1. What are you most proud of in your 2 hour presentation and/or your senior project and why?
I am most proud of my product as well as the process it took for me to acquire information regarding my topic. If someone told me I would be as strong, flexible, and toned as I am now 9 months ago, I wouldn't believe them. When I was putting together my 2 hour powerpoint, I added my before and after pictures and realized how much my body has physically changed! It's amazing how much dedication I put into this project without even realizing it. Also, I'm proud of the fact that I was able to find great mentorship with mentors who guided me every step of the way when it was difficult to find credible research.
2A. AE
2B. AE
3. What worked for you in your senior project?
What worked for me was the fact that I was able to get involved in my topic. While others have a hard time applying and using their senior project on a daily basis, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to do yoga on a daily basis and see results. Also, my activities worked very well and in my favor. I used my skills and knowledge I've acquired through experience and research and apply it to my activities. This worked in my favor because not many people were able to use first hand experience in their field and share it with others.
4. I would improve my senior project by getting more involved in my mentorship. Even though I was only cleaning, I took classes to make up for it although that didn't count as mentorship. As Mrs. Pittman stated, she told me to look into health fairs that certain yoga studios offer. This made a lot more sense than just cleaning a studio because I would gain so much more knowledge on the art itself, not on the cleanliness of the studio.
5. My senior project was very helpful for me in my future endeavors by aiding me in my communications skills. I was a very quiet, shy girl but when I entered the yoga studio, I was challenged with talking to students and persuading them to purchase a membership. Also, I gained confidence in myself to be more personable with others due to the sudden physical changes in my body. I feel like if I can be persistent in my yoga endeavors, I can further better my inner and outer self.
Friday, May 31, 2013
Monday, May 20, 2013
Blog 25: Mentorship
Literal
-mentorship log
-Antoinette Contreras (or Monique Jaime), 626-965-4000
Interpretive
The most important thing I've gained from my experience at Yoganette was being able to communicate with others. When I first started as a receptionist, I had to go the extra inch to service the students and make sure they had a great experience at the studio. It was weird for me to talk to people who weren't my own age, so I was a little shy but eventually I was able to overcome my fear. Usually I'm pretty comfortable enough to speak to people my own age, but it was definitely different to be able to communicate to people of superiority or higher respect. Communication is a big deal here at the studio. I actually had some communication problems with my mentors about my scheduling. I usually am scheduled to come in on Wednesdays and Sundays but due to my work schedules, I would come in on Saturday morning instead of Wednesday. I failed to let Monique know which caused so much confusion. Thankfully she was very understanding which made me realize that communication is pretty much vital in any relationship, professional or personal.
Applied
Although I wasn't able to have a hands-on experience with teachers as they were teaching classes, I was able to have amazing one-on-one conversations with Antoinette, Kellie (Hicks), and Monique. These three are all teachers at Yoganette who are always willing to help me out on my senior project even though I didn't have access to any yoga related activities. Instead, while classes were going on, I would talk to them about my essential question, my interviews, research, and any other yoga related questions I had. Like I said, I might not have had any hands-on experience by shadowing a teacher, but every conversation I've had during my shift at Yoganette was full of quality and substance.
-mentorship log
-Antoinette Contreras (or Monique Jaime), 626-965-4000
Interpretive
The most important thing I've gained from my experience at Yoganette was being able to communicate with others. When I first started as a receptionist, I had to go the extra inch to service the students and make sure they had a great experience at the studio. It was weird for me to talk to people who weren't my own age, so I was a little shy but eventually I was able to overcome my fear. Usually I'm pretty comfortable enough to speak to people my own age, but it was definitely different to be able to communicate to people of superiority or higher respect. Communication is a big deal here at the studio. I actually had some communication problems with my mentors about my scheduling. I usually am scheduled to come in on Wednesdays and Sundays but due to my work schedules, I would come in on Saturday morning instead of Wednesday. I failed to let Monique know which caused so much confusion. Thankfully she was very understanding which made me realize that communication is pretty much vital in any relationship, professional or personal.
