Over the past few weeks, I\u2019ve been focused on preparing for my project, which is all about learning why young adults don\u2019t do more to conserve water, and how to get them more involved in helping. I haven\u2019t met with any partners just yet besides the short zoom meetings, but I\u2019ve been trying to think ahead and prepare myself for when that time comes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So far, I\u2019ve planned to survey young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 on campus. I want to ask basic questions like their age, whether they know any water-saving tips, and if they actually practice them. The goal is to get a better idea of what young people already know and what might be stopping them from getting involved. After I collect the survey data, I\u2019ll analyze it to find patterns and see what kind of education or motivation could make a difference. Eventually, I\u2019d like to create a mini workshop to help raise awareness in a fun, simple way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even though I haven\u2019t done the official site visits yet, I\u2019ve been reflecting on how I present myself when talking to people about my project. I think at first I was a little nervous but I didn\u2019t want to sound like I didn\u2019t know wha I was doing. But I\u2019ve realized it\u2019s okay to not have all the answers yet. What matters more is being open to learning and willing to improve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One moment that stood out to me was when I casually mentioned my project to a few friends during lunch. I wasn\u2019t trying to present it formally\u2014I just shared what I was working on and why I thought it mattered. To my surprise, they started asking questions and even brought up things I hadn\u2019t thought of, like how hard it is to care about water use when you’re busy juggling school and work. That conversation reminded me that connecting on a real, personal level can spark way more engagement than trying to sound \u201cperfect\u201d or overly polished. It helped me realize that authenticity makes my message more relatable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I casually mentioned my project to a few friends during lunch. I wasn\u2019t trying to present it formally, I just shared what I was working on and why I thought it mattered. I was surprised but they started asking questions and even brought up things I hadn\u2019t thought of, like how hard it is to care about water use when you’re busy juggling school and work. That\u2019s conversation reminded me that connecting on a real, personal level can spark way more engagement than trying to sound \u201cperfect\u201d or overly polished. It helped me realize that authenticity makes my message more relatable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think one thing I\u2019ve done well so far is staying curious. I really do want to understand how people think about water use, and I\u2019m not just doing this for a grade. I also think I\u2019ve been good at listening when others give feedback, and I\u2019m open to adjusting my approach if something isn\u2019t working.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Something I could do better is being more confident in sharing my ideas. Sometimes I second-guess myself and worry too much about being \u201cright.\u201d But I know that part of this process is trial and error, and making mistakes is part of learning. I\u2019m trying to remind myself that it\u2019s okay to not have everything perfect right away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moving forward, I\u2019m looking forward to connecting with people, hearing their thoughts, and figuring out how to make this project actually useful. I want it to be something that helps people think differently about water conservation and maybe even do something about it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Over the past few weeks, I\u2019ve been focused on preparing for my project, which is all about learning why young adults don\u2019t do more to conserve water, and how to get them more involved in helping. I haven\u2019t met with any partners just yet besides the short zoom meetings, but I\u2019ve been trying to think ahead and prepare myself for when that time comes. So far, I\u2019ve planned to survey young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 on campus. I want to ask basic questions like their age, whether they know any water-saving tips, and if they actually practice them. The goal is to get a better idea of what young people already know and what might be stopping them from getting involved. After I collect the survey data, I\u2019ll analyze it to find patterns and see what kind of education or motivation could make a difference. Eventually, I\u2019d like to create a mini workshop to help raise awareness in a fun, simple way. Even though I haven\u2019t done the official site visits yet, I\u2019ve been reflecting on how I present myself when talking to people about my project. I think at first I was a little nervous but I didn\u2019t want to sound like I didn\u2019t know wha I was doing. But I\u2019ve realized it\u2019s okay to not have all the answers yet. What matters more is being open to learning and willing to improve. One moment that stood out to me was when I casually mentioned my project to a few friends during lunch. I wasn\u2019t trying to present it formally\u2014I just shared what I was working on and why I thought it mattered. To my surprise, they started asking questions and even brought up things I hadn\u2019t thought of, like how hard it is to care about water use when you’re busy juggling school and work. That conversation reminded me that connecting on a real, personal level can spark way more engagement than trying to sound \u201cperfect\u201d or overly polished. It helped me realize that authenticity makes my message more relatable. I casually mentioned my project to a few friends during lunch. I wasn\u2019t trying to present it formally, I just shared what I was working on and why I thought it mattered. I was surprised but they started asking questions and even brought up things I hadn\u2019t thought of, like how hard it is to care about water use when you’re busy juggling school and work. That\u2019s conversation reminded me that connecting on a real, personal level can spark way more engagement than trying to sound \u201cperfect\u201d or overly polished. It helped me realize that authenticity makes my message more relatable. I think one thing I\u2019ve done well so far is staying curious. I really do want to understand how people think about water use, and I\u2019m not just doing this for a grade. I also think I\u2019ve been good at listening when others give feedback, and I\u2019m open to adjusting my approach if something isn\u2019t working. Something I could do better is being more confident in sharing my ideas. Sometimes I second-guess myself and worry too much about being \u201cright.\u201d But I know that part of this process is trial and error, and making mistakes is part of learning. I\u2019m trying to remind myself that it\u2019s okay to not have everything perfect right away. Moving forward, I\u2019m looking forward to connecting with people, hearing their thoughts, and figuring out how to make this project actually useful. I want it to be something that helps people think differently about water conservation and maybe even do something about it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":189,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_sb_is_suggestion_mode":false,"_sb_show_suggestion_boards":false,"_sb_show_comment_boards":false,"_sb_suggestion_history":"","_sb_update_block_changes":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-253","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eportfolio.siue.edu\/samuel-lee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eportfolio.siue.edu\/samuel-lee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eportfolio.siue.edu\/samuel-lee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eportfolio.siue.edu\/samuel-lee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/189"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eportfolio.siue.edu\/samuel-lee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eportfolio.siue.edu\/samuel-lee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/253\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":254,"href":"https:\/\/eportfolio.siue.edu\/samuel-lee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/253\/revisions\/254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eportfolio.siue.edu\/samuel-lee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}