Noel Porter

Senior Capstone Class

Section VII

When I was first introduced to the Participatory Action Research (PAR) Paper Overview, I wanted to give up just because of the length required. But, Mr. Liou made it easier on us by dividing the work into sections and had different deadlines for each one. However, this class itself is new to me and I had to learn how to adapt to his academic criteria. This class is a college preparatory course where most of the learning is done by lectures or taking notes. Furthermore, I experienced both good and bad. I struggled because I felt like I wouldn’t be able to write the paper because I haven’t had a lot of experience in writing research papers due to my previous school and I also had difficulties with coming up with a specific research question. Being a senior in high school is difficult itself because people in your surrounding expect so much to be done by you in a little amount of time. However , I just remained focused and was able to find success in completing the sections that need to be done, gathering my topic and narrowing it down to a question where others will be able to give a specific answer. This PAR paper experience is similar to my teenage childhood because others expect so much of you and if you dont fit there expectations then they begin to judge you. For instance, majority of the people in my family expect me to be the perfect one out of my generation because of their previous lifestyle, but when you choose to live by the path you want to live by everybody begin to look down on me and judge. In contrast, Mr. Liou, our humanities teacher had certain requirements going about completing this paper and if it’s not in within the deadline then he begins to critize instead of judging.

If I could have the chance to redo this paper I believe that I would do one thing differently which is too come up with a more challenging question that will give me more information behind it. I chose this because the question I asked was too common and I believe that if I found another question or a better way to rephrase it then I would have had more responses. Moreover, I will manage my time more and be more dedicated to my work. Doing this research paper I learned numerous things about my self as a researcher, I learned that I could explore any topic and find numerous information. I also feel like I could change views /perspective about certain issues.