Applied
Although I wasn't able to have a hands-on experience with teachers as they were teaching classes, I was able to have amazing one-on-one conversations with Antoinette, Kellie (Hicks), and Monique. These three are all teachers at Yoganette who are always willing to help me out on my senior project even though I didn't have access to any yoga related activities. Instead, while classes were going on, I would talk to them about my essential question, my interviews, research, and any other yoga related questions I had. Like I said, I might not have had any hands-on experience by shadowing a teacher, but every conversation I've had during my shift at Yoganette was full of quality and substance.
Monday, May 13, 2013
Blog 24: Exit Interview Questions
1. What is your essential question? What is the best answer to your essential question? Why?
How best can Hatha yoga improve strength and flexibility? The best answer to my essential question is to perform the more intense poses such as inversions, standing poses, twists and arm balances. I stand by this answer because those poses tend to use more of your muscles. It takes a lot of balance, coordination, and strength to hold the poses and smoothly transition to another one, thus improving strength and flexibility.
2. What process did you take to arrive at this answer?
To arrive at this answer, I ran mini tests on my answers. For example, I tried taking classes at a studio and a gym for a while. After, I made sure my alignment was all correct. I realized that being in a yoga studio makes it more personal and intimate, but it doesn't guarantee an improvement in strength and flexibility. I figured that with poses such as inversions, standing, twists and arm balances, it will benefit the practitioner no matter if the alignment is off or if it is done in or outside a yoga studio.
3. What problems did you face? How did you resolve them?
One of the biggest problems I had to overcome was my availability. Things got hectic at school and I was recently hired to close in retail. This left me with little to no time to take classes, learn and experience. Although taking classes didn't count as mentorship, it was the main source of information I acquired (I don't know how to cite this as a source if it counts). Anyway, to counter this problem, I decided to do yoga at home using videos online. It wasn't as effective but it did the job and I still learned a lot about the poses, breathing, and how to teach a class.
4. What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?
One of the sources I found to be extremely significant are my interviews with teachers at the yoga studio. I really utilized the ability to create questions on the interview to make their answers suitable and more personal to my essential questions. Through these interviews, I was able to attain information that could have been unavailable to me via Google. As for a print resource, I found Yoga for Dummies by Georg Feuerstein and Larry Payne to be very helpful. This book was unlike anything else. Instead of descriptions on how to perform certain yoga poses, this book had information regarding the history, the Eight Limbs of Yoga, the styles, and so much more. In other words, it had substance and quality information that not many yoga based books offer.
5. What is your product and why?
My product is my increase in strength and flexibility. Coming into senior year, I was barely able to touch my nose to my knees. Class after class, I can now touch my nose to my knee in more ways than one. In terms of strength, I can now do chaturanga (plank to push up) with a strong body and no limp limbs. I've also noticed that my lung capacity has increased. Not only during yoga, but when I am at the gym, I feel less winded than I used too. The product of my senior project basically resulted in many physical change.
How best can Hatha yoga improve strength and flexibility? The best answer to my essential question is to perform the more intense poses such as inversions, standing poses, twists and arm balances. I stand by this answer because those poses tend to use more of your muscles. It takes a lot of balance, coordination, and strength to hold the poses and smoothly transition to another one, thus improving strength and flexibility.
2. What process did you take to arrive at this answer?
To arrive at this answer, I ran mini tests on my answers. For example, I tried taking classes at a studio and a gym for a while. After, I made sure my alignment was all correct. I realized that being in a yoga studio makes it more personal and intimate, but it doesn't guarantee an improvement in strength and flexibility. I figured that with poses such as inversions, standing, twists and arm balances, it will benefit the practitioner no matter if the alignment is off or if it is done in or outside a yoga studio.
3. What problems did you face? How did you resolve them?
One of the biggest problems I had to overcome was my availability. Things got hectic at school and I was recently hired to close in retail. This left me with little to no time to take classes, learn and experience. Although taking classes didn't count as mentorship, it was the main source of information I acquired (I don't know how to cite this as a source if it counts). Anyway, to counter this problem, I decided to do yoga at home using videos online. It wasn't as effective but it did the job and I still learned a lot about the poses, breathing, and how to teach a class.
