With writing this paper, I expected the paper to take a shorter time to complete. I definitely did not think my product would be the one I am doing right now. Although a lot of work, I think both my paper and product are going to really benefit others. Working with my mentor also went very smoothly. I was able to consult him on anything I needed.
Writing the paper was a little bit difficult in terms of finding facts and statistics. Due to this topic being relatively recent, there was not much to go through. Also, it was a little difficult relating how the heart responds to playing sports and how that changes through different individuals. The way I was able to work around this problem was being patient and looking deeper. Eventually, you will find something. My mentor was also able to elaborate on the concept. One interesting fact I learned was that cardiovascular complications can happen to anyone. Usually, it is associated with someone who has a weak heart or prior complication. However, in reality, even a presumably healthy individual can struggle. Among the many things this project taught me, I learned the importance of working on something you are passionate about. Since I chose my own topic and it was one I wanted, I was able to complete it successfully and beneficially. I think that is the reason this much time and effort went into it. It was easy to finish earlier and not give it “your all” but since it was something I believed in, I was able to work without working. As mentioned before, my product is the HEART Safe School Award. This award gets renewed every three years. This means that my product will continue in the future to be able to keep up this award. Aside from that, the Cardiac Emergency Response Plan, although reviewed annually, will always be used and available in the case of any emergency. This would not only continue my project but rather it would also spread awareness throughout the school continuously. Something else I found very astounding was that Islam really is a way of life. No matter what the issue or topic may be, there is always advice and guidelines in the Quran and Ahadeeth. It also showed me how divine our religion is. The prophet (PBUH), the Sahabah, and his wives would participate in physical activity. They knew it was beneficial to them before there were any studies and proof. This project really needed time and effort. If I was to advise anyone who is going to be going through this experience it would be to stick to the due dates and not procrastinate. Senior project was a project as a whole and in order to complete it successfully, you need to base the work you do on that. Do not try to cram everything together or do it overnight. I would also advise them to not give up during the research phase. In the beginning, it is very hard to decide exactly what you want to do. Researching a very broad idea will give you countless websites and articles. From there it becomes easier to formulate a detailed plan. I would also advise them to work on their product along with their paper and not leave it till the end. |