It was the big day! I was really nervous because I was presenting my Capstone in the auditorium. I expected a lot of people to be their too. When we finally finished our singing our chorus songs and the montage. Mrs.Stile told everyone to find their kid and watch their presentation. I was in the auditorium so I told my parents not to move. I went behind the curtains and asked Mr.Debarry when I was up. He said that Alex had switched with charlie and I was up after Alex. After what felt like forever, Alex finished and gave the mike to me. I started and did really well. My video worked and everything. After my presentation everyone clapped. I was happy I didn’t make any mistakes, but also because capstone was over. When I was done watching my friends presentation I took my parents and my grandpa to see my capstone sign, and my blog. They weren’t getting Wi-Fi so they each took a card home. My mom made my grandpa take a card because she said he would want to see my blog. Then I taught my grandpa how to use a Qr reader so when he got home he would know how to use it. After school my mom immediately called my grandma because she wasn’t their because she had asthma. My mom went on and on for what felt like forever talking about my presentation. Overall, I really enjoyed presenting my capstone and getting it over with.
For our final project, we needed to express our knowledge of our topic. I chose to do a TEDTalk because it’s long, and I could convey a lot of information. I started planning it. TheTEDTalk took about two days to create. I practiced a lot, and then I had an idea that I could use a green screen to make it look like I was doing OIT in a doctor’s office. Jonny, Ian, and I tried that today. It didn’t work that well.
We were floating around the screen, and our background wasn’t that good. It wasn’t good because it looked like Jonny was floating on top of a chair. We started changing the background by flipping the picture. It was better, but still a little hazy and weird. We also tried cropping it. When the video started, it looked like Ian walked in through a porthole. Then, Mrs. Edwards and I switched the background, and it made Jonny’s shirt transparent.
When it came to answering my main inquiry question I was excited and nervous. I was excited because I was almost done with my Capstone, but I was nervous because what if I didn’t have enough information? I decided I would just start with what I had. I went over all my notes from my interview and started typing. I found that answering my main inquiry was really easy. After proofing it a million times I realized it was kind of short. Mrs. Edwards told me that I can add some of my opinion to make it longer. After adding my opinion, I was confident it was long enough. I asked Mrs. Edwards to read it and comment and she did. The only things she commented on were unclear sentences. After fixing it, I had my answer to my main inquiry question, “What are some of the top treatments for people with allergies, and what are some treatments allergists are considering?” I came up with my answer by combining the answers to my sub questions.
For my interview, I met with a man named Madhan Masilimani at Icahn School of Medicine. I had thought of interview questions a few days before so I could be prepared. When we got there, we looked at my mom’s E-Mail to find the room number. It said 33 B. We looked for so long. Finally, we came to 32 B, and the next room said 34 B. My mom and I couldn’t find his room so we walked into 32 B. I asked two woman who were talking where I could find Dr. Masilimani. They looked at me puzzled and said, “I’m sorry, but who?” After searching the whole hospital, they found nobody. They called the woman who arranged the interview. I took a seat and while I was sitting down, I looked down the hall. “Mom,” I said while yanking on her arm. She looked, and I said, “I think that’s him. I recognize his mustache.”
My site visit was at Mount Sinai Icahn school of medicine. For my site visit I toured the lab. Dr.Masilimani showed me almost everything, even though kids aren’t allowed in the lab. I saw lots of cool equipment. They had special instruments to get the right amount of blood and a machine that spins around 20,000 times in a minute! Some of the scientists taught me how they take a thousanth of a mili meter of blood. The scientists told me they do that with the blood because they don’t want to waste it when they could just use a little.
Misty Copeland started ballet at the age of 13. She was very passionate about ballet. Misty didn’t go to a ballet school or anything because she was poor. The only reason she started ballet was because there was a free lesson in a gym. Misty kept practicing ballet and got invited to a ballet school. Then she got accepted to an amazing ballet school with 80 students. None of the students were African , but she didn’t let that stop her. Misty Copeland got a serious injury, but bounced back. She is now the first African American to have the leading role in a ballet. I think Misty Copeland is a great role model because of all these reasons.
Unfortunately I didn’t get to interview Doctor Sampson because the woman said that he wasn’t free. Even though I was mad, I was happy that I was going to be interviewing an allergist. Even if it wasn’t an expert like Doctor Sampson. The next day at school Mrs.Edwards gave us a sheet asking who we were interviewing and where we were going for our site visit. I said I didn’t know the name of who I was interviewing, but it was going to be an allergist at Mount Sinai. For my site visit I said the lab at Mount Sinai. That day after school I asked my mom the name of who I was interviewing and she said that Mount Sinai wasn’t getting back to her. Finally after a few days of suspense Mount Sinai sent us an E-Mail. It said that none of the allergists were free because they were all trying to get money from the government to fund their research, but the head of the lab made time for me. I was so happy that I got to interview the head of the lab. The next day at school I was in good shape except I realized that I didn’t know the head of the labs name. I did so much research, but I just couldn’t find it. I had to call my mom to find his name. She looked at the E-Mail and texted me. The E-Mail said that his name was Madhan Masilimani. After school I searched him up on the web. It corrected me to Madhan Masilamani. My mom and I laughed so hard because the woman didn’t know the head of the labs name!
When Mrs.Edwards told us we needed an interview and site visit I immediately thought Dr.Sampson because he is my allergy doctor and my topic is allergies. For my site visit I immediately thought Mount Sinai because thats where my doctor works and where I get my allergy check-up. I asked my mom if she could call about my interview and she said yes. After the phone call we went over the details. The woman said that Dr.Sampson was next free in august, so I couldn’t interview him personally, but had to do it on an e-mail. The next day at school Mrs.Edwards said that our interview should be face to face or something like a Skype. When I got home we called again. This time about the site visit to. The woman said that I could see the lab and a fellow could take me on a tour. Now we are in the process of finding a date. The woman also said that I would be set up with a doctor, either a friend of Dr.Sampson, or someone in the practice. I think I’m in good shape.
I learned what a introvert, extrovert, and ambivert is from The Power of Quiet. An introvert is someone who isn’t that social and an extrovert is someone who is social. An ambivert is someone who is a bit of both. I also learned how a kid named David (an introvert) ran for class president verse the most popular girl. David won! This shows that even though David is an introvert he can still try and be social. Their are also tips to follow to lead a successful life. I never thought people would use them, but think twice! We also filled out a sheet after reading the article. It asked if you were an introvert, extrovert, or ambivert. I think I’m an ambivert because I like to be social, but I also like to just sit down and read. Because of this I’m an ambivert.
Today Grace Lin visited our school. We learned about how Grace Lin’s novels are based on lucky Chinese numbers (6,8,9). We also learned about other lucky Chinese things like the tiger. We learned about unlucky things like the number 4. Grace Lin then talked about books she’s coming out with and how now all her books related to her life have three sisters because her sisters need to be in the book. On top of that we watched a Grace Lin Ted Talkwhere she told us how she was upset how she was Asian, and up to a certaint point upset she didn’t speak Chinese. I think she’s also a great role model because she teaches us to be yourself.