Trevon Davis
April 22, 2021
Mrs. Boutilier’s Capstone class
Sports And Medical Sciences Academy
Senior Year
Everyone knows how hard life has been since COVID-19 burst onto the scene and changed our lives in ways we couldn’t have imagined. From the shutdown of most places, to social distancing, the world was impacted on a level most of us never experienced before. We are in a global pandemic, but life must go on. That is what this Capstone is; this Capstone is showing that even through darkness we must shine, there must be some source of light at the end of the dark tunnel, and that light is us. This project presented us with the opportunity to go out and make a change, see what our community is like in its entirety, see what some people go through on a day to day basis, an inside scoop into the sub-communities in our communities.
When I first discovered what Capstone was, it didn’t sound like a learning experience to me, it sounded like something schools force on kids to say that they experienced the outside world, a way of getting free community service out of us high schoolers, as crazy as that sounds. I didn’t have a single clue as to what I wanted to do for my Capstone when I first started this class, but as time went on and I realized how personal you can make Capstone out to be, I instantly knew what I wanted to do for my Capstone project. I didn’t have an Idea as to how I would approach it, but I knew I wanted it to have something to do with the elderly. As I stated before, COVID hit us like a bus. Nursing homes put their elderly patients on lockdown, elderly people who lived on their own at home started staying inside even more, as they feared for their health and safety, because no one knew what COVID really was, and no one still really knows what it is in its entirety.
Off the bat, Mrs. Boutilier gave me suggestions on what I should try doing for my Capstone project. Elderly people in nursing homes were being socially isolated, and yes it was good for their physical health, but terrible for their mental health. They had no one to talk to, no interaction, just themselves, a TV, and the nurse who comes in to check on them every so often. This causes cognitive decline; impairs the ability to think, act, and can even affect speech and communication skills. Mrs. Boutilier suggested that I try getting to speak to these people in these nursing homes, and that I go for a more over-the-phone approach rather than in person, due to COVID protocol in nursing homes. I tried this approach at first, I even have inside connections through family members that work in nursing homes, and this approach did not work for me.
I tried an approach of my own; I reached out to the grandparents of some of my closest friends for over-the-phone conversations. This plan to say the least was successful. I personally love talking to the elderly, they have the sort of radiating energy that tends to fill your heart with joy as you listen to stories they tell you, almost feeling like a kid in a candy store, but instead of candy, you get memories of a person who’s lived a life 3 times the length of yours. I’m not gonna make it seem like I kept up and handed everything in when it was supposed to be handed in as that was the harder part for me, sitting there and listening to these people talk and hearing the excitement in their voice as they spoke about past times that made them feel young once again.
In conclusion, I learned a lot from Capstone, I feel like the project itself could be presented at a different angle rather than making the whole experience seem like community service you put on paper, I truly did enjoy talking to these grandparents that I talked to during my Capstone project and will continue to reach out to them, off the record. Thank you Mrs. Boutilier for pushing me to get this done as much as you did and I couldn’t appreciate you any more, met you my first day at SMSA when I came for the summer bridge program going into the 6th grade, and now we say our goodbyes as I head on to adulthood.
April 22, 2021
Mrs. Boutilier’s Capstone class
Sports And Medical Sciences Academy
Senior Year
Everyone knows how hard life has been since COVID-19 burst onto the scene and changed our lives in ways we couldn’t have imagined. From the shutdown of most places, to social distancing, the world was impacted on a level most of us never experienced before. We are in a global pandemic, but life must go on. That is what this Capstone is; this Capstone is showing that even through darkness we must shine, there must be some source of light at the end of the dark tunnel, and that light is us. This project presented us with the opportunity to go out and make a change, see what our community is like in its entirety, see what some people go through on a day to day basis, an inside scoop into the sub-communities in our communities.
When I first discovered what Capstone was, it didn’t sound like a learning experience to me, it sounded like something schools force on kids to say that they experienced the outside world, a way of getting free community service out of us high schoolers, as crazy as that sounds. I didn’t have a single clue as to what I wanted to do for my Capstone when I first started this class, but as time went on and I realized how personal you can make Capstone out to be, I instantly knew what I wanted to do for my Capstone project. I didn’t have an Idea as to how I would approach it, but I knew I wanted it to have something to do with the elderly. As I stated before, COVID hit us like a bus. Nursing homes put their elderly patients on lockdown, elderly people who lived on their own at home started staying inside even more, as they feared for their health and safety, because no one knew what COVID really was, and no one still really knows what it is in its entirety.
Off the bat, Mrs. Boutilier gave me suggestions on what I should try doing for my Capstone project. Elderly people in nursing homes were being socially isolated, and yes it was good for their physical health, but terrible for their mental health. They had no one to talk to, no interaction, just themselves, a TV, and the nurse who comes in to check on them every so often. This causes cognitive decline; impairs the ability to think, act, and can even affect speech and communication skills. Mrs. Boutilier suggested that I try getting to speak to these people in these nursing homes, and that I go for a more over-the-phone approach rather than in person, due to COVID protocol in nursing homes. I tried this approach at first, I even have inside connections through family members that work in nursing homes, and this approach did not work for me.
I tried an approach of my own; I reached out to the grandparents of some of my closest friends for over-the-phone conversations. This plan to say the least was successful. I personally love talking to the elderly, they have the sort of radiating energy that tends to fill your heart with joy as you listen to stories they tell you, almost feeling like a kid in a candy store, but instead of candy, you get memories of a person who’s lived a life 3 times the length of yours. I’m not gonna make it seem like I kept up and handed everything in when it was supposed to be handed in as that was the harder part for me, sitting there and listening to these people talk and hearing the excitement in their voice as they spoke about past times that made them feel young once again.
In conclusion, I learned a lot from Capstone, I feel like the project itself could be presented at a different angle rather than making the whole experience seem like community service you put on paper, I truly did enjoy talking to these grandparents that I talked to during my Capstone project and will continue to reach out to them, off the record. Thank you Mrs. Boutilier for pushing me to get this done as much as you did and I couldn’t appreciate you any more, met you my first day at SMSA when I came for the summer bridge program going into the 6th grade, and now we say our goodbyes as I head on to adulthood.