The Senior Project, aka Your Very Last Assignment

By Jon_Skindzier

November 17, 2009

Some of you already know about the senior project with which you'll eventually have to justify your entire existence (well, your high school existence, anyway).

Others are all "Senior whatjects? SparkNotes, you are so confusing!"

But no, we're not. It's just that only some students are required to do these choose-your-own-adventure independent projects.

"Follow-up question, SparkNotes," you may add. "Do you have a helpful map to illustrate who must complete these dreaded senior projects?"

Of course we do, and here it is.

Senior projects are a lot of work, and are a big deal, but they are also more manageable than they might seem. Most likely, you'll have to do the following four things to complete your senior project:

The Research Paper
To make this part of the project seem less daunting, here are a few terms—from the actual Senior Project Web site—explaining what a research paper gauges: "knowledge acquisition, information/media literacy, credibility and variety of sources (…) and 21st Century technology skills." Since you have learned at least one thing while in high school, are able to read, won't just make up all your sources, and are good enough with an Internet Machine to be reading this, congratulations! You're halfway done with the research paper.

The Portfolio
This really just means that you'll document what you do, making it clear that you didn't just scrawl your presentation notes on a napkin during the drive over. Again, this is not hard. Don't drop a melty candy bar into your portfolio, and don't lose it down a storm drain. You will be fine.

The Presentation
This is the part about which many kids go quietly insane. It isn't hard to see why: If you ask people what they fear most, nobody says "snakes" or "thermonuclear war" or "this terrifying gigantic hornet." No, everyone says public speaking.

So if you're worried about the presentation, you're not alone. These judges see will see dozens of presentations by utterly mortified students who would obviously rather be anywhere else. So just prepare well, take deep breaths, speak clearly, and imagine the audience, or whoever else you want to imagine, naked, and you'll get through this part.

The Project Itself
This is the fun part: the Thing That You Do. Whether you're supposed to or not, it's usually the idea you'll start with (probably by asking, "Hmm, what is the most ridiculous, fun, challenging, or easy thing that I can possibly come up with?") You can almost literally do whatever you want, if you pitch it the right way and manage to get it accepted. You can easily find lists out there of what other kids have done, so just start by trying to balance being impressive and genuinely having fun.

But if you're really stuck for an idea, how about taking actual pictures of the earth from space? If there's one surefire way to astonish people, it's by making sure your presentation contains the words, "Why yes, I sent something up to the stratosphere." The only downside is the comparative effect this has on the poor guy who goes after you.