As the 2021-2022 school year comes to a close, the class of 2022 conclude their senior projects. Serving as a capstone for seniors’ Germantown Academy career, these projects represent a significant transition from highschool to college.
Though creating a senior project is mostly independent, Germantown Academy offers a general process for students to follow. Students start by identifying an industry they are interested in and then form an “essential question” to drive their learning goals. During the project, students record their journey in weekly journals and time logs, which are used to create a presentation about their process. The goal of senior projects, according to Germantown Academy’s mission statement, is to help seniors “explore a deep interest of theirs, learn a new skill, and/or gain valuable experiences.”
Seniors must choose between a career-driven or student-driven project. A career-driven project requires students to seek an outside-of-school sponsor to host them for four weeks off-campus at their workplace. A student-driven project, recently added in 2021 in response to pandemic restrictions, requires a Germantown Academy faculty mentor as a guide; the mentor will oversee a senior while they design and conduct their project. So far, Ms. Negro, director of senior projects, says that about 15-20% of seniors have pursued a student-driven project.
Senior Riya Palkar offers an example of a career-driven project. She volunteered at Elmwood Park Zoo, where she explored her interests in animal-related biology. She says, “I don’t really have a clear goal other than to learn more about animal behavior and biology, as well as improve my communication and interaction skills.”
Choosing a senior project in an area of interest is vital, as the experience will help seniors confirm whether their selected industry is a good fit. Palkar says, “I think senior projects are a super fun way to explore something similar to my career interests and hopefully solidify my future decisions even more.”
Conversely, Caitlin Hasson ’22 offers an example of a student-driven project. Her project centered around designing and creating her own cookbook based on her family’s recipes and food from various cultures. She says her goals were to “expand my culinary abilities, better learn the recipes of my relatives while also spending quality time with them, properly design and create a cookbook, and expand my knowledge of food from various cultures.” Her faculty mentor was math teacher Mr. Nelson.
Though the allotted time for senior projects is four weeks, scheduling issues around AP exams, athletic commitments, and other extracurriculars play a large role in how students execute their projects. When asked how AP exams conflicted with her project, Palkar says, “We’re required to go to AP classes until our exams, and my last exam is May 12th, which only leaves me two weeks to do my project.” She continues, “My other friends who aren’t taking APs have more time.”
In retrospect, senior projects not only helped students pursue areas of interest, but also taught them life skills. Looking towards the future, Palkar says, “Senior projects will definitely benefit me by teaching me a lot of skills such as responsibility, communication, and independence, as I go into college and beyond.”
Having experienced the process, Palkar offers advice to rising seniors. She says, “Make sure you’re doing something that you truly enjoy and are interested in, because that’s what will make your experience the most memorable.”
I believe senior projects are a great opportunity to explore one’s interests regarding career paths. Projects can help students clarify their uncertainties or misconceptions about an industry, and, moreover, the self-reliant aspect of projects offers important lessons about responsibility and managing work.
However, senior projects also intimidate me. The long process of selecting a specific area of interest and formulating a plan seems grueling. Additionally, I feel deciding on a specific area of interest is difficult because I have varying interests which change frequently. However, more insight on the process alleviates some of my fears regarding project inspiration.
With graduation nearing, we wish our seniors good luck in life beyond Germantown Academy