Week Eight

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Weekly Accomplishments

This being the final week of the program has meant it has been full steam ahead. The presentation has been the main focus though other work has been done. My first accomplishment was presenting! I think I did quite well in my presentation. I was glad I got to add in the modern element as I feel that, especially with education, there is still so much work to be done, so to get to showcase that, I hope, will create a connection in people. My second accomplishment was actually refining my paper into presentation form. I was chronically undertime so figuring out what should be added without making the presentation feel bloated was some what tricky. In creating the presentation as well I feel that I gained an even better understanding of my writing as I had to melt my paper down to its most important elements. The third accomplishment of this week is not getting super stressed. I think maybe because I enjoy presenting and had a clear goal to work towards I wasn't as stressed as I expected but still felt great to get through this week in a calm manner.

Roadblocks

This week didn't actually see too many roadblocks despite being so busy. The first roadblock was practicing presenting. I am glad I have lots of practice public speaking because finding the time to do multiple run throughs would have been tough with as many people as we have. I am thankful in class time was carved out for us to practice ad give feedback. Roadblock number two is getting my paper finalized. Luckily it looks like I will have time to give it a few more revisions before needing to pack but I do wish I spent more time on it earlier as this presentation has been more all consuming than I expected. The third and final roadblock was going last in the presentation order. While I was glad I got to finish things off strong, it still was a bit stressful having to wait a long time knowing my presentation was coming.

Things I have learned

This week had plenty of learning opportunities despite its focus on finishing things out. First I learned that people do not really paint or print art of schools in Mississippi. Finding art to decorate my slides was a tough job as the buildings are really not documented. The second thing I learned was that trying to hit an exact time while presenting is tough. As I added more to my presentation my time would only go up slightly as I think my brain was trying to give more room for the new stuff rather than using the empty time. Ultimately I am happy with what I gave especially since I went last people were ready to go. The third thing I learned is that The desegregation orders in place are only for schools that never desegregated not for schools that resegregated, making the list of schools all the worse. Also makes me sad that the schools that have begun resegregating through zoning and discriminatory policy and class placement will likely not face punishment for a while.

What's Next

Next is moving out and packing. I got a decent amount to pack and not a ton of time. I'm hoping to pack a decent chunk while people are out with families so that I can celebrate later on.