Reflection Senior Project

Tvedt 1 Kyler Tvedt Mr. Rudebusch Naomi Goehring 3/27/19 Reflection For my Senior Project I spent around thirty-five hours shadowing, researching, preparing and constructing my final product, and meeting with my advisor. I spent about six hours researching information and writing a research paper about what benefits native plants have on your landscaping. For my shadowing experience, I spent around twenty hours at the tree farm and the job site learning about their landscaping business and projects. After that, I spent about six hours gathering measurements, drawing, and planning out my design for my product. I spent another two hours calculating estimates of plants, irrigation, and other supplies for my estimate form. Lastly, I spent around one hour meeting with my advisor with advice and critiquing my work. As I worked on my Senior Project, I had some challenges that I had to face. The biggest challenge I had to face was preparing for my research paper. I found many topics during my research, but it was hard to find the right one for my career. Since I shadowed a landscaping company, I thought I would choose something that would improve or benefit a customer’s landscaping. Finding time to shadow was also very difficult with being part of football and the marching band. Along with working around my school activities, I had to get my shadowing done before the weather was cold and before the landscaping company was not done working for

Tvedt 2 the season. Although I missed some school, I was lucky the school gave me three shadowing days to get my full twenty hours of shadowing and I did not miss any school activities. I managed my time for this project by always working ahead and staying organized. I used my Senior Project Handbook to stay on task and make sure I meet all the deadlines. I knew from the start of this project that it would be a lot of work. If I worked hard and used my time wisely, I knew I could get a good grade. From this project I gained lots of knowledge about landscaping. I enjoyed learning and working on the job site. I enjoyed working with the employees and learning things from my mentor that I did not know. Although my mentor had a bachelor’s degree from a four-year school, she suggested that a two-year school would be more beneficial and more hands on. Before I shadowed, I was planning to attend SDSU or STI. After my shadowing experience, I learned that STI would be the best choice for me. From my job shadowing experience, I learned about running a business and what I have to prepare for if I have my own business one day. It was a great experience for me, and I am thankful to have opportunity to see if this career is right for me. I learned that I will have to gain experience and skills such as communicating with customers and operating equipment. This project has directed me in the right path and helped me make the decision to attend STI for landscape design and sports turf management. I hope that I can learn more about designing landscaping myself to make my future business more successful. This project has helped me learn how owning and running a landscaping company works and how to prepare for my future career.

Tvedt 3 I believe my presentation will go well. I need to practice as much as I can to help me be prepared and less nervous. I have all my requirements and time limits met for my presentation. I hope that the panel will learn everything about my job shadowing experience. I feel that people will become very interested when I present my product about how much work I have put in my project. I hope the panel gains the knowledge and process of how landscaping companies present their customers with their ideas. I hope they feel like a customer themselves and it seems like I oversee a landscaping business presenting them with their design. For my Senior Project I would give myself an A. I have put in a lot of hard work into this project and making sure everything is done on time. I believe my presentation has presented my panel about all requirements such as my website, shadowing experience, research paper, and my product. I learned a lot from this experience and hope to use what I learned to help guide me in the future.