Blog Post #2

 I personally really enjoyed working on the Change Makers project with my group. I believe it was one of the more meaningful assignments that we have had to do for this class. Like always I was at first worried and anxious about presenting and speaking to a large group of people but the past assignment presentations of this class made me more comfortable. Doing research for this presentation made me realize this project was a lot more important than I had originally thought and really taught me a lot. I think everyone learned a lot about the people they chose and it gave us a chance to learn more about individuals who influenced and helped development in specific time periods. As I was already expecting due to past projects the communication among my classmates was great and working together again only strengthened our teamwork and communication skills. Learning how people from the past and present have made such impacts for so many different things in so many different ways was amazing. 

I really enjoyed being able to see how every group went about their presentations and the people they chose and why. everyone did their research really well and put the information together beautifully, I enjoyed how different everyone's slides were. I also liked picking up on the way everyone presented and spoke differently, it helped me become more confidence in my own presentation and learn. The differences between presentations made the project as a whole so interesting and helped us all learn things I'm sure not many of us knew. I personally learned a lot about John Mitchell and what he had done for the workers union and what still is something that helps working people today. Doing research for him was a little difficult at first because there have been multiple John Mitchell's in history so I had to really read and understand who I was writing about. I am very happy with what I learned and I've grown grateful for the change maker I chose and what he has done for the workers union but also for everyone else's change makers who have changed the world in so many different ways. It was very clear everyone cared a lot about who they were writing about and speaking about their accomplishments. 

The first group to present worked with change makers from earlier time periods. They focused really well on people in American history who really shaped the world we know today and made significant changes. Even though I thought I was familiar with most of the names I was hearing I was still surprised to learn to much, their close attention to detail and information they shared really taught me a lot about these people and why their impact was so important then as they are now. I started to pick up on the real sacrifices that had been made and how good leadership made these people real change makers, and in a way inspired me to be that way myself. Its thanks to most of these people that we live in the world we do today and we owe them and their hard work a lot. Their presentation was great and you can tell they work together very well, their organization, public speaking and presentation skills made their presentation very enjoyable. 

My group was the second group to present. I was really nervous but seeing how well the first group did helped me relax and try my best. Our group was covering later centuries of change makers, the twentieth century. This period of time had such amazing choices to choose from and I am very satisfied and proud with the people we all chose for our presentation. Everyone's choices range from leaders in politics, activists, engineers and many public figures. Many people stood out in my project but I feel that everyone did so well it would be unfair to just point one out. Everyone was so organized and well put together. The conversations about the project were always ongoing in our group chats and a question or concern never went unanswered. Learning more about these figures in history and their impacts was amazing and seeing my classmates hard work show off in our presentation was my favorite part of working together. We all worked together to help each other and make sure that everything was done well with time. I think a big part of working with people is understanding that everyone has different schedules and some may fall behind or be confused but my group stayed organized and informed constantly. everyone was well prepared and even though we were all a little anxious to speak publicly I know we were all very satisfied and proud with our project in the end. 

The last group to present focused on the more modern end of change makers and events that were happening in modern day. I was more familiar and informed on a lot of what was brought up in their presentation which made it all the more interesting. understanding topics that are being brought up on a personal level is always so interesting because its things most of us have lived through and know a lot about. Things like modernized technology, active social movements, and activists and leaders of the modern day were brought up. I really enjoyed understanding what was being talked about personally and knowing how it all connects and affects our daily lives and shape the society we actively live in. This final presentation really put into perspective that change is always happening, things are always changing its never just something of the past, we are always advancing in different ways and making changes to the world and the people making them are just as important. 

In the end I really enjoyed this group project, I learned so much more than I was expecting to learn. Even though I have already worked with my group before I feel like out teamwork and communication has only grown since working on this project together. Learning to communicate with my classmates and building a well made PowerPoint and helping each other is always the highlight of these projects for me. I became a lot more greatful for the change makers who have made the world what is it and how thanks to them we have a lot of things we now take for granted sometimes. I also now realize that its important to keep making change and growing along with the world around you for the better. It only takes one person to make a change, being a leader and making change for the better of the world and the people in it will never be something of the past, its happening around us constantly.