Reflection

Through this entire project I have used critical thinking to solve the communication problems that occurred in my peer counselor group. Our collaboration together achieved the completion of our overall program. Incorporating  my creativity along with the creativity of my group and seeing our ideas come to life was a great experience. What I have gained from the experience of this project personally was how it feels to give back to your community by helping those that need it and offering a helping hand once in a while is not a bad thing. I also gained something socially from this experience which is better communications skills and patience as it is not easy working with multiple colleagues at once as opposed to a real counselor who works with many people that include clients and other social workers such as therapists and psychologists. Thirdly, intellectually I had gained more knowledge of some of the few reasons some clients go to counseling for such as depression. Depression is most common for most clients going into counseling and I assumed it was incurable when in fact I was wrong. There is also bullying which was part of my individual project and I never knew that there were different types and the effects it has on people. Finally, the challenges I faced during this project was maintaining patience, time management, and establishing communication within the group itself. I managed to help over come these by remembering my goal for this project, keep my motivation up, making sure I was enthusiastic about the project, scheduling my time and making sure I stay on task,  and I made sure everyone was able to speak and express how they felt as we went along with the project. Overall I have gained a new understanding of counselors and the hardships they go through.

Final Session: Meeting the Team Behind It All December 27, 2013

Today was our final session at JEEP and was also JEEP's last day of operation since it is a granted six-month program. For this session the group of peer mentors was going to present our main video presentation and also present our individual video presentations. I felt nervous about whether or not the presentation will go well and if the coordinators will like it. I met up with Mr. Ramirez and the rest of the peer mentors in the main lobby. We all dressed professionally for the presentation to show the coordinators how serious we felt about the task that was given to us and that we were serious this program. Mr. Ramirez led us to a presentation room where three men and two women sat at a large table waiting for us. One of them stood up and greeted all of us with a smile and sincerity in his voice. Everyone sat down as the video was played. After the video the peer mentors stood up to answer the questions and listening to constructive criticism from the coordinators about our presentation for about an hour. Next, we played each of our individual videos and again answering any questions the coordinators had while listening to the advice and constructive criticism they gave us. That part of our presentation took about an hour. Next we answered a series questions about the overall project, were tested on our knowledge of bullying and counseling through another series of questions, shared our opinions on the program and the project that was assigned to us, and finally we shared our reasons for choosing to be mentored at JEEP @ Horizons. That whole part of presentations took about two hours. After the coordinator's left, Mr. Ramirez brought us back to our original conference room and congratulated us on the presentation and hard work we each gave. At the last ten minutes we signed a document logging in our hours for the program and gave our final comments before we all went our separate ways. While leaving I felt proud and happy that I got to meet such great boys to be in that team and I was able to express these feelings to them before our final goodbye.

Time logged for this session: 4 hours
Total time logged: 25 hours

Seventh Session: Final Edit of the Presentation December 23, 2013

Everyone, including myself, was feeling the excitement of having our project halfway done and Christmas was a day away. We weren't comfortable meeting on a Monday at eleven o'clock in the morning today because the office was going to be closed on Tuesday for Christmas Eve and we were all on winter vacation from school. It felt a bit strange, but we quickly settled down and went straight to work as soon as the computer had fully loaded all of our data. I saw that we were missing some shots and told the rest of the boys that the video won't be completed without those shots. We quickly got out our camera and returned to the area we used for the video. We spent thirty minutes on filming the rest of our shots and went back to conference room once we had gotten them. We spent an hour and thirty minutes editing the video with much focus and care. For the last hour of our session we completed the video and reviewed it to check for any errors. Once the errors had been fixed we E-mailed to the video to Mr. Ramirez to be presented to the main team of coordinators he was a part of that created programs like ours. For our final session all of us needed to be at JEEP for the presentations of our group and individual video presentations.

Time logged for this session: 3 hours
Total time logged: 21 hours

Sixth Session: Video Editing and Retakes December 20, 2013

Today's session tested our efficiency and our skills of working as a team as we started to bring all of the pieces of the video together. We all went over the takes we shot on Tuesday and reviewed them confirming which shots needed to be redone and the shots we were going to keep. This process took twenty minutes of reviewing and discussing which shots were going to be re-shot, shots that were going to be disposed due to these shots making the video length to reach past the maximum or were just not consistent with the overall video, identifying the shots that needed to be improved, and which shots weren't needed anymore. The next thirty minutes we started to organize the videos together into a single video using a video editing software one of the boys had installed on his laptop. After we had gotten most of the video organized, we quickly saved our project and went to the places we used as setting for the video. Re-shooting these shots made us tired and slightly frustrated as the amount of time we initially planned on using to film had to be extended to the end of our session at Jeep @ Horizons. As we wrapped up filming we all went back to the conference room to save all our progress on a hard drive for next week's session where we will continue with putting the video together and being the editing process.

Time logged for this session: 3 hours
Total time logged: 18 hours

Fifth Session: First Day of Filming December 17, 2013

Today, Mr. Ramirez wanted us to work on filming and would supervise us through the shoot. I was nervous and afraid that I might mess up my lines and force the rest of the group to switch me out for someone else. My nervousness subsided as they told me that my partner and I were doing a great job and complimented our acting skills. They said my nervousness helped with capturing the role of a victim and that my partner also captured the role of a bully since he was larger than I was in height and size. We filmed for two hours having to make too many takes because of things interfering like an airplane flying in the middle of our dialogue or employees going on break and their voices were captured in the video. For the last hour Mr. Ramirez brought us back inside to play the individual video presentations some peer mentors had made early and to review them before presenting it to the leaders of the company. Presentations went on for twenty minutes as each video was paused and reviewed for improvements that could have been made to them. My video was the last to be presented out of four that were submitted. Everyone thought that my video was very good in that my brother and I gave two different perspectives from a younger generation's experience to an older generation's experience. I was very proud of my brother and myself for being able to work on this video together and I was happy that everyone had liked it. For the last thirty minutes we used the individual presentations to think of ideas to help improve our overall presentation. The next thing I needed to do was help put the video together and also help with editing it as well.

