reflection

Through out my completion of the capstone project, i was able to use my way of critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. i used my way of critical think by trying to be organized so everything would be clear and more understanding with my project. being on track with my project helped me be more open minded. i learned how to be more communicative by asking many questions to my mentor. i used collaboration to complete my project by the help of my mentor. He was able to give me a lot of information about my topic and he also helped me create my power point presentation. in a way, i used my creativity to try to make my project unique.

in the Capstone experience, i grew to be more confident because i used to be a little shy before i started this project. i grew to be more social and communicative. through out my project, I've talked to many people and learned from them. I've gained a lot of social skills from just trying to get to know people. i also gained a lot of knowledge from my mentor and with the other future sailors like me.

i faced many challenges during my capstone project. for example, it was difficult for me to find the time to meet up with my mentor because of school and my other extracurricular actives like tennis. scheduling my meetings with my mentor was also difficult because i never knew when i was available to meet up with him. i over came these challenges by communicating with my teachers and my tennis coach. i told them about what i had to finish this project and they understand that i had to do it or wont graduate from high school.

mentoring

on may Wednesday May 8, i met up with my mentor and all the other future sailors for another DEP meeting. Three high ranked commanders of the navy visited to talk to us and how they appreciate us joining the navy. they talk about themselves for awhile and we asked a lot of questions. for example, one of the future sailors asked the commanders how life is like on a ship and they basically said it will be challenging in the begin but it will get easier as you adapt to the environment. after all the questions were answered, one of the commanders promoted me to the next level of he ranking because i referred two people to join the navy. my ranking is now E-2. the meeting took about four hours. i now have a total of 26 hours.

on Wednesday April 10, i attended another DEP meeting but it took place at gellert park in daly city. my recuiter planned out a potluck for the future sailors so we can get to know all each other better. after we ate, we practiced some military drills on the soccer field. i learned how to march right way and how to preform the formations. it was difficult for some of the future sailor but they started to progress after trying a few more times. we would try to march in sync but it was difficult because some of the future sailor also had trouble with it. after the drills, we ate again and played basketball at the basketball courts. it was pretty much an easy day for all of us. it took about three hours. i now have a total of 22 hours.

mentoring

on Wednesday March 13, I attended another DEP meeting. Before we begin introductions,we always start by reciting the sailors creed. Its mandatory to memorize the sailors creed because in boot camp, they will ask you to recite it for them. for this DEP meeting, we discussed about the physical fitness in boot camp. I learned that we would have to do push ups, sit ups and run 1.5 miles.  the reps and time you need to pass depends on your gender and age. i also learned that you are required to swim and dive ten meters high from a diving board. my recruiter said that pass 3 out 4 of the excises to move on the next phases of boot camp. you would get held behind if you aren't able to pass them. the DEP meeting took three hours. i now have a total of 19 hours.

mentoring

on Saturday February 16, i attended an individual meeting with my mentor at the navy recruiting office in Daly City. the first thing i had to do was to sign some paper work that says i haven't broken any laws or used any drugs in the past week which i haven't. my mentor talked to me about what to bring to boot camp. He told me there are many thing that you don't need to bring to boot camp because its unnecessary. For example, they don't allow cell phones and other electronics. if you do bring it, they give you a box to put yer stuff in and send it back home. He also showed me a video of how they send things back home. the meeting took about two hours. i now have a total of 16 hours.

Mentoring

On Wednesday February 13, I attended a meeting at the recruiting office with my recruiter and all the future sailors. The meeting was called Delayed Entry Program (DEP) where we  meet up every second Wednesday of each month and it was to help us get prepared for boot camp. The first thing we did was to introduce ourselves to all the future sailors. i told them my name, what my job will be in the navy, and my reason for join the navy. it was interesting to here other peoples reason to join the navy because it made me feel motivated to join. After the introduction, my recruiter and the other recruiters told their story about their experience going through boot camp. they basically told us that i was tough for the first three weeks and after that, it go by smoothly. the meeting took about three hours. the total hours i have is 14.