CLC 12 - Final Capstone Proposal and Reflection

Name: Anna Cairney

Topic:
Focus Area:
Inquiry Question:
Presentation Method:
Presentation Time & Date:
Writing a poetry book
Product creation
Can poetry written through the lens of someone who struggles with mental
health, enlighten, and help others through their own personal mental
health struggles?
Power Point/physical product
June 3rd 2:30 pm

1) Capstone Project Summary:

In the box below, please type out a 200 – 300-word summary highlighting the key points and
information that you plan to present during your Capstone Project presentation.

I plan to have my capstone be a poetry book that is designed to be a made from a compilation of my
work. The title of my book is “Painfully Pink”. This work will be split into 3 chapters: “The Pain”, “The
Aftermath” and “The Healing”. I’ll explore these themes through the vehicle of poetry. For example, in
every chapter, I’ll make 6-12 poems. These poems will range from Haiku, Long and Short form, Free-verse,
Lyrics, Sonnet, Ode and Elegy.
The first chapter, “The Pain”, discusses experiences I had in the first part of the current school year. This is
mostly covering anxiety and social challenges I’ve encountered. The second chapter, “The Aftermath”
covers the emotional turmoil that came after these challenges. The subject matter for this this chapter will
consist heavily of dark and confusing emotions as I try to pull myself out of the pain. The Third chapter,
“The Healing” talks about the growth and acceptance that I had to find this year and how I pulled myself
out of that dark place. The subject matter of this chapter will be heavily influed by self love and positive
self-ideals showing the end to the pain I had to endure. For the creation of my book, I will create my own
front and back covers. The front of the cover will be a mix of pink and gold with a white silhouette of a
couple with white birds in the background. I am hoping this will symbolize the pain and freedom that
comes with loving someone. The back cover will consist of a mix of pink and gold with a silhouette of a
house and birds flying away from it. I am hoping this will symbolize letting go of heart break and being
able to move on with my life. Finally, I am hoping to publish and sell my book on amazon so others can
learn how poetry can heal their life’s. In the end I am hoping this book can help me work through my stress
and anxiety as well as help others do the same.

2) Core Competencies:
 In the boxes below, explain how your project or the work we’ve done in CLC 12 Class demonstrates
your abilities and skills from each section of the Core Competencies. (You must choose at least two
points from each skill area of the core competencies.) *This was also done in your Capstone Draft
Proposal, so if the skills and abilities still apply and have not changed, then you can copy and paste
your answers in the Final Capstone Proposal*

Core Competency: How you demonstrate it in Capstone Project:

Personal Awareness &
Responsibility
Social Responsibility
-I am learning to take care of myself- This project is really about
strategies and outputs to relieve stress.
-I have a variety of strategies to manage my personal well-being- This
project is also a large-scale attempt to manage my emotions. This would
also be a potential template for others to explore and manage their own
stress and emotions.
-I am aware of my community/environment, work independently and
collaboratively with others. We have a mental health epidemic, and we
are in need of INDEPENDENT strategies to pull us out which is what I
hope my poetry book can do for others.
I have positive peer and intergenerational relationships- I am able to
connect with people of all ages and backgrounds with this book.

Critical Thinking
-I understand the purpose for my work and consider my audience- The
purpose of my work is to help reduce stress for myself, but I am
modeling a strategy for others to use.
-I can explore and create new ways to represent my learning around a
variety of problems, events, issues, and needs. Each chapter is a theme
related to different parts of my life and challenges.

Creative Thinking
-I can create new and unique ideas that may provide new perspectives
that influence how people think about topics. I can put together the
book, it will be based on my perspective, hopefully demonstrating a path
for people struggling with mental health.
-I can persevere and understand that failure can be productive. I know
what failure feels like and that it is an opportunity to grow.

