My Capstone Experience By: Emily Stratton 

 

Day after day, I checked my school email waiting for a sign. “Nope,” I                           mumbled under my breath looking at the 0 notifications. I exited out of the                           

email menu and closed the laptop lid to listen to                   my biomed teacher talk about what we can do until                   we get approved by the Eastern Washington             Science Fair. Like all of us students, our teacher                 could feel the fog of anxiety thickening in the                 classroom as the experimental days dwindled           down. Finally on February 20th,         

we all got approved which meant we could start the                   capstone experiments. 

Originally, our class started the capstone project on               November 14th, were we worked on choosing our               

 

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partners then worked to choose our           experiments. My partner, Marisa, and I ended up               doing an experiment called “How Smartphones           Affect Teen Focus,” where we tested people’s             reaction time when their phone was next to them                 and we would have a text tone go off while the                     test was occuring. It was a fun idea to do, but                     before we got to our experiment, we had to go                   

over and edit it many times because others have done experiments on                       what we originally wanted to do. Once we found something no one else                         had tested before, we started writing our hypothesis, abstract, and                   procedure which we would later submit to the Science Fair and wait for                         them to approve our idea. 

And we waited all right, we waited for over a                   month after coming back from Christmas break             which like I said earlier, caused a lot of stress in                     the classroom. When we got approved, it was               like the dam had burst, students rushing to start                 experiments left and right! For a while the class                 atmosphere started to feel more calm because             we were actually working, but once we started to                 get down to the end of experimental days, some                 started to panic knowing they would not be able                 to finish. 

People, including Marisa and I, had           to come in after school because           that was the only time some           participants could come in. If it           wasn’t for coming in after school,           

 

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our 30 participants would have been 20. In the beginning, we wanted about                         60 participants, but after not enough time and issues with surveys not                       coming back, we figured the people we could get would have to work. 

“Okay, I think we’re done!” Marisa said to me while we were                       pressing down the poster onto the trifold. We finished with                   about 2 days to spare, if it wasn’t for us time managing,                       setting goals for what we should get done when, and our                     perseverance, we   wouldn’t have been     

able to finish. But alas, we did,             and even though we felt as if we               were completely done, we knew         the project was still not over yet. 

March 14th was presentation day, at about             7:45am, we loaded the buses dressed in business               attire which included pencil skirts, blouses,           button-up shirts, heels, suit jackets and suits for               the men. I wore a light blue button up shirt with                     black slacks and black heels, my short brown hair                 was curled too. Once our class arrived at the WSU                   

Health Science Building, we were instantly           overwhelmed by the amount of people trying to               sign in. When we were taken care of, my partner                   and I found out we were in the first group to                     present. We were shown into the room which               was different from what we all expected, it was                 a regular sized classroom with the same beige colors on the walls as every                           classroom, inside were many foldable tables formed in a U- shape with 4 in                           

 

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the middle. After finding our spot, we began to                 set up our trifold, journal, and lit. review. 

In the room, we were surrounded by other               projects ranging from ones sponsored by           Eastern Washington University about animal         bones, to ones who did not have trifolds and                 were the only     ones from   

their school participating. While       looking around, my partner and I began             to notice more about the other projects             and presenters, the people were         practicing speeches for the judges.         This threw us off guard because were             told they were only going to ask             questions. Slightly panicking, we put         together what we were going to say. By               

that time, people were       starting to flow into the         room, lots of people.       That was when the nerves started to set. 

For a while, we had strangers           come up to us and ask about our               presentation which helped us       because we added to what we           

were going to say in front of the judges. By the time they came around, we                               were ready. We talked confidently, I smiled and spoke through my tomato                       colored face then the judges looked through our trifold, journal, and lit.                       review, then we were done! 

 

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When we left the room, we felt as if we just won a mental marathon. The                               pressure of presenting was over and behind us, now, we could relax and                         wait for the awards ceremony. There           was still another group that had to go               after lunch, so we just hung out, played               some games, talked, and did a little             homework until the ceremony began. 

Everyone who participated sat in the           theatre area of the WSU building, it was more laid back and everyone was                           

excited to be done. It was amazing too because                 2 Mead students were finalists to go to state! I                   was so proud of them, truly, they worked so hard                   on their projects and I couldn’t have wanted               other people to represent Mead’s Biomed class.             Later on during the ceremony, the winner who               will go onto state was announced and it was                 Aislin who did her experiment         on if green tea can improve           

the memory of dementia patients. I was so proud of her                     and was so excited that someone from Mead would go                   onto state. Our whole class was ecstatic and so relieved                   the project was over. 

Looking back, I was so glad to be apart of the capstone project and to be                               apart of the biomed class because I make               amazing friends, and learned so many things             which helped guide me to what I want to do as a                       career. So if you are second guessing sticking               with biomed because of the capstone, don’t it is                 a great experience and you will have to do it                   

 

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again in college. The class itself over four years and                   this capstone project taught me a lot of grit and                   perseverance because, they were hard classes           designed for people going into the medical field. The                 capstone also taught me about getting through             unexpected obstacles because of the time cut, and               overall not knowing what the next obstacle was going to be. No matter                         what, in order to get through tough obstacles, you must have grit. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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In order of appearance 

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3. McMillen, Stuart. “Hitler Denial: Comic about Climate Change Mentality by Stuart McMillen.” Stuart McMillen Comics, Crowdfundstu.com, 25 May 2016, www.stuartmcmillen.com/comic/hitler-denial/. 

 

4. Benner, Ken. “Cartoon Nurse Giving Thumbs up Vector Image on VectorStock.” VectorStock, VectorStock, 2019, www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free-vector/cartoon-nurse-giving-thumbs-up-vector-7208871.  

5. Samorodova, Olga. “Cartoon Business People Set Staff Formal Dress Style Fashion..” 123RF Stock Photos, 123RF, 2019, www.123rf.com/photo_84362139_stock-vector-cartoon-business-people-set-staff-formal-dress-style-fashion-hairstyle-for-men-And-women-flat-design.html. 

 

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 6. “Campus Room Directory | Information Technology | Washington 

State University.” About WSU Spokane, Washington State University, 2019, spokane.wsu.edu/its/campus-room-directory/.  

7. “African American Female Emoji Frustrate D.” Cell Code, Cell Code, 2019, cellcode.us/quotes/african-american-female-emoji-frustrate d.html.  

8. “Washington State University – Phase 1 Classroom Building.” Bouten Construction, Bouten Construction Company, 2017, boutenconstruction.com/our-projects/washington-state-university-phase-1-classroom-building/. 

 

9. Bitstrips Inc. “Your Own Personal Emoji.” Bitmoji, Bitstrips Inc., 2018, www.bitmoji.com/. 

 

10. Alexis, Josy Dom. “Female Doctor, Lady Doctor, Nurse, Physician Icon.” Iconfinder, Vimeo, 2019, www.iconfinder.com/icons/1450269/female_doctor_lady_doctor_nurse_physician_icon.