Monday marked the 30-week anniversary of starting my pilgrimage on the road toward becoming a bone fide Wheeler alumnus.

"Thirty-week anniversary!?" you ask. "Haven’t you been in school for only ten weeks, Rebecca?" That I have. But my journey into Seniordom, and out of High School Land, actually began at the end of my junior year.

"Um. Don’t most people become seniors by default at the end of their junior year, Rebecca?"

Yes, yes they do.

But my Seniordom began even before I sat down to take my final Junior year exams. It began at the beginning of this past May, when I began working on my (dun, dun, dun) comprehensive senior-year project.

Such a project is a common beast with many a foe. From the shores of Lyme-Old Lyme to the hills of Litchfield, it is feared by students and parents alike. Its name has sent many a high school senior running from the deluge that it brings, which, the Lymers tell me, rivals the terrible tidal wave of tourists that roll in during July and August.

In Stonington, they call it "The Senior Project." In Westerly, they call it "The Senior Project." In New London, they call it "The Senior Project."
And at Wheeler, we also happen to call it "The Senior Project."

Go figure.

But what exactly is this so-called beastie of which I speak? "The Senior Project" is a year-long endeavor, begun by most students at the end of their junior year. Students choose to complete the project in a selected field of study under the guidance of a community mentor who is a professional in that field. At some schools, the project is optional. At many schools, however, including Wheeler, the project is a requirement for graduation.

At Wheeler, the project is broken into four primary components: a minimum of fifteen hours of field work (though more are preferred) completed in the, well, field; a 5-7 page research paper related to your work; and a detailed portfolio, with at least fifteen pages worth of journaling (once again, more are preferred) documenting the entire process. The culminating component of the project is a fifteen minute presentation on the experience.

The requirements for the project really aren’t too demanding. Finding a mentor, coordinating fieldwork opportunities, remembering to journal, and finding time between doing college applications, school work, sports, eating, possibly sleeping, etc., to fit it all in, make it demanding.

Nevertheless, I’m a firm believer in the senior project. School has given me the tools to succeed. Working and interning in the professional world, though, has given me the context to pull these tools out of the toolbox and put them to good use. Senior project is one large, and highly thorough, mandatory internship. It’s been reminding me why I need better time management skills. It’s allowed me to do some serious networking. And it’s opened me up to opportunities that I wouldn’t have had access to otherwise.

I think that that’s the best part of senior project – the fact that it gives you a valid excuse to do really cool stuff. I have friends who are working in professional science labs and with non-profit organizations. I have other friends doing piano composition, graphic design, silk screen printing, interior design, some combination of all of the above, etc. Last year, one of my best friends built a fully functioning robot for his senior project.

I told him that I wouldn’t be impressed with his project unless his robot could repair broken starships and deliver plans for building evil battleships to interstellar galactic alliances. (You’re welcome, Star Wars fans.)

I don’t quite know if he got it.

And as for me? I’m currently having a blast working with State Archaeologist Nick Bellantoni and with multiple local historical societies to explore all that a career in public history has to offer. So plenty of research, but no robots for me.

Or at least none that I know of…