Performance Presentation & Blog Post

As my capstone was a Performance Capstone I did a public presentation of it in the form of an Exhibit Reception. The reception was held in April 2022 for the second of the 3 exhibits--Student Photography: Diverse Pursuits.

My reflection summary is below.

1. How has this experience helped you to hone your knowledge, skills, and abilities while in college?

This has been an experiment in creativity, leadership, confidence, and making a path for myself. I am a STEM student with a love for art and this capstone has cemented that yes I CAN be both and that the horizons of what I can aim for are wider than I thought before. I learned how to talk to artists, host a gallery reception, write exhibit prompts and captions and topic essays. I learned about a French naturalist from the 1700s and about deep water fish in the gulf and about how international students see campus. I got to see the MSC art vault and be a part of the Reynolds gallery. I got to speak with Mary Compton and learn from her. I got to visit weird parts of campus to talk to specialists while surrounded by specimens in jars.

This year-long capstone and position honed my attention to detail and aesthetics--important for my career field. It forced me to exercise my executive decision making and grow in confidence regarding those decisions. I'm happy I could serve A&M and LAUNCH in this unique capacity.

I also learned rom my fellow performance capstone students. Dana's poetry is beautiful! I have been so proud of her journey and the growing joy I can see sparking through in her videos. I also don't know how to edit videos at all so I am impressed by that. Janki's book is going to be AMAZING! Her presentation at the D&D was fiery and I want so badly to be a beta reader for her. Writing is something I have dipped my foot into, but I have a long way to go when it comes to stories. So its always to impressive to me when someone has written a great story because I understand how hard and complex it is. I am immensely proud of both of them and have benefitted from their reflections.

2. What advice would you give to a non-Honors student hoping to pursue a capstone?

I've said this a few times now: Be confident. Work out a plan with your advisors and some soft deadlines. It's ok to change your plans as you go (in fact, expect to) but you need to make some anyway. Get insight from advisors but know that it is ultimately up to you so make a decision. Indecisiveness does not have a place here. Have fun too, this is yours to make of it what you will. You have the power to make changes to make your capstone yours.

This has been fun and challenging. I never thought I would do something so cool and out of my direct field in college. As I write this, I have just finished my very last class of college and my last class at A&M. I have known since I was a child that I would go to A&M and then become a dentist. I knew what high school would look like and I knew what college looked like, but from here the horizon is fuzzy. I do not know what dental school looks like and I do not know what kind of extracurriculars I will do there. Will they have opportunities for me to write and pursue art? I don't know. Can I start something for art's sake? Will I be able to with the pressures of getting a doctorate? I certainly got to do some unexpected things during my 4 years here, I wonder what I will do in my 4 years there. I have always kept my eyes open for opportunities and jumped at them even if I felt busy enough already. And I've never regretted it.