Research Presentation Reflection

Throughout high school and already in college, I have completed many group projects. I have been paired with reliable and unreliable group members, so I have learned that I work more efficiently in situations when I come prepared with a plan. When I was in high school, I transferred at the beginning of my sophomore year to a smaller, academic-oriented school.  Whenever I was given a group project during my freshman year of high school, I was always wary of who I would be assigned as a partner because many of my peers found it acceptable to not turn in any work. Because I experienced a lack of group participation in group projects early on in my high school career, I became very hands-on to control the outcome of my grade.

For this project, I came in with a plan and sometimes took on some more work because I get anxious about due dates and the quality of the end product. Personally, I prefer to work alone because I am able to motivate myself and work with my own schedule. Although I prefer this, working with a partner was a good experience. I had to put my trust into someone else, which is difficult for me, and collaborate our ideas to create a final product that reflected both of our visions. The topic of fashion photography was really interesting to me and I enjoyed looking through the sources we found, especially ‘In Vogue’. I have taken photography classes before and I am still interested in photography, so looking at how the images evolved in Vogue magazine really amazed me. It was surprising to learn that fashion magazines, such as Vogue, originated in or around 1892 and still contain most of the same fashion sections, advice columns, and media reviews as content.

At the beginning of this year, I had to give a presentation in front of one of my classes. Instead of using my powerpoint to discuss my research paper, I got dizzy from nerves and felt as if I were about to fall. I know that during my presentation I stumbled a few times with some of my thoughts, but I am proud of myself for remaining composed in front of the class. My public speaking has definitely progressed since the beginning of the year, but there is certainly room for improvement. Overall, I enjoyed completing this project and I was able to see a different aspect of photography than the 35mm dark room photography I was studying. I am especially pleased that I am one step closer to conquering my phobia of speaking in front of large groups of people during presentations!

“You will launch many projects, but have time to finish only a few. So think, plan develop, launch, and tap good people to be responsible. Give them authority and hold them accountable. Trying to do too much yourself creates a bottleneck.”

– Donald Rumsfeld