Link to individual video presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZQStsGCD6A&feature=youtu.be

Time logged for this session: 3 hours
Total time logged: 15 hours

Fourth Session: Project Assignments December 13, 2013

 Mr. Ramirez told us all that we needed to work on the project and each person should be responsible for a part of the project. Partners were assigned different tasks like researching recent bullying growth rates or assigning the roles of the skit. I was assigned to the task of being the actor who played as the victim of bullying. I felt that I had a big responsibility and went to work with my partner on acting. My partner and I practiced for an hour giving each other tips and helped each other to make it seem realistic as possible. Mr. Ramirez stopped by and helped us for the next hour. For the final hour everyone came together to review the progress we made and reviewed what we had written so far as planning goes for the presentation. I felt that our group has grown a bit stronger and that everyone is contributing to this project. I am excited for how this video will turn out. The next thing I need to work on for this project is to practice with my partner.

Time logged for this session: 3 hours
Total time logged: 12 hours

Third Meeting: First Hands On Work as a Peer Mentor December 10, 2013

I felt curious as to what the next session might hold for all of us. Everyone sat down and started talking about the video trying to develop it more from where we left off. Mr. Ramirez came into the room and told us that we were going to be working with actual people that were actual clients with the program. My client (whose name is confidential) had experienced some of the same things that I have experienced and could relate to. We talked for two hours about how he could cope with some of these problems logically  and sensibly. I was really amazed to find out that he and I could relate to each other so much and see eye to eye on many things! The situations were different for both of us, but the experiences were the same. He was younger than I was by about a year, his childhood was a little shaky, and his high school was getting kind of tough. I told him what my great grandmother had always told me: "Just remember that as soon as those hard times happen they will just be another part of the past the next day." He looked like he was taking it to heart as our session ended.Mr. Ramirez gave us the last hour to talk about our video project and to come up with new ideas that would make it different than most skits and videos. We all thought of the same idea: give an insight to how the bully feels inside and the possible reasons why they bully others. I felt that if I was watching a video like that I would feel more compassionate towards the bully and try to help them as much as I would help the victim. After ending the session I felt that helping that client made feel like I had done something good and that I was giving back to my community. The next thing I needed to do during the next session was to do more research on bullying for the project. 

Time logged for this session: 3 hours 

Total time logged: 9 hours 

My Second Day of Being a Peer Mentor December 6, 2013

I was feeling very excited and nervous at the same time. I was nervous to present my idea to Mr. Ramirez my idea about the individual project. I felt that my idea might have already been thought of and I might have to think of another one. My idea for my individual video presentation was to shoot a video of my younger brother and I going through an interview about the topic bullying from his experience with it in his middle school compared to my experience of this problem in high school. Before I could present my idea to Mr. Ramirez, he divided us into two groups to come up with ideas for the video presentation (which had to be 3-5 minutes long which I might add) all of us were doing for the first half of our peer mentor project. My team left the room to come with ideas. I suggested we make a skit for the video which would allow the viewers to see the effects of bullying and the things we could do to prevent the spread of bullying. My group accepted this idea and we quickly started making a sample scenario that we acted out for awhile adding more it as we practiced. Mr. Ramirez called us back in after an hour and both groups presented one at a time. The other group came up with a video giving statistics of bullying and how much it has grown. My group and I presented our idea by acting out our skit. Presentations ended after twenty minutes and after thinking about it Mr. Ramirez decided that both ideas were great but we should try to incorporate them into one video we could all agree on. Both groups got together and discussed how we could develop our skit and add the slides of statistics in it. After thirty minutes the whole group decided on what to do for the video. For the last hour the whole group thought of new ideas to further develop our video taking down notes to pick up where left off for next week when we plan out the video. After the session ended I talked to Mr. Ramirez about my idea for the individual project and he told me that he believed it was a good idea for a video. My next task is to help plan our project.

Time logged for this session: 3 hours
Total time logged: 6 hours

The First Meeting With the Other Peer Mentors December 3, 2013

My first time meeting with the other peer mentors made me anxious and nervous. It was my first time actually working with boys both younger and same age as I on a professional project. I was curious as to what they would be like. Would they accept me? Will we share the same views on things? Will we be able to work well with each other? These questions  raced through my mind as I walked through the front doors of the building. Mr. Ramirez was waiting in the front lobby for me and led me to a conference room that was filled with seven other boys that were standing around the table talking and getting to know each other. As we entered the room the other boys looked at me and greeted me which made my anxiousness and nervousness settle a bit. We each took our seats which had a paper placed on the table in front of us. Mr. Ramirez explained that we would meet for two days a week for three hours. We each were assigned to one of the few problems most people our age go through at school and must make a video presentation together and individually. This problem we were assigned to was bullying. Our first task was to go around the table and tell everyone our own experiences with the topic of bullying. We each shared opinions and our general knowledge about the topic. I had told them my personal experience with bullying was a first hand experience meaning that I have been a victim seeking help but never confronted anyone about it until now. The group and I talked about the topic for an hour and a half. For the other hour and a half Mr. Ramirez had shown us some sample videos and other ideas to help us think about our presentations. I managed to get a general idea for what I was going to do for my individual presentation. My next task will be to present my idea to Mr. Ramirez and get his approval before further developing this project.


Time logged for this session: 3 hours
Total time logged: 3 hours