Communication
Personal & Cultural Identity
-I can engage in deep and meaningful inquiry for a variety of purposes
and audiences. This book is to be for anyone (of all ages) who suffer from
mental health challenges.
-I can reflect on the processes of learning and share what I’ve learned.
The purpose of this book is to share my experiences and what I’ve
learned from them.
-I understand that what I value has and will shape my choices. My book
shows what I believe and value from my experiences with mental health
challenges.
-I understand what is important to me. Helping people is really
important and fulfilling to me and it is the purpose of my book.

3) Presentation preparation:
 In the boxes below, answer the following questions: What will you require from your teacher, what will
you need to bring and what still needs to be completed between now and your Capstone presentation
day?
a) What will you require from your teacher in order to do your Capstone presentation? (Ex: Laptop,
table, poster paper, projector, etc…)

From my teacher I need a laptop table with a working HDMI cord. I will also need a table to put my physical
copies of my poetry on as they are a big part of my prestation. This is all I need to be able to do my
presentation successfully.

b) What will you need to bring in order to do your Capstone presentation?

In order to do my capstone presentation, I will need to bring my computer and my physical

copies of the book. I am bringing my computer because I will have a PowerPoint explaining my
process on there.

c) What still needs to be completed between now and your Capstone presentation day?

I still need to make my PowerPoint prestation and edit a few things on my book. Once I edit my book a bit, I
will need to put it into the publishing program and order some copies for my prestation. Once this is all
completed, I will be ready to present.

4) References and explanation of sources:

Please paste all your current list of sources along with a brief explanation of what you used them for in
your research. All these sources should also be listed on your website on your References page.

Evermore Taylor Swift – This album helped me find some words for my poems and how I wanted the subject
matter of the poetry to sound. For example, in the songs on the album lots of metaphors are used which is
something I really wanted to challenge my self to do with my work. Overall, this album was helpful for my
research as it showed me how metaphors can be used to improve poetry and give an extra level of meaning
to my work.

https://www.readpoetry.com/ways-poetry-can-support-you-in-therapy/
This article helped with my capstone because it supported my argument that poetry can better your
mental heath. It also made some really good points on how you can get started writing your own poetry
and what topics you should focus on if you are just starting. Overall, this article shows that I am not the
only person using this as a coping skill and it is starting to become very normalized in society.

https://pixabay.com/vectors/flourish-floral-decorative-1751013/
I used this site to collect the art for my book. The site is free for anyone to use and is copy right free.
The image you will see when you open the link is a heart silhouette which is used in the second chapter
of my book to make the page more engaging to the reader.

Milk and Honey By rupi kaur

This book was used for inspiration of how I wanted my chapters to look. It showcases how pain and art
can come together to heal you no matter who you are. I hope my chapter design of my book can do this
for others as well as tell a story.

https://www.ntu.ac.uk/about-us/news/news-articles/2023/11/poetry-is-good-for-mental-health,-study-
shows#:~:text=Reading%2C%20writing%20and%20sharing%20poetry,depression%2C%20a%20new
%20study%20shows .

This article helped with my research because it helped me be able to lay a good foundation for my
project. For example, this article gave some really good points oh how poetry has positively impacted
others and what they chose to do with that. The article also had some good surveys which really
showcased that poetry can make a really positive impact on someone’s mental heath. Overall, this article
helped me really get started on my capstone and showed me why my project could be impactful to
others.

Final Capstone Project Reflection Questions

(Please give specific detailed answers.)

1. In the process of completing your Capstone Project, what did you learn about your subject? What did
you learn about your skill set? What did you learn about yourself?
In the process of my capstone, I learned so much about my subject area. For example, I learned how to
properly word and format my poems as well as how chapters in a poetry book should be layed out. By
learning this I am now able to teach these skills to others, which will continue to improve my
knowledge in the area. I learned from my skill set that I am an extremely driven person when it comes
to work, I am passionate about and will stop at nothing to finish it. My skill set taught me this because
no matter how tired or stressed I was I knew working on this project would be worth it in the end. I
learned that I am a very organized person so staying on top of deadlines and timeframes for this
project was not an issue. I also learned that I enjoy helping others with their mental health struggles
which really showed me I was going in the right direction with my future career. Overall, I am grateful
for the chance to learn all these things about myself because I know they will help me so much in the
future.

