Name _Katrina Hughes_________________ Project Start Date

_4/24/2017__________

Title of Project ____A Life Sentence______________ Project Completion Date

_4/24/2017_________

1. In 40 words or more describe your paper and your project. Also describe how
your paper and your project are connected.
A Life Sentence brings awareness to citizens regarding the issue of prison
overcrowding. My research paper draws attention to the inhumane conditions that
prisoners are forced to deal with in prison. It also describes the harsh sentences
that inmates serve for non-violent offenses. For my project, I facilitated an
informational presentation for the public, to bring awareness to the issue of
overcrowding in our prisons. I invited special guest, MPO, Jim McElligott, with the
Virginia Beach Police department, to come in and share his experiences with prison
overcrowding. I also facilitated an online game to reinforce what had been
discussed and learned during the presentation.

2. In at least 40 words explain how the project challenged you. How was this a
stretch for you?
This project was a challenge because it forced me to coordinate a professional
social function to bring awareness to a cause that I felt passionate about. I typically
procrastinate and let things happen as they will. This project required me to reserve
a room in advance, coordinate with a special guest, invite guests, order food and
create and facilitate a presentation. Prior to this project, I had never planned a
professional, social function.

3. List and then describe 5-8 fundamental ideas/concepts/skills of your project,

which you learned/enhanced during your project. Please use a table format as
shown in the example below.
Plan a social event: To complete my project, I had to learn how to plan a social
event, which including answering the questions: who, what, when, where and how
and creating a plan to make it happen.
Reserve a room: I had to reserve a room for the presentation, I had to learn who to
call and what was involved in securing a location for my event.
Inviting a guest speaker: I invited an expert in the field of work to give credence
to the topic, I had to learn how to reach out and invite someone to be a guest
speaker.
Coordinate event: For my project, I had to learn how to coordinate the location,
room availability, guest speaker availability, project timeline and food order/delivery.
Advertise event: Since my project dealt with bringing awareness to an issue, I had
to learn how to send out invitations to the event and broadcast the event. I used
social media to send out invitations and learned how to use Facebook Live to
broadcast the event to a larger audience.

4. List and describe 5-8 problems/challenges/issues you encountered in your

project, and briefly describe how you solved each. Please use a table format as
shown in the example below.
Securing a room became a problem because they were booked on the day that I
had hoped to host my event. I had to change the date from when I had originally
planned.
The guest speaker had a heavy case load the month of my event and I had to work
with him and change the date to accommodate his availability.
I had a difficult time having participants commit to attending the event. I sent out
social media invitation to try to get a better count of those who would be attending.
I also made the event available on Facebook Live to accommodate those who had
challenges with making it to the event on time.
Ensuring I had ordered enough food was a challenge because I was having a difficult
time securing an accurate headcount. I ordered extra pizzas so that there would be
more than enough for everyone.
The guest speaker needed to be able to have his presentation available for the
event and was not sure what was available within the room. I reached out to my
contact at TCC and ensured that the guest speaker would be able to use a laptop
and present his presentation in the room.

5. Outline the process hours spent in completing the project. You may copy/paste
your time log here.
(attatched)
6. List materials used.
- Computer/flash drive
- Room at TCC
- Power Point presentation
- Facebook Live
- Online game (kahoot.it)
- Pizza/Drinks
- Snack prize for game winner
7. List all people who helped you on the project and briefly describe the help given.
Use the table format shown in the example below.
Jim McElligott, Guest Speaker for project
Gina Hughes, Recorded Facebook Live event
Chris Cartwright, assisted in reserving the room at TCC
Mr. Brown, Project Consultant, helped guide my project direction and give a lending
hand when needed
8. How does your completed project compare to the picture you had in mind when
you started the project?
It lines up with the picture I had in mind when I started the project.
9. If given the opportunity, what would you do differently now that you speak from
experience?
I would procrastinate less and be more pro-active.
10. Beyond the project itself, what did you learn about yourself?
I can do anything that I set out to accomplish
11. What grade would you give yourself on the project? Justify the evaluation of
your grade in at least 25 words.
Grade: _____90%_______

Justification: I believe that I had a very challenging topic and project. I did not have
any experience in coordinating a social event and bringing attention to an issue that
impacts Americans. I feel that I accomplished the objectives of this project and
successfully raised awareness for this cause while also learning valuable life lessons
and study skills along the way.