Remaining Hours
When scheduling SSP, we must fulfill at least 20 hours of various activities to fill our week. To achieve this goal, I participated in 5 different activities. Some were socially focused, while others were new challenges to try, but they were by far a highlight in my project.
Collaboration and Community Meetings
Hours: 2
During: Tuesday Nights
Chipotle
Collaboration and Community Meetings was an activity designed by Julia, Annie, Elizabeth, and me (and all our friends invited) to meet up and discuss our respective projects. We would meet up at different places to each a dinner and chat. This time allowed us to talk about the different advice our SSP Mentors gave us, our books, ePortfolios, and schedules over dinner. This helped us learn how to navigate our projects and ensure that we were on the same track. To keep each dinner different, we would eat out at Arsenal Yards, go to each other's houses, and a few times have dinner over FaceTime. A personal favorite meeting of mine was the Chipotle dinner, where a ton of our friends who aren't counting this activity for their SSP came out to join us anyway. I also really enjoyed our dinner at Annie's home, eating sushi from a supermarket, and recapping our books to each other.
FaceTime Dinner
Film Club
Hours: 3
During: Wednesday Afternoons
Film Club was a book club for movies. We were a group of four (plus Mr. Gaines) nd we would all individually watch the same movie and meet once a week to discuss it. With Mr. Gaines, we would explore how complicated scenes were shot, directors' portfolios, and our differing opinions. After watching Inception, Mr. Gaines taught us about how intense Christopher Nolan is and how he shot the famous Hallway Scene. For The Color Purple, we discussed how musicals can bring new aspects but also take away some seriousness in film. A lot of the movies we watched had in-depth conversations about lighting and music, as each movie & director utilized them differently. We had many disagreements, but after each meeting, we found ourselves continuing the conversation. Though this activity was a rather minor part of my SSP, it was surprisingly fun, and I feel like I've learned a lot more about film and what makes something "good cinema".
Mystery and Critical Thinking Board Games Club
Hours: 5
During: Wednesday & Friday Nights
Clue
Monopoly
Code Names
This club activity revolves around playing games with friends. Board games are a universally fun activity, but often we are so busy or on our devices that we don't make time for them. Board games also serve a purpose beyond fun, but they train different cognitive skills like memory, financial management, and deductive reasoning. Some of the board games that really demonstrated this were Clue and Monopoly. There were also some games I had never played before, like Mahjong, but because each week one of us studied the rules of the game and explained them to the rest of us, I learned how much fun it is. This club also served as a social activity. The players included are Shirley, Scarlett, Chloe, Iris, and me. If it weren't for this activity, I would rarely see some of my friends. This activity was by far one of my favorites, and I am so grateful for Mr. Crihfield being our supervisor for this activity.
My winning Mahjong Set
GVLAX Game Managing
Hours: 4
During: Wednesday & Monday Afternoons
Before SSP, I had never managed a game or dabbled in the world of Lacrosse. I signed up for this activity, partially because I needed to fill my hours and because I wanted to try something new. I originally did not know what team I'd be game managing, and I had hoped to manage softball because I had some experience scoring baseball. There were two other game managers: Adian and Jack, who set the game balls and kept the time. I focused on the scoring sheet. I learned the rules of penalties, yellow cards, goals & assists, and draw controls.
Concept-to-Cut: Short Film Production
Hours: 6
During: Predominantly Tuesday & Thursday
Me editing footage for Episode 2
Us writing the script and planning filming days
Concept-To-Cut is an independent study focused on creating a short film from start to finish. My friends Sydney, Pepe, and Izzy joined me in creating a satirical, dramatic, and comedic sitcom that follows four high school students. We met both in person and digitally, and from our first SSP meeting, we brainstormed, wrote scripts, managed production and costumes, rallied extras, learned camera work & editing, and produced a 6-episode series that we are all proud of. If Breakfast Club, Euphoria, Community, and High School Musical had a baby, that would be our sitcom. The four of us took on shared responsibilities: each of us wrote together, tackled editing an episode (although I got to edit two episodes and the intro), and maintained constant communication. Of course, this project would not have been possible without the help of our many enthusiastic extras, volunteer cameramen when we ourselves could not film, and, of course, our mentor, Mr. Gaines.
2 episodes that I edited
