Amid the chaos of college applications and the pressures of senior year, the senior project is a great opportunity for seniors to learn a new hobby, or talent, or explore a new field of interest. Apart from the fact that it plays a role in seniors’ English class grades, it serves as a great balance between all the college applications and stressful moments seniors go through throughout the year.
This year brought new challenges as two of the three senior English teachers were on leave for the second semester, leaving the students with a substitute teacher in their place. As is pretty standard for the senior class, the students that were excited and invested in their projects began early on. These are typically the projects that shine and stand out during oral boards.
“There were a lot of students this year who went beyond their comfort zones and came up with unique and innovative projects. The creativity around even some of the simpler projects was very refreshing even for me who has been doing senior projects for so long,” senior English teacher Dr. Pruitt said.
One standout project was done by senior Nicolas Dermardirosian, who focused on linguistics in order to create his own language, Mika. “I created the language called Mika, and using my language I translated many different texts, quotes, and presidential speeches. It was a cool project because I was able to work on something that had a purpose and could be used,” Dermardirosian said.
The oral boards this year took place on May 2nd and 3rd, allowing seniors to wrap up this major milestone before taking their AP exams. A big surprise for seniors was when Mr. Woods, a former Clark math teacher who many students had as freshmen, came to judge some of the presentations. Other former Clark teachers including Ms. Reinhard, Ms. Sajjadieh, and Ms. Mardirossian were also present for judging on Saturday.
Senior Emil Isayan chose a more hands-on challenge for his project: making an aluminum electric guitar. “I used the CNC machines that we have in the robotics lab to fabricate the aluminum electric guitar. I was able to use the softwares Solidworks and Mastercam. I 3D modeled the guitar by using Solidworks and to program the machines on how to cut the aluminum, I used Mastercam,” Isayan said.
A message especially to rising seniors that might be feeling anxious about the senior project: Remember to choose a project that will genuinely challenge you. Push yourself to learn something you don’t know how to do, and get excited about the time you get to control and choose to spend on that skill. You never know when a school project might turn into a lifelong hobby or a memorable experience to look back on in the future.
