One week into Senior Project feels like so much time and no time at all. I have spent hours on art where it felt like only 15 minutes, and I have learned so much it feels like it could only have been learned in months. So far my project has not only matched up to my expectations and dreams but has exceeded them. My passion for my project makes it hard for me to pull away from it. My mind races with ideas, and my hands ache from the work, though it is a good ache, the satisfying ache of achieving something.  When I first came into this project I was a bit nervous that I would get distracted by other things which are very easy to do as a teenager surrounded by screens. I also feared that it would be overwhelming to schedule myself, as it was fairly new to me. As school has been largely responsible for my daily schedule, besides summers of course. And summers do not require me to have a project completed by the end of them. I have found, however, that my struggle has not been to complete my work, rather the opposite is true. I struggle to stop working. Though my expectations for myself and my workability are not the only thing that has evolved throughout the course of my first week. I had started this project,  initially thinking the setting of my writing and research would be closer to the modern era; though very quickly I realized, as I was creating my pitch I decided to change it to a more historical outlook. Even then I did not predict how much I would learn about the history and evolution of science, specifically biology and taxonomy. The former is a word I didn’t even know until this project. I not only know the meaning but now have knowledge of taxonomy and its evolution to the modern era. I have also learned the roots of modern science, understanding how we know what we know. How do we know that humans are animals and trees are plants? Such things are taken for granted, it’s common knowledge. I have also gained an appreciation for scientists in the 19th century. As they did not have the tools we do today, they did not know that fungi are closer to animals than plants. But through meticulous observation and experimentation, they were able to give us the basis of modern biology. Not only that but modern taxonomy. The system of kingdoms, families, and species we use today has very few changes from the original model posed in the 19th century. Due to this project, even a week in,  I have found such passion and knowledge, a thirst that cannot be quenched. My experiences in the past week have dashed away all my nerves for the upcoming weeks. I expect to come out of this experience a wholly more confident, knowledgeable, passionate person armed with new skills and a deep passion and appreciation for art, science, writing, and history.