Scribd
Upload
16 views

Capstone Final Reflection

Uploaded by

api-737205613
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
16 views

Capstone Final Reflection

Uploaded by

api-737205613
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

Final Capstone Reflection Journal Entry

The last requirement of the Capstone Project prior to your Exit Interview is to reflect on the
process by writing a final journal reflection. You must answer ALL the questions below.

Please use PARAGRAPHS IN YOUR WRITING AND INCORPORATE THE FOLLOWING


QUESTIONS AS HEADINGS.

When completed, please upload this document to your website under Capstone Evidence &
Artifacts Page. The title of your post should be “Final Capstone Reflection.”

_____________________________________________________________________________
_______

The Capstone is a unique and demanding challenge. In completing it, what did you learn
about your subject? Your skill set? Yourself?

This project has challenged me in more ways than I can count. Between the different time zones
and work schedules, I had my fair share of roadblocks. After completing this project, I have
learned that there are so many more issues in the police force than I could have ever imagined.
Talking with different police officers with various backgrounds made me realize that so many of
the problems within the industry are international. Not only did I learn about the police force, but
I also learned a lot about myself. This project is something that I have wanted to do for years, to
sit down and just talk with some officers who have experience under their belts. By finishing this
project, I have taught myself that when I pursue my interests and passions, I can do anything.

How is your project relevant to you, the school or the community-at-large?

After graduation, I am moving on to join the military. While the army and the police force are
not the same, they do have a ton of similarities when it comes to the mental health portion of the
jobs. As someone who has struggled with mental health in the past, I wanted to know a little bit
more about what I was getting myself into and what stigmas I need to expect to face in the next
few years. As for relevancy within my community, by listening to my capstone project, you are
able to gain a deeper understanding of the struggles of mental health in the police force. While
you may not think that applies to you, it does because you will intrinsically become more
compassionate and understanding of the police in our community.

What impact if any did your Capstone project have on yourself, the community, society?
The whole point ofc my capstone was to better understand the mental health struggles that cops
deal with. After asking them the question, “What can the community do to help?”, the most
popular response was by showing support. Whether it be through Christmas cards, positive
feedback, or gratitude, showing support goes farther than any civilian could imagine. By doing
this project and showing that I really do care, I believe that I made an impact on the days of the
police officers that I spoke to.

Thinking about the whole process and your finished product, what are you most proud of?

Honestly, I am most proud that I made a difference. I was trying to decide between a few
different capstone ideas, but this one stood out because it benefits other people. I have always
believed in helping other people and I am proud that I chose to do that as my last high school
project.
What was a difficulty you encountered and how did you solve the problem?

I think that the biggest challenge I faced was definitely finding officers who were willing to
speak with me. I tried to go around to local police stations at first and hopefully talk to some
officers in person, which proved to be very difficult. After a few weeks of trying that approach, I
reached out to an old mentor of mine, Theresa Campbell. She is the CEO of Safer Schools
Together and has worked with cops from all over North America. After contacting her, I got the
names and numbers of numerous police officers from all over the continent and spoke with them
over the phone. Another big challenge was definitely finding times to call each other due to the
different time zones.

What is one thing about your finished project you wish you could change? Why?

If I could go back, I would speak to more police officers for sure, and possibly even firefighters.
This way, I could get more data and therefore better results for my inquiry. I would also like to
speak to officers from smaller towns to get their perspectives. Most of the officers I spoke with
were from big cities and they said that the mental health protocols are very different between big
cities and small towns.

What advice would you give to a student who will be completing their Capstone Project next
year?

Start early is my biggest advice. I know a lot of people including myself that kind of forgot about
it for a while or didn’t put in the work right from the get-go and it ended up being extremely
stressful. The other big thing is to pursue something that truly interests you. If you pick
something that you think looks cool to others or would make your parents happy, but it doesn’t
actually intrigue you, you are setting yourself up for failure.
What specific source from your research helped you the most? (or least?)

One of the first steps in our capstone project was to do some research on websites like Google
Scholar or JStor. For me, this was damn near impossible. I found one article that was vaguely
related to my topic on JStor but that was all I could find. After continuously having no luck, I
had to resort to default search engines such as google and safari which wasn’t ideal but was my
only option. In my opinion, this speaks to how little this issue is talked about and it really drove
me that much more to make a change. So JStor and Google Scholar were definitely the least
useful sources in my opinion.

What is one thing about your approach to your project that you wish you could change? Why?

I think I definitely could have planned better. While there was planning involved, I think it
would have been very beneficial to set a rigid schedule with times at dates in order to complete
everything in an orderly manner. I also should have come up with backup plans in advance in
case something didn't work out. Had I set up this system in which everything I needed to do
would be accounted for, I believe that my project would have run much smoother than it did.

You might also like