In the spring of 1996, I was finishing up my senior year of High school. 

I was a good kid, so I was confused when I was told the vice principal wanted to talk to me and my friend. 

The Vice principle was the one you talked to when you were in trouble! 

Walking in, I was twisting the hem of my shirt, and my friend gave me that look. You know the one that said- Seriously? 

 She was confident it was all good things. 

After we settled the vice principle looked right at us and said: 

“A lot of seniors feel like the senior project was hard to understand and we would like you to create an informative engaging video that we could show to future kids their junior year to help them understand better.” 

I breathed out, I was so grateful it was something good- I was flattered too. I wanted to do it. . . But I was so busy. I turned to him and said “We are both really busy with classes and the play. . .” 

 I wasn’t sure I could fit it in. 

“I know you are both busy. This is important, so we will talk to your teachers” 

Somehow, he was able to lower our class work and we gathered a group to put it together. It was fun going to different locations, interviewing people, videoing cool things etc. 

What you need to know about me- is that in high school I had a tendency to slap dash assignments together. I would do the lowest amount of work possible to get the grade. Afterall, what else was there to worry about except the grade? 

Looking back, it wasn’t a great use of my time, and the unfortunate side effect was that I didn’t learn as much as I could have. 

But this, this was real. My efforts would affect others. During production, when things got hard and I thought about cutting corners, – I remembered that this was real. The Juniors would see this, and it would affect their senior year experience. 

 For instance, once we had an interview that we had planned on doing that kept falling through. I thought, “Maybe we can just say something quickly about that option and move on”, but I knew it would be blander that way. 

I didn’t want that; everyone would see it! So, I pushed through. 

At the end of the year, after we finished it, and it was shown to the juniors- I felt accomplished. I knew their experience would be better because of something I had done. 

I realize now that because it was real, I put in the effort. And by putting in the effort, I had learned so much more. 

I’m sure I could ask any of you and you could think of a similar experience! I know I’m not alone. So, it makes sense to do as many projects and real-life experiences in education as possible. Let’s Get Going!