4. What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?
One of the sources I found to be extremely significant are my interviews with teachers at the yoga studio. I really utilized the ability to create questions on the interview to make their answers suitable and more personal to my essential questions. Through these interviews, I was able to attain information that could have been unavailable to me via Google. As for a print resource, I found Yoga for Dummies by Georg Feuerstein and Larry Payne to be very helpful. This book was unlike anything else. Instead of descriptions on how to perform certain yoga poses, this book had information regarding the history, the Eight Limbs of Yoga, the styles, and so much more. In other words, it had substance and quality information that not many yoga based books offer.
5. What is your product and why?
My product is my increase in strength and flexibility. Coming into senior year, I was barely able to touch my nose to my knees. Class after class, I can now touch my nose to my knee in more ways than one. In terms of strength, I can now do chaturanga (plank to push up) with a strong body and no limp limbs. I've also noticed that my lung capacity has increased. Not only during yoga, but when I am at the gym, I feel less winded than I used too. The product of my senior project basically resulted in many physical change.
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Blog 23: 2014 Interview
1. Who did you interview and what house are they in?
I interviewed Jorge Mancilla from South House.
2. What ideas do you have for your senior project and why?
JORGE: I was thinking of doing something along the lines of clinical psychology. If that doesn't work out and I can't find any mentorship, I would really love to do something like marriage counseling. I think the information that's out there is really interesting. Those two topics really interest me and it's something unique I can bring into senior year.
3. What do you plan to do for your summer 10 hour mentorship experience?
JORGE: For clinical psychology, I plan on going to a hospital like City of Hope or wherever is convenient and close to me. As for marriage counseling, I'm not sure where I can do mentorship at. I guess I'll have to do more research on that.
4. What do you hope to see or expect to see in watching the 2013 2-hour presentations?
JORGE: When I watch the 2013 presentations, I think it will open doors for me to choose my topic. If someone is doing something similar to the topics I want to do, it will definitely give me some ideas and examples on how I should take on my senior project.
5. What questions do you have that I can answer about senior year or senior project (or what additional information did you tell them about senior year or senior project)?
JORGE: I don't really have any questions...
ALYSSA: So you think you can handle senior year on your own?
JORGE: No... Okay, I have a question. How are we supposed to show proof of the 10 hours thing that Andy told us about?
ALYSSA: Oh, the mentorship log? Well first, you've got to find a mentor under your senior topic and shadow them. Once you've got that going, you're going to make a log on GoogleDocs recording the date, what you did, how long you did it for, and the total time. You're going to have to constantly update it or else you'll fall way behind.
JORGE: That makes sense. Okay, I'll go to you whenever I need help.
I interviewed Jorge Mancilla from South House.
2. What ideas do you have for your senior project and why?
JORGE: I was thinking of doing something along the lines of clinical psychology. If that doesn't work out and I can't find any mentorship, I would really love to do something like marriage counseling. I think the information that's out there is really interesting. Those two topics really interest me and it's something unique I can bring into senior year.
3. What do you plan to do for your summer 10 hour mentorship experience?
JORGE: For clinical psychology, I plan on going to a hospital like City of Hope or wherever is convenient and close to me. As for marriage counseling, I'm not sure where I can do mentorship at. I guess I'll have to do more research on that.
4. What do you hope to see or expect to see in watching the 2013 2-hour presentations?
JORGE: When I watch the 2013 presentations, I think it will open doors for me to choose my topic. If someone is doing something similar to the topics I want to do, it will definitely give me some ideas and examples on how I should take on my senior project.
5. What questions do you have that I can answer about senior year or senior project (or what additional information did you tell them about senior year or senior project)?
JORGE: I don't really have any questions...
ALYSSA: So you think you can handle senior year on your own?
JORGE: No... Okay, I have a question. How are we supposed to show proof of the 10 hours thing that Andy told us about?
ALYSSA: Oh, the mentorship log? Well first, you've got to find a mentor under your senior topic and shadow them. Once you've got that going, you're going to make a log on GoogleDocs recording the date, what you did, how long you did it for, and the total time. You're going to have to constantly update it or else you'll fall way behind.
JORGE: That makes sense. Okay, I'll go to you whenever I need help.
