Throughout the senior project process, I learned that it is okay to make adjustments and reinvestigate what drives the project. When the project began, I had an entirely different idea of what I wanted to explore. I initially proposed to find an internship at a car dealership as I wanted to learn more about the racing industry as well as sustainability within the automotive industry. While I still have an interest in this topic, unfortunately I could not find an internship that fit my essential question. This was the first adjustment I had to make in order to design a senior project that would serve my interests and goals. My first idea was not feasible, so I decided to go in a different direction.
For my new topic, I set out to share the youth perspective on basketball without knowing the medium that I wanted to use. I decided to use the podcast as a platform for the youth perspective because people of multiple age demographics listen to them. My second adjustment came when I realized that my essential question, “how do I share the insights of youth on the game of basketball?”, did not fully address what I aimed to gain through my project. I realized that what I truly wanted to know centered around the “what” rather than the “how.” By choosing a podcast as my format, I had already answered the “how” of my topic. Thus, I changed my question to, “what is the youth’s perspective on basketball?”
My last major change in the process centered around the logistics of facilitating and editing the podcast. I initially planned to record the interviews and then edit them all at once. I adjusted this process once I realized how long the editing process takes and the attention to detail it requires. Thus, I recorded each interview separately and edited them one by one rather than all in one sitting. I believe this adjustment improved the quality of the finished product as well as my ability to enjoy the process. I can imagine that I may have become fatigued editing so many different interviews in one sitting and as a result I could have made careless mistakes.
When I began recording the podcast, I expected to learn about the careers and perspectives of youth basketball players. Although my interviewees answered some of my questions about basketball and their careers in a way that I anticipated, their answers to the deeper questions such as, “how has basketball changed the way you see the world?”, surprised me. The interviewees gave me ideas that I had not considered before. For example, when asked the aforementioned question, one of my interviewees explained that basketball introduced more diversity into his life, therefore giving him more perspective on different cultural backgrounds. I had not considered how wide a reach basketball has in terms of cultural and economic demographics. In a sense, the sport brings people of different backgrounds together.
When I interviewed the coaches, I did not know what to expect as their perspective on basketball differs from mine based on our roles in the game. I received insight on how coaches think when they work with their team which interested me as a high school basketball player. As I reflect on my experience in basketball, I now consider the coach’s perspective. For example, when I have thought about a coach yelling at me in the past, I had not considered their approach to teaching. One of my interviewees discussed how he implements a “tough love” approach to coaching. He may be hard on his players but from his perspective, his actions will push the teammates not only to improve their playing but to build character as well. He aims to help his students become valuable members of the team and the greater community.
By encountering the unexpected from logistical, creative and personal standpoints, I learned to embrace new ideas and adapt to change. I think these lessons in making adjustments will apply to real world contexts such as assignments in college or responsibilities in future jobs. Most importantly, I gained a wide range of perspectives on basketball and on different life choices and goals from my senior project. The process showed me that each interviewee had a different approach to their lives and that all are valid.