My capstone project was aimed towards educating people, specifically children, on how to properly care for animals. I did this through many presentations, some of which included bringing live animals in for preschoolers. My goal was to have people  think about everything that goes into owning a pet and being well prepared when getting one. The purpose of this was to try and reduce the number of animals that get abandoned every year due to owners not being able to take care of the animals they got. 

         I went into capstone thinking I wouldn’t gain or learn much because I had already been working with animals for almost a year at that time. However, I was definitely wrong. I came out with so much more than I ever thought I would gain. Academically, I came in knowing I would get good grades because I work hard to get good grades all around and I held capstone to a high importance. But, what I did not expect was the frustration. The research paper was the biggest frustration I had with the academic process of capstone. I had to write a whole new paper after I wasn’t satisfied with what I had the first time. At the time I also was trying to juggle a lot on my plate, at school and at home. There is such limited information on animals and what would help decrease the abandonment and abuse of animals. The fact that this was such a problem made me more motivated to make a difference through my capstone. Another big thing I learned was that procrastination is no joke. It is super important to keep working hard throughout the whole project because the work starts to pile up. I wish that I had kept the same energy that I started my capstone with throughout the whole project. It would have helped to decrease the amount of stress I was having with trying to get things done by their deadlines.    

         Capstone gave me a lot to learn personally. The biggest thing I learned was that you can’t really expect what will happen and you have to go in with an open mind.  Keeping an open mind was a big part when I was going to the preschool. At first, I thought all the kids would be excited to see the bunny and the big tortoise but, there were some kids that were terrified of them and touched a snake instead. That was really shocking to me because how could you like a  scaly snake over a fluffy bunny. This is not something that I expected but I had to adapt in that moment and act quickly when I saw a kid being scared and I also took that moment to teach kids how they shouldn’t be afraid of the animals. I learned that I can make a difference and get a lot of things done even though I am still in highschool. In the beginning,  I didn’t know if I would be able to bring animals into a school, much less for preschoolers. But, with the help of my mentor, Cheri Collins, and Eleanor Buck Wolf Nature Center in Wethersfield I was able to make it happen. 

         What really impacted me throughout this whole project was every time someone came up to me and thanked me or spoke to me about how much more they know about how to properly care for animals or how they had been researching to get an animal of their own and I helped them with what to search for. But the biggest moment was when a preschooler came up to me with a big poster that the kids had written with their teacher about how much they loved learning about the animals that I brought in. I saw the impact that I was making on them and I hope they remember the time animals were brought to their school because I sure will remember all of the excitement that they had when they saw the animals. 

         It felt amazing to do something for my community. Although I was relieved to be done with capstone because of the stress of deadlines and grades, I felt sad and wanted to do more for the community.  I have been continuing to volunteer at the Nature Center but these will be the last couple of months that I will be able to due to me leaving for college. I think that this experience will impact me forever. I learned that I can really do anything that I set my mind to even if others don’t believe I can. I found that there is always a way to do something. I learned how to prioritize things to be able to work proficiently. I can use these skills for the rest of my life, especially in my career. I was able to see all of the different and interesting projects that my senior class had and was able to participate in them. I think capstone really brought us together and will be an experience I’ll never forget.