of feeling to rush to the end.
My ability to find solutions really helped in situations where I messed up `a process
(such as the corners like I have mentioned before). Finishing a beautiful project like this
has also helped me lift my self-esteem and confidence.
[P E R SO N A L A W ARE NE SS & R E SPONSI B I L I T Y ]
Even with the extreme anxiety that I had that could have prevented me from finishing
the project on time, I took responsibility on my emotions and actions and helped myself
get through the rut. I am used to letting my anxiety run my actions, which could lead to
days where I cannot leave my bed from fear of failure or abandon projects. Since this
project meant a lot to me, I was able to find ways to lower my anxiety level for the
project and push myself to keep up with the time that I had set myself.

[S O C I A L R E SPONSI B I L I T Y ]
While creating my capstone project, I had the chance to get to know the students who
were in the class I worked on my project as well as the teacher. I have the tendency to
keep everything to myself and keep people away from me, but I was able to be open to
these people and build relationship with them. Especially with my woodwork mentor,
even though I have known her since grade 10, I feel like I understand her more now, and
have greater respect and admiration towards her.

[C R I T I C A L T HI NKI NG ]
Since I was creating this project from scratch, it required a lot of analyzation and critical
thinking. What is the best way to make this stool practical? How can I make it to be easy
to use? Are there other ways this stool can be used? How can I incorporate accents in
colours by using different types of wood? With questions that I could not come up the
answer with, I approached my mentor to see what her opinion was to come to my own
conclusion.

W HAT IMPACT IF ANY DID YOUR C APSTONE


PROJECT HAVE ?
Once I move to Indiana, I am hoping that it would help my cousin relieve a bit of her
pain with this project.

T HINKING ABOUT THE WHOLE PROCESS AND


YOUR FINISHED PRODUCT , WHAT ARE YOU MOST
PROUD OF ?
Although this may sound cheesy, the thing that I am most proud of is the fact that I was
able to overcome my anxiety when it came to creating this project. It was something I
really struggled with, and there was a time I was scared I will not be able to finish the
project on time. I am glad that I was able to push myself to start from where I left off
and not entirely abandon the project like I have the tendency to do.

W HAT WAS A DIFFICULTY YOU ENCOUNTERED


AND HOW DID YOU SOLVE THE PROBLEM ?
I think I have covered the answer to this question in different sections (problems I had
with anxiety and some specific problems I had with the project)

W HAT IS ONE THING ABOUT YOUR FINAL


PROJECT YOU WISH YOU COULD CHANGE ? W HY ?
When I made the modifications for the corners, I used a Dato saw to create a square
cut-out. But the fence moved during I was cutting it out, which caused the square cut-
outs to be more rectangular and it looks a bit odd if you notice it. If I were to do it again,
I would remeasure each time I cut the corners so I can make sure that the fence has not
moved, and that it will cut a square.

W HAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A STUDENT


WHO WILL BE COMPLETING THEIR C APSTONE
PROJECT NEXT YEAR ?
Make a timeline for yourself before you start anything so that you can avoid
procrastination and hold yourself accountable. Also, I find it very important to do
something you really enjoy or passionate about, or you will have a very miserable time
doing your capstone.

W HAT SOURCE FROM YOUR RESEARCH HELPED


YOU THE MOST ?
The YouTube video that I watched (What’s the Best Wood Joint || Insanely Strong
Joinery! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE147Ow7RmM ) that I watched really
helped me decide which joint I should use for the footstool since I knew that it would
have to hold a lot of weight since people will be stepping onto it. In the video, amongst
many other joints, miter joints were 3rd and box joints were 2nd. In the beginning I was
planning to use the box joint for more stability as well as better aesthetic, but I switched
to miter joints to make it easier for me to make the door for the compartment.

W HAT IS ONE THING ABOUT YOUR APPROACH TO


YOUR PROJECT THAT YOU WISH YOU COULD
CHANGE ? W HY ?
One thing I would change is my attitude towards my project. Because I was so fixated in
not messing up the project, my anxiety became worse than it usually is, and little
mistakes made me feel as though I was incompetent. If I were to start over, I would give
myself a pep talk to let myself know that I do not have to make this perfect and have an
open-minded view on how this project will finish up, so that I will have an optimistic
attitude with less chance my anxiety to be bad.

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