Wrapping up my capstone experience

Reflecting back on my time spent here at HSU I can say without a doubt that switching my major to ENST junior year was the best decision I made throughout college. Going into my capstone experience I must admit that I was not entirely certain what I wanted to pursue with my learning service opportunity. I knew that I wanted to work with a community partner that was passionate about inspiring change in the lives of others. When I heard Beth from the Humboldt County Department of Education come in and talk about the Redwood Edventures quest program I was immediately intrigued. Intrigued over the idea of designing a quest of my own for youth and families to enjoy for years to come that really excited to me. However, as I began to work with beth I started to realize that I would not have the freedom of control over the project that I was hoping for, in that I was bound to the location of her choosing. Working with what I was given alongside fellow ENST student Jonathan Gomez we began to start planning the Redwood Edventure quest at the Mad River fish hatchery. After several weeks went by Beth informed us both about the strategic reasoning for why there was need to make a quest for at the fish hatchery and that was because the quest would coincide with another department of education project the Classroom Aquarium Education Program. Designing a quest at the fish hatchery would provide curious k-12 students an opportunity to have a hand held guided tour of the hatchery where they can learn about the habitat in which their fish came from. Jonathan and I designed the quest and another fellow ENSTer Blake Hildabrand designed the map graphic for us.

Half way through the semester I shifted gears and focused mostly on the classroom aquarium project. I was allowed full creative control over the classroom aquarium poster design for a big fundraising project. Landing the service learning with Beth and the Department of Education was a great fit for me. I was able to strengthen my photoshop and graphic design capabilities, which was a personal goal of mine. Coming into this service learning as a media production emphasis I was in search of real work setting exposure in this field and got just that. One of the aspects I enjoyed the most was having the freedom to go out and take photos and gather video documentation that will be incorporated into future projects for the Department of Education. One of the biggest lessons I took away from this service learning was realizing how essential communication is. When working with multiple people on projects it is necessary to have effective communication so you can rely on each person to do their part so all expectations come together by the deadline. Working with multiple people kept me sharp and trained me to send emails in a professional manner.

As I get one step closer to finishing my college career I can say with confidence that the ENST program help me acquire the skills I seeked to become the social change agent I want to be in this world. As for what's next? I’m looking forward to spending some down time away from school and allow myself to reflect back on what has been the best four years of my life thus far. All in all I really feel that I lucked out with my community partner and had a valuable service learning experience. I was able to build a strong relationship with her and I hope to continue working on projects together in the future. I can see myself hopefully doing an internship with the Humboldt County Department of Education throughout the fall.