CAS Reflection #8

Over the course of the last couple months I have experienced a lot with my CAS project. I started out very well in the past year as I was immediately able to contact the GVAS and started planning project ideas right away. Immediately, I started working at the property at Connected Lakes and started to clean up areas filled with weeds. Over the course of a month I cleaned out several large areas filled with tumbleweed and kochia so that the space could be used for its original purposes. However, I wished to expand off of just accomplishing manual labor and adding an environmental study aspect to it. I desired to fuse together both manual labor and study so that my project had multiple areas which I could contribute to. Research would also give me ideas for future projects because I would see data about the status of the environment at Connected Lakes. This would allow me to try to alter negative aspects of biodiversity and allow Connected Lakes to become a better home for birds and a better environment for all aspects of the community. However,just as I began to establish a firm hold on the project, communication became an issue. Susie did not respond to my emails and text-messages so I had no way to know the steps to take next. This challenged me to become a better communicator and more independent and eventually I did so. I had to push my ideas while not becoming overly aggressive. Even though Susie took a while to respond to my ideas, I believe that my project will get back on track soon. I have a meeting scheduled in which I am going to plan what I can accomplish over the summer and set ideas in stone. I am excited to fully develop my project as I now know that I can be assertive and push my ideas through. I still need to make sure that I follow-up and make sure that I am on the same page with people. This will assure that things run smoother and that more can be accomplished. However, I have became a better communicator which has helped make sure that my project has gotten back on track. I hope that at this time next year, I can look back and be proud of what I have accomplished.