Roman Novy-Marx

05/24/2022

Forge Your Future: A Final Reflection

One warm night in early June I came home from soccer practice to find Jessica and Omit

Ray eating dinner with my parents. I said hi and went upstairs to shower. When I came down to

eat the Liber-Rays asked me the classic Harley parent summer questions. I told them I had a

pretty good Junior year despite COVID-19 restrictions, yet was very glad to be on vacation.

Jessica told me about how Lucy was going to do a Senior Capstone project and wondered if I had

considered the same. I told her there was one project I wanted to pursue: teaching financial

education classes, which we don’t learn in school. “No way! That would be amazing,” Jessica

says grinning, “You totally need to do that! Talk to Frank about it, he used to be a full-time

investor and also feels Harley needs to teach more of the subject!” The next day I signed up for a

full-year Senior Capstone.

Although Jessica gave me the final shove to take Capstone, my story really starts in

Middle School when my mom encouraged me to volunteer for Horizons the summer after

7th-grade. I worked with the 3rd-graders at the time and loved it. Ever since, I’ve helped out at

Horizons consistently, always with the same group of kids. Over the past five years we’ve grown

up together and bonded.

Last summer, I assisted Ms. Ivory, a teacher from City School No. 19. She and I decided

to take a break from Algebra to discuss daily realities. We took turns describing contentious

situations—for example, when someone cuts you in line at the corner store. Our now 7th-graders

role-played how they would respond and we discussed reclaiming one’s cool when most upset.

We dedicated an entire day towards how to behave around the police and knowing your rights.
 Over the past several years, my students and friends have taught me how to be a true

listener and to never assume I know the full picture. Working at Horizons, I saw the power of

quality education and my ability to leverage small actions to improve my students' lives in

different ways. Yet, I still felt there was more I could do. One day it hit me that I could use my

growing business and entrepreneurial interests to teach financial literacy to my students, a topic

that months earlier I realized was severely lacking in schools. I ruminated on the idea but pushed

it off as impractical until the night that Jessica pushed me to make it a reality.

As the school year kicked off, I followed Jessica’s advice and went to talk to Frank. He

supported my idea and agreed to be my Capstone mentor. We made a plan to connect once a

week during my free period and discuss my project. At the same time, I got into the swing of

working on my project every day during 5th-period Capstone class and sometimes at home as

well. I remember the first major assignment Jocie gave us, a research project in which we were

to collect information from at least five different sources and explain how they would be useful

to our project. At the time, the assignment felt like a huge barrier preventing me from actually

getting started on my project. I was antsy to start building my curriculum. Just a few weeks

earlier I finished reading Dare to Lead in which Brene Brown emphasizes the importance of

embracing vulnerability and tough conversations. I followed Brown’s advice and stayed after

class to talk with Jocie. I told her how I wasn’t sure if Capstone was right for me. I thought it

might be better for me to do an independent study instead in which I could pursue my project

without restriction. Jocie was very understanding and asked me to stay in Capstone. She told me

that we could mold the assignments so they would feel productive to my project. We agreed that

for my research I would write up drafts for five units of my course from different sources. In the

end, the assignment really helped kick start my curriculum building process. Overall, I’m very
glad I stayed in Capstone class. Although at times the assignments still felt like a distraction

from my goals, it was very beneficial to work alongside my classmates who were pursuing their

own projects. The networking opportunities helped me come up with new ideas and provided

critical connections such as that with Nia’s aunt Ms. Owens, the director of the Montgomery

Neighborhood Center. Jocie’s guidance was also very valuable in keeping me moving forward

productively.

In particular, Jocie’s goal-setting process helped me manage my time effectively. Every

half-tri, Jocie dedicated at least one class to explicitly outlining our goals for the coming half-tri.

She asked us to share these goals publicly in our Capstone folder. I found this to be both

clarifying and motivating. On one hand, when I sat down to work every day, I already knew what

I needed to do. On the other hand, sharing my goals openly pushed me to see them completed by

the deadlines I set for myself. Jocie’s process also forces me to build a permanent record of

everything I set out to do.

Despite an effective goal-setting process, I still encountered many obstacles when

striving to achieve my vision. The most significant challenge was finding schools and

organizations that wanted me to teach their students. After all, it’s probably not easy to invite a

high-school senior with no reputation and little prior teaching experience to come guest speak in

your program. I found it difficult to build sufficient trust online and secure teaching

opportunities. Yet, this obstacle also proved a catalyst for major growth. My struggles to make

connections forced me to improve my pitch, try different means of contact, and maintain

consistent communication. In the end, I created many opportunities for myself with persistence. I

learned that you can make just about anything happen when you put yourself out into the world,

learn from your failures, and keep trying no matter what.

 I would definitely recommend Capstone to every rising senior. Yet, I would advise them

only to take the class if they have a project or topic that they are truly passionate about. If not,

Capstone will most likely quickly turn into a burden and feel pointless. However, I would tell

them that if they’re like me and do care about their project, Capstone will give them the means to

make an impact in other’s lives all while developing valuable real-world skills.