Genius Hour Project Reflection

Throughout the time I spent working on this genius hour project, I have challenged myself in many ways. At first I found it difficult to find a topic that I felt passionate enough about to focus on for such a lengthy period of time. While there were many topics that were of interest to me, I wanted to choose one that would enable me to offer a unique perspective, to share with my audience something that they would not have had previous exposure to. By chance I happened across my topic of desensitization after hearing a comment from a classmate. On the day of the shooting near Cameron Heights, someone in my last class of the day said “why does nothing that exciting ever happen at rez?”. The sad part about this comment was that I did not find it all the surprising. I hear such careless statements from my peers on a regular basis - sometimes I am even the one saying them. This is what inspired me to look into desensitization and its effect on our generation’s empathy, or rather lack thereof.

This experience was one that pushed me to move outside my comfort zone to be not only creative, but also opinionated. I typically enjoy working on projects that are more focused around fact based research and my own regurgitation of such facts. It was different for me to come up with my own opinion and use facts as supporting details, rather than as the focal point. As I began to investigate and shape my topic, I came across so many potential avenues that I could pursue. While, the creative aspect of molding my topic to meet specific areas of interest was outside what I am used to, I enjoyed having creative freedom to do so. In most of my classes, our assignments and projects are so carefully prescribed, often without any room for personal interpretation. So while it was challenging to do something so far outside of my ‘norm’, it was liberating in that I was finally being asked to share my own ideas, rather than simply restating that of others. 

Creating a TED Talk also taught me a great deal about my grit or resiliency. On Angela Duckworth’s Grit Scale, I scored a 4.0, which is apparently higher than 70% of American adults. This score surprised me in the sense that I previously would not have considered myself to be an overly resilient person, in that even small setbacks seem to have a significant emotional impact on me. However, what I think I failed to realize until now, is that your grit is not based on how a setback makes you feel, but rather on how you react to a setback in spite of how it made you feel. The Grit Scale also indicated that follow-through and maintaining focus are significant factors in determining one’s grit. I think these were both areas in which I excelled with the genius hour project. Through my blog posts I documented my progress at various points over the last five months, which I feel helped me to maintain my focus on a project with such a lengthy time span. I think my follow-through was highlighted in my loyalty to my topic. At times I encountered barriers to my topic (e.g. not enough supporting data). When this would happen, I would not change my topic, but rather refocus it in a direction where there was more supporting data available - this is how I came to focus in on social media activism.

I believe that the quality of grit is important for effective student leaders because leadership is not an easy undertaking. As a leader, one has to be willing to take a risk and be the first to put themselves out there. Sometimes it will take multiple tries before anyone is willing to follow you - it takes time to build up credibility. The important thing is to not be deflated by one, or even many, unsuccessful attempts and to be willing to put yourself out there as many time as it takes for people to realize your potential as a leader. Being a leader also means running into setbacks in terms of conflict. Conflict can be extremely uncomfortable and even make one doubt their capabilities as a leader. That being said, a leader with grit will recognize that a good leader is not one that does not face any challenges, but rather is one that chooses to respond gracefully in spite of being faced with challenges. The grit - both that which I came into this course with, and that which I am leaving with - will help enormously in the coming years. As a young person about to leave high school and go out on my own for the first time, I expect to be knocked down several times (metaphorically speaking) in the next couple years as I navigate the adult world. I expect that many of my future plans will fall through, but in order to achieve my goal of getting my BA in Global Development, I will need to be gritty enough to not be dejected by these setbacks so that I find an alternative way of reaching that same destination.

After a long five months of setbacks, hard work, and grit, the entirety of my genius hour project came down to a ten minute TED Talk. I was a slightly overwhelmed by the feedback, which was almost entirely positive. I was told that I was well spoken and spoke with confidence - a sharp contrast from what I had actually been feeling. I was also excited to see that most of the audience seemed to connect to my topic as many people told me that it was well suited to the times. While I am extremely proud of myself and my presentation, as it was something that was so far outside my comfort zone, there were a couple things that I learned from my feedback and plan to work on going forward. One comment given to me said that I should try to move out from behind the podium next time. I completely understand where this comment was coming from, as I could feel myself using the podium as a bit of a shield. Another comment I received suggested that I engage more with the audience through facilitating discussion. Prior to my TED Talk I was nervous to involve the audience in my presentation for fear that they would lack in participation. However, I noticed that the most effective moments in my presentation occurred when I was asking questions of the audience, and so I would like to do more of that the next time I am in a similar situation.

Overall I learned a great deal from this experience. Not only did I learn about the importance of focus and grit, but I also experienced a great deal of personal growth in regards to my own confidence. This genius hour project gave me a platform and through it I learned that I have something to say that is worth listening to. Public speaking is undoubtedly still one of my greatest fears, but this experience gave me a glimpse into the satisfaction that comes with being able to finally do something that at one point you would have never thought possible. I surprised myself greatly with what I was able to accomplish and I am now eager to find my next challenge. Whatever that challenge may be, I feel that I well prepared for it because of many things that I have learned from this project and the Leadership course as a whole. Even if preparation fails me, I now know that I have the grit to keep me going.