#4: YDEV Capstone?

 How does it make you feel when you see this wide range of capstone projects? Check in with your stress, excitement, motivation, and emotions as you begin to imagine your own work.

It honestly makes me feel a lot of things and I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. The first thing that comes to my mind when looking at the range of capstone projects is that there is so many things to consider and the sky is the limit. I really like how we can tailor our projects to who we are and our ideologies. Those are some of the things that excite me. I also enjoyed looking at the capstone projects of people I know personally, it gave me a glimpse of them as youth leaders. I think I fear not knowing enough and not using the right words or phrases when conducting research or even putting my thoughts together. I also have a little bot of anxiety when it comes to narrowing down a topic because I am afraid I am going to pick the wrong thing and find something better when its too late. I also feel a bit stressed because I would say over the past 6 months I have been contemplating a career change. i have a love hate relationship with higher education. I do love working with college students but I miss working with younger students. I want to make sure I choose a topic that is relevant and will be relevant to me at least over the next few years. I have reached out to one of my mentors who has a youth development background so we can talk through some ideas and I can get some advice. Below I have listed some of my idea so far.

1. How does having a mentor in college lead to success

2. Planning campus events through ydev ideologies

3. Program reviews of student centered events a RIC?

4. Intentional programming on campus for students

5. First generation students at RIC: What do they actually need?

6. RI Youth Programs: Services Fair

#2: Research Ideologies

Before class: I was so confused while watching the videos this week and attempting to do the reading. I felt that the wording was complex and I found myself looking up definitions of many different words and it was a lot to take in and process. I did reach out to classmates asking if they were just as confused and it seemed like we were all of the same page. 

After class: Ahhhh...it is all aligning now. I enjoyed all of the conversations that we had in class and I had a few ah ha moments. I really enjoyed Supriya's examples of the snow globe and the ocean. It was easy to grasp the theories when I was able to relate them to the things that I am familiar with. For example, the RI Bright Stars assessment program is a great example of post-positivism. Individuals would observe an early childhood classroom and the teachers interaction with students and determine how many stars they deserve based on one observation. Like Lesley mentioned in class, if a child was crying and was looking to be consoled, Bright Stars says that if you touch the child your classroom is not a 5 star classroom. This lense is pretty much black and white. Constructivism is similar, it would include the observation of the teacher and students but would actually include them in either an interview, answering questions or a focus group where they get to share their experience and point of view. Critical is about change and taking steps to create change. For example, working with youth and empowering them to develop initiatives that mean something to them like the counselors not cops campaign that ARISE developed. 

#1: Questions, curiosities, and wonderings

1.  With the rise in youth mental health issues/crisis, why are schools/colleges not stepping in for support? If some are, what exactly are they doing and is it really beneficial to the student and what they need? 

2. How has the covid-19 pandemic affected youth entering college? 

3. What does wellness mean to a college student? 

4. Why haven't there been active shooter training or drills at RIC? 

5. What do our students actually need from us higher ed professionals? 

6. How are advances in technology hurting the college experience? (helping)

7. Are there any benefits of taking a year off? 

8. What services are students seeking at health services the most? Are they receiving quality care? 

9. How is gender identity playing a role in college students' experiences? 

10. How has the covid-19 pandemic affected recruitment within fraternities and sororities? 

11.  What are RI high schools doing to better prepare their students for college?

12. How are the demographics of RIC faculty and staff, impacting students? 

13. In what ways can we deliver value in the non-classroom elements of the student experience?

14. What aspects of instruction are best done in person, online, or hybrid? 

15. In what ways can faculty and staff join forces to create an enriching co-curricular experience for all students?

16. How can faculty and staff be trained on using appropriate language when addressing students, especially at RIC? 

17. RIC was recently given the designation of being an HSI, how are we serving and maintaining those students who identify as hispanic or latino?

18. What plans does RIC have in place to recruit and then maintain incoming students?

19. What is the RIC runaround and what are ways to stop it?

20. How does being involved on campus increase academic success?

What ifs..

1. What if all college students received quality mental health services when they need it?

2. What if all RI high schools built into homeroom or a required course "college 101" or "career path 101" or "trade 101"?

3. What if there was a mentor program at RIC for students to connect with faculty and staff? This could be a mentor for anything not just academics because there are academic advisors for that.

4. What if college was free and accessible to all students?

5. What if