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Friday, April 26, 2013
Blog 21: Independent Component 2
LITERAL
a. I, Alyssa Soberano, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.
b. My third interview with Antoinette Contreras & Monique Jaime and forth interview with Kellie Hicks were most beneficial to my independent component. They backed up a lot of my answers with supported evidence from their experience as teachers and as students. Also, to help create my sequences, I referred to this book to put it together.
c. Independent Component 2
d. For the past few weeks, I have created a sequence of yoga poses for every week. For the rest of the week, I performed the sequence almost every day for an hour and a half. Although some sequences do not have many yoga poses for the time allotted, I repeated the sequence until my time was up in order to meet the 30 hour requirement. I usually performed some poses at the studio to take pictures because the lighting is terrible at my house, but unfortunately, I was not allowed to take pictures anymore. Also, I thought it might have been too repetitive if I had taken pictures of myself since that is what I usually update my blog with.
INTERPRETIVE
As I stated earlier, I wasn't allowed to take pictures in the studio anymore, so I decided I could show what drove my Independent Component -- the Sequences. It may seem a little short and vague, but it was hard trying to figure out which poses were stepping stones to eventually mastering one of the harder poses. Please keep in mind my Independent Component Approval blog where I stated that the sequence itself may be short, but I will time myself until 1 hour and 30 minutes is up.
APPLIED
This Independent Component was quite similar to the first one, but the only difference is that I created the sequences of poses rather than looking up videos and practicing it at home. I believe this helped support most of my answers because since I created the sequence, I was more familiar with the poses. Although it seems like I took the easy way out, I chose familiar poses so I can align myself correctly. If I found a pose online that I had never tried before, chances are very high that I might end up hurting the next day. A lot of my sequences included strengthening poses which is part of my essential question. It does touch on the subject of flexibility as well. By that, I mean all of the lengthening and twisting poses would serve the flexibility aspect. To also clarify, I understand Hatha Yoga as the physical aspect of yoga, not the style of yoga. If I based this Independent Component on Hatha Yoga, the poses would be a lot more gentle since Hatha is usually a beginner's class. But since I want to touch on all styles of yoga, I figured Hatha would do a great job of telling a person that my senior project is on the physical aspect, not the spiritual aspect.
a. I, Alyssa Soberano, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.
b. My third interview with Antoinette Contreras & Monique Jaime and forth interview with Kellie Hicks were most beneficial to my independent component. They backed up a lot of my answers with supported evidence from their experience as teachers and as students. Also, to help create my sequences, I referred to this book to put it together.
c. Independent Component 2
d. For the past few weeks, I have created a sequence of yoga poses for every week. For the rest of the week, I performed the sequence almost every day for an hour and a half. Although some sequences do not have many yoga poses for the time allotted, I repeated the sequence until my time was up in order to meet the 30 hour requirement. I usually performed some poses at the studio to take pictures because the lighting is terrible at my house, but unfortunately, I was not allowed to take pictures anymore. Also, I thought it might have been too repetitive if I had taken pictures of myself since that is what I usually update my blog with.
INTERPRETIVE
As I stated earlier, I wasn't allowed to take pictures in the studio anymore, so I decided I could show what drove my Independent Component -- the Sequences. It may seem a little short and vague, but it was hard trying to figure out which poses were stepping stones to eventually mastering one of the harder poses. Please keep in mind my Independent Component Approval blog where I stated that the sequence itself may be short, but I will time myself until 1 hour and 30 minutes is up.
APPLIED
This Independent Component was quite similar to the first one, but the only difference is that I created the sequences of poses rather than looking up videos and practicing it at home. I believe this helped support most of my answers because since I created the sequence, I was more familiar with the poses. Although it seems like I took the easy way out, I chose familiar poses so I can align myself correctly. If I found a pose online that I had never tried before, chances are very high that I might end up hurting the next day. A lot of my sequences included strengthening poses which is part of my essential question. It does touch on the subject of flexibility as well. By that, I mean all of the lengthening and twisting poses would serve the flexibility aspect. To also clarify, I understand Hatha Yoga as the physical aspect of yoga, not the style of yoga. If I based this Independent Component on Hatha Yoga, the poses would be a lot more gentle since Hatha is usually a beginner's class. But since I want to touch on all styles of yoga, I figured Hatha would do a great job of telling a person that my senior project is on the physical aspect, not the spiritual aspect.
Monday, March 25, 2013
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