Work Logs

January 12-23, 2017

In regards to the first steps of my senior project, I started by looking into subjects that interested
me the most. I found that the subjects that fascinated my the most were psychology, sociology,
and criminology. With this in mind I started my research, I first tried to search topics/theories
around that area to see if any of them stood out to me and if I was able to form a question. When
I didnt have luck approaching it that way, I narrowed my search to just criminology and from
there to just perpetrators. With that I was able to come across the topic of serial killers. Serial
killers intrigued me, so I used that as my basis to come up with my question: Are serial killer a
product of their environment or genes? With that i went onto transcribing my letter of intent, and
soon onto my research.

February 1-23, 2017

Now that I have my question, I started my research. My first stop was the internet, I tried to look
for credible sources and articles to aid me in getting an answer. Next I went to the library to
further my research, with that I found a couple of books, and either checked them out or put them
on hold. As I furthered my research I also started to work on my commitment poster. I went to
buy supplies and tried to come up with an idea for the poster.

February 24-27, 2017

Next I was trying to get a mentor. I started by doing research and came to the conclusion that I
would try to get a homicide detective to be my mentor. With that in mind I went my local police
departments website to try and contact one. I started with the Clayton Police Department, I found
that the only way to get into contact with the officers was to call the station, so I did that and left
a message explaining my project and the aid I needed.

February 29-March 8, 2017

I hadnt heard from the police department so I drove down to the Clayton Police Department and
talked to an officer who was by her desk. The officer directed me to the Concord Police
Department, since the Clayton Police Department only had seven officers, none being homicide
detectives. I contacted the Concord Police Department and was directed to a homicide detective
who would help me and become my mentor. I faxed the mentor sheet to Detective Phalan, to
have him sign them.

March 11, 2017

The next step was to contact other people that could help me further my research. I started
gathering contact information on psychologists in the area so that I could see if they were willing
to be interviewed. With that I emialied many psychologists for interviews and waited for a reply.

March 15, 2017

Next I went down to the Concord Police Station to meet with my mentor, Detective Phalen. In
doing so we got a chance to meet face to face and discuss how the project will play out. After
going over the project we set up a time in which I could interview him, that time being March
22, 2017.
March 16, 2017
I still hadnt heard from any psychologists, so I tried to figure out another way to obtain a second
interview. In doing so I realized that our school had a psychologist, so I emailed her to try to get
an interview set up. Throughout the next couple of days, we emailed back and forth and we
conducted an interview by email.

March 17, 2017

I now went to do more of my own research online and in the library, obtaining even more books.
Then I continued to write my paper. I made an outline, obtaining quotes and started writing. With
that I turned in my paper on March 21st.

March 22, 2017

Today was the day I had my Interview with my mentor, Detective Phalan. I made my way to the
Concord Police Department after school and conducted the interview.

March 26, 2017

I went over my interview with Detective Phalen and transcribed what he had said. I also used the
information that he provided for my senior paper. With that I revised my senior paper adding in
the information he provided.

March 27, 2017

I went to the library to further my research and to finish up more of my project. I worked on
completing my website as well as brainstorming more ideas as to how I will approach/do my
actual senior project.

April 3, 2017
I did more brainstorming and came up with how I will do my senior project. For my actual
project I decided on making something similar to a scrapbook, that will include a comparison
between how a psychologist analysis a serial killer to that of a detective. I will also include three
letters, from three different serial killers and analysis their writing to get a better understanding
of their behavioral patterns. Lastly, I will make a brain model out of clay to showcase the nature
side and the parts of the brain that contribute to the making of a serial killer.

April 10-13, 2017

I emailed my mentor the mentor critique form and my essay, in order to have him go over it and
review what I have done so far. With that, my mentor and I emailed back and forth on the next
steps of the project and how the actual project will go and how we will approach it.

April 14, 2017

I got the rough draft of my senior paper back. With this, I looked through it and saw the mistakes
I made and started making corrections. After making the corrections my teacher had advised, I
reread my paper and looked for things that I thought I should change. I then made those
corrections and decide to make a layout of certain things that I needed to expand/take out of my
paper.
April 20-23, 2017
I once again started working on my senior paper and made further corrections. I started by taking
certain aspects out while elaborating on others. I also did more research and tried to find more
factual/scientific findings to go along with my paper. I tried to focus specifically on credible
articles that would support the nature argument and add more content to it. With that, I found
new findings that supported my research and finished my paper.

April 25-27, 2017

I started to work more on my senior project and made a layout of what I wanted to do and how I
would do about it. I made a layout on what I wanted to include in my project and how I would
change it so that it would be a good representation of my question.

April 29-30, 2017

I now made a list of all the supplies that I would need for my senior project that I already didnt
have and where I could obtain them from. With that, I went to the nearest craft store and spent
some time looking for the things I needed. Once I got them I went home and started on working
on my project.

May 1-6, 2017

I now started working on my tangible project for my senior project. I started off my planning
how and what I wanted to do with each page and planned so that I filled up each page of the
scrapbook. I then started putting everything together, I printed, glued, copy and pasted many
things for each of the pages. After working on it for the past couple of days I finally finished the
scrapbook and it included -- a page for nature, nurture, how a psychologist examines serial
killers, how a police detective examines serial killers, and the analysis of serial killers letters.

May 6, 2017
I emalied my mentor pictures of my complete senior project as well as the mentor verification
form With that my mentor checked off my senior project and emailed me back the filled out
mentor verification.

May 10-15, 2017

I now started working on my practice speech for my senior project. I started by making a google
slides and then moved onto writing the actual speech. For the speech I follow the guidelines and
made sure to include all the important facts but also keep it concise to meet the time limit.