2. How is your project relevant to you? How is it relevant to the school? How is it relevant to the
community?

This project is relevant to me because it is something I knew would greatly help my mental health but
still challenge me at the same time. It is relevant to the school because it shows other students coming
into this course that they can take risks with their capstone projects and be rewarded for it. It also
shows that mental health can be a big focus in your capstone project if it is something that matters
greatly to you. It is relevant to the community because by me learning this skill I can go teach it to
 others in the community. It also gives me the ability to show others proof that poetry can improve your
mental health and can be written in any way that works best for you. Overall, this project has a
numerous amounts of relevance in almost all aspects of my life which I feel was my main goal for
completing this project.

3. What impact did your Capstone have on you?

The impact my capstone had on me was even in my toughest moments of my life I was able to turn to
writing poetry. This became a very positive way of coping with my anxiety and other stresses which I
would not have realized without the help of this project. It was a strategy I was able to turn to for a
huge part of my school year which really impacted how I saw certain situations in my life. Doing the
work of writing these poems made me realize the power my words have and how I can use my
struggles and experiences to help others. Another reason I am grateful I got to do this project is I now
have more knowledge in this area of writing and could teach others if I wanted to. The fact that I am to
teach this skill to others has made a huge impact on my own mental heath and others. I know now that
if I hadn’t done this project the second half of the school year would have taken a great toll on me
which makes me now so grateful I got to do it.

4. What aspects of your project are you most proud of?

In my project I am very proud of the fact that I was able to be extremely vulnerable and lay it all out on
the table without fear of being made fun of or judged. This was something that I really had to step out
of my comfort zone to do as it is hard for me to trust others with my emotions. This I feel was the most
important aspect of my project because it is something that meant a lot to me to try to do. It also
made me feel very powerful in myself when I finished writing because of how much of a risk I was
taking. To be able to have the opportunity to be able to take a risk like this in a school project is
something I would have never thought I would be allowed to do. That alone has given me such a new
appreciation for this grad requirement as it gave me the chance to do the work that I knew I needed to
do.

5. What was a difficulty you encountered while researching your Capstone project? How were you able to
overcome those obstacles?
A difficulty I encountered while trying to research my project was everyone online having a different
option. This made it quite difficult because it was hard at times to try to find research that supported
my project as it could be inconstant at times. I overcame this by looking more into authors of poetry
books who all seemed to agree that it does help greatly with your mental health. Looking into these
different authors was extremely helpful because it showed me that others use writing poetry as a
coping skill, and I was not alone in the fact that I did. Researching these authors greatly improved my
writing as I found ways to go about my writing, so I didn’t do too much all at once. Overall, this
obstacle in the end pushed me in a very positive direction and I would not have been able to do what I
did without it.
6. What is the one thing you would have changed about your project if you could?
The one thing I would change about my project is the length of my book For example, at times with my
other schoolwork the length I wanted started to become a bit of a struggle as it was difficult to keep up
with everything else. If I were ever able to do a project like this again, I would make sure the amount of
work I was putting in was more manageable with my schedule to relive some of that extra stress. I
would also change the length of some of the poems as I feel some of them could drag on for a bit at
times. Overall, I would want to change the length of my project to make what I chose to include just
that more impactful.

7. What advice would you offer to future Capstone students to help them with their Capstone journey?
My advice for future students would to be pick something you are passionate about and to do your
best to submit things on their deadlines or make your own. For example, it is so much less work for you
if you submit your work on time even if that means when its due at 9 am your summiting it at 8:55 am
because that is still on time. As for the parts of the project without deadlines I would suggest making
your own to hold yourself accountable. If you are not able to do this, I would give the deadline you
created to your teacher so they can hold you accountable. Then for your project I would make sure you
pick a topic area that makes you want to do the work and not one that doesn’t. When you do this, It
makes completing this project that much easier and makes the whole experience more enjoyable for
you. Finally, I would say to always ask help from your teacher when you need it as it helped me a ton
with my project so I believe it could help future students in this course.