By Bay Dotson and Layne Friedman
By now Senior Projects are in full swing! From short films to internships in the city council, the oldest kids in the school are leaving the classroom to work on a variety of different projects. We talked to four seniors working on three unique projects. Carson Rice is working individually on a series of projects about “current issues surrounding the LGBTQ+ community.” Her work has included writing a novel as well as a series of analytical essays that all ask the “question of why things work in society.” She has also just created a blog called “nwhyc.” Finn Kreidler is working as an intern at City Council Member Ben Kallos’s office where he is “taking calls and meeting with people who have complaints or problems or opinions about things that are happening in the district.” Lucy Hirschfeld and Hazel Streeter have teamed up to create a series of short (3 to 4 minute) films making fun of the typical NYC teenager. Streeter described their series as “very over the top…we are making fun of everyone and everything.”
When asked about the challenges of the senior project, all four seniors identified similar things. “Nobody’s telling you what to do when,” said Rice, and Streeter added, “Either we’re doing a lot or were doing nothing, and it’s hard to manage your time like that.” Clearly, there aren’t set times for doing specific work, unless you have an internship, like Kreidler. The seniors will spend thirty hours a week for six weeks on their projects. Rice pointed out the challenge of sometimes being “distracted really easily” and having a lot of time that “goes by quickly.” Streeter also talked about the challenge of having so much time, “With a senior project there’s such an expectation like you spend 30 hours a week on this, so this has got to be good.” Having so much time to focus on a self-determined project clearly has its challenges but all four seniors are also very excited about the work they are doing.
Each project has had its different rewards. Hirschfeld said that “it”s really, really stressful” but that her and Streeter have been “learning a lot.” Streeter was also adamant that having to work through problems has been helpful, saying “in the future, I know what to do.” Working as an intern has had very different rewards than creating short films. When asked the most exciting part of his project, Kreidler said the fact that his work “goes towards the benefit of someone’s life, or trying to fix something in the city” instead of more typical school work that involves turning in assignments to a teacher. Rice summed up the feelings about Senior Project when she said, “the most exciting part is realizing that I have gotten things done” and really “starting to see it go somewhere.” Good luck to all the seniors who are now nearing the end of their exciting projects!