The Capstone is scary..

 Looking at the capstone projects of former students, they are amazing. But they also make me realize I really have no idea what I want to do for mine! I’m pretty comfortable with presenting things in front of people, it’s just pinning down an idea that I’m struggling with. Maybe because I don’t fully know what I want my career to look like, I don’t know what to focus on. Some of the ideas I’ve had so far:

-looking at what orgs exist that focus on women empowerment and the access youth have to it

-exploring the intersectionality of gender, race and class and how they are present within youth orgs

-looking at who is accessing youth orgs and the why for the youth that aren’t (barriers for access and how to remove them) 

There’s definitely more floating around in my head but those are the ones that come forward. Any advice or assistance in direction is appreciated!

Research Research Research

After watching the three videos, I feel like I'm most aligned between Constructivist and Critical. I think it depends on the type of research I'm conducting as well as the subject matter. I would say I might lean a little more towards Critical since I usually am thinking about how it can benefit the whole or what can be better. I do agree with Constructivist through because what would be called a social construct by a Constructivist are literally mutually agreed upon behaviors or expectations for a group. There are even subtle things that are mutually agreed upon in society such as a bird being called a bird or that we drive on a certain side of the road. A Criticalist could take those social constructs that are harmful or no longer valid to the way society progressed and run with it. They would take those beliefs and say "Okay but how can we change this to benefit the people it's focused on?" 

They each have their faults though because not everything is constructed solely by society. Not everything has to change or is a social justice issue either. I think that's why there are the different lenses but I also think it's unfair to think that we align with ONLY one. Thinking about a question that I would genuinely want the answer to, the question the comes to mind is Why do people allow their biases to completely blind them? A Post-Positivist would take the question and look at regional data or deploy a questionnaire to gather quantitative data points. A Constructivist would look at the region the person came from, what stereotypes are told generation to generation and what experiences they may have had to reinforce those ideas. A Criticalist maybe wouldn't try to figure out why but might try to change their thinking all together.