Class Activity Reflection

Below are some reflections in which we have been working in class. They are related with our 8 learning outcomes from CAS Class. I decide to reflect mostly on my last CAS project which was Blue Revolution.

Did I ever give up? Why? How did I overcome and move forward?

Yes. It's something that I'm not proud of, however I did it for my own good. I gave up on Blue Revolution, after the forum I tried to keep in working but things just didn't work out. If things don't work out then I should try to do it until they work, well that is what I usually tell myself. However I had so many ideas, but barely any support and I just couldn't do it on my own. I felt like I needed a team, just like it was at the beginning  even though I don't like to work with teams, I like the Blue Revolution crew. The problem was that we all had a lot going on and I was the only one coordinating things. I know that one of things that La Paz wants and this class, is that the students take lead and do projects on their own. But I couldn't, a person can handle only a certain amount of things and if I did Blue Revolution on my own I would have broken that limit and then I wouldn't have gotten things done the way I wanted. However I have learned from giving up what my limits are and what I can actually accomplish on my own. Overall I don't see it as a failure, I see it as a bump in the road, it was just an obstacle with a lesson and now I have to move on and focus more on CAS. 

What feedback did I receive about my activity?

I was very excited to do Blue Revolution, specially the talk because I thought that it would be a great opportunity to teach the community about the ocean and the importance of saving it. However I was very disappointed and sad about the turn out because after planning it for 6 weeks I didn't hear the feedback that I wanted to hear. Why? Because it just didn't go the way that any of us planned. We had planned something interesting and we knew that it could not be long because people get bored very easily. And that was what happened. We had to rely on the presentation of Enrique and we thought that it would be precise and easy for people to understand, but the presentation was more directed towards a community of scientists not normal community members that only know the basics of the situations that are happening with the protection of the ocean. I'm a person that gets really interested in it but I was bored, I wanted it to finish. I wanted to do something to stop the presentation because it was not what we wanted  When I looked at the public it was as if a storm had burst into a beautiful sunny day, the public was the storm in the sunny day because I was happy and excited and then I saw them yawning, looking to the side or talking with people beside them and I felt disappointed. And the main feedback that I got from everybody was that it was too long and boring  And I learned that what Blue Revolution did was not the way you go towards people. Things need to be short precise and with just the right amount of info, not too little or too much. That is the way you get people, with posters, ads, commercial or events that get there attention an are interesting  This is something really important that I learned and I will take into consideration next time I do or am  involved in an activity like these one. 

What connections did I find in the areas outside of guanacaste? How can my project be important to the world?

My project is important to the world because I'm dealing with issues of global importance. The ocean is part of the world and its receiving a lot of damages from people who are very ignorant and don't care about anything other than themselves  With Blue Revolution our goal was to inform people about t overfishing and the impacts of it. I have always been into this subject since I can remember. The main behind it is because I have lived near the ocean since I was 3 and I have learned to appreciate it, love it and protect it. At the same time I grew up with father who loves fishing in his free time and m brother hr learned who is just to like him. When I was younger we would do family trips (in other words to places where they could fish) while the men fished I would admire the beauty around me, take pictures and read. The there was a point in where my brother at the age of 8 become very good at catching fish, when my father wouldn't catch any. Sam would catch small and medium size fish because they would fish near the rocks and the shore, where the younger fish live. At the same time I started to release the fish that he would catch because I wanted to give a chance to the fish so they would have a life, become an adult and have baby fish. However that would get me in trouble because they were my brother's fish and "I had no right to decide their fate because I didn't catch them" according to both my father and brother. Until today I still have arguments and fights with them because they don't release the small fish and people like them are the ones who are ruining the ocean. After about 7 years of arguing with them I have made a small change, now they release the small fish but not the medium size ones It has been a long way, and they are my inspiration and my battle to keep fighting for the ocean and it's beautiful creatures.

How did it feel to work with others?

I dislike collaborating with others because then I have to depend on other people and if they don't get their work done I'm stuck, because I can't keep doing the work. This is mostly within school and projects, but I also don't like working with other people outside of school if they are hard to deal with (won't do their part, are annoying and distracting, aren't responsible, don't know what to do). The reason why I feel this way is because most of the time I end up doing all of the work and then people think can rely on ey and expect me to do all of it on my own!  I know I'm responsible and can do a lot but I'm not Wonder Woman I can only handle so much. And I'm tired of people expecting a lot of me because then I feel like I don't do enough even if I drained all there was of me. I know and I'm aware that working in a group is a very important skill to have in life but I can't work with people that are not willing to work as well because then it all depends on me. However I have been working on working with others and I have realized that communication is very important with both teachers and classmates (or co worker). Things won't always be the way that one expects it to be, and there will always be people who won't cooperate, but I just need to learn how to deal with it and put effort from my part as much as I can.