SENIOR PROJECT SELF-EVALUATION

Directions: Utilize this worksheet to help evaluate yourself and your project. Be as complete
and descriptive as possible. This self-evaluation should give the scoring team and your teacher a
clear picture of what you accomplished in your project.

Name - Zachary Phillips ​Project Start Date​ – January 30, 2019

Title of Project​ - Level Up: Gaming Tournament and Q&A ​Project Completion Date​ - April 7, 2019

1. In ​40 words or more describe who your project benefited and how. In other words, what was the
impact of your project? Be specific.
My project benefited teenagers and adolescents in the community. The project was aimed to inform those
who attended the event about the benefits and detriments of video games and how playing video games
can affect the minds of teenagers and adolescents. It also served as an open discussion towards the end in
which the panel members (students, teachers, and parents familiar with video games) were able to openly
interact with the people in the audience about where they saw video games’ role in the future and how
video games are evolving in society.

2. In ​at least 40 words explain how the project challenged you. How was this a stretch for you? Be
honest. If it was not really a stretch for you, explain why you chose not to take the opportunity to
challenge yourself.
This project was challenging primarily in the communication aspect. From the outset, I had a grand vision
in my head of how the event would play out and how it would be run. The actual
organization/conceptualization was not a great issue, but it was the communication that demanded
constant attention. As anyone who helped with my project can attest, I had struggled to find an expert
to sit on my panel since day one, and it was truly a challenge to effectively communicate with several
groups/organizations/individuals to find an expert. It was particularly challenging because I was not
especially comfortable with reaching out to complete strangers via any method of communication.

3. List and ​then describe ​5-8 fundamental ideas/concepts/skills of your project, which you
learned/enhanced during your project. If you cannot think of 5-8, just list and describe what you
can.
a. Event Logistics
i. I learned how to organize and run a small tournament-style event. This included
setting up brackets, a point/ticket system, and event itineraries.
b. Mass Communication
i. I learned how to effectively send out emails to various prospective panelists. This
included several email chains between myself and CHKD, the Department of
Psychology at ODU, the gaming teacher at the ATC, and two schools I thought
of as prospective locations.
c. IT Set Up
i. I learned how to troubleshoot and work around several various IT problems
encountered before and during the project. These included using wifi hotspots to
 briefly counteract ID issues with the school’s wifi directory and connecting and
using different projectors that favored an RCA cable connection over an HDMI
input.
d. Public Presentation
i. I enhanced my ability to deliver a presentation in front of an audience consisting
of friends, family, acquaintances, and complete strangers.
e. Advertising
i. I enhanced my public advertising skills for my project by visiting several
classrooms to speak and reaching out to the ATC to spread the word about my
event.

4. List ​and describe ​4-8 problems/obstacles/issues you encountered in your project, and briefly
describe how you solved each. If you cannot think of 4-8, just list and describe what you can. If
you did not solve the problem, then tell why.
a. Expert Communication
i. I had trouble finding an expert with sufficient knowledge to fill a panel seat at my
event. Eventually, I reached out to Dr. Godfrey (my ninth grade english teacher)
who had studied a similar topic as his doctoral thesis. When he was unable to
attend due to a scheduling conflict, I decided to replace the expert seat with
another teacher spot that would be filled by Mr. Pratt (my ninth grade World
History teacher) who had grown up playing video games.
b. Wifi Connection
i. When I initially attempted to connect my gaming console to one of the
ViewSonic boards, the game would not play due to a lack of internet connection.
Because I had certain games downloaded, I needed to use a wifi hotspot to
bypass the School Wifi blocker and then I could switch to an offline mode once I
was successfully logged in.
c. RCA Cable Connection
i. I found that I needed to use two different types of projectors/boards for the
various consoles used at the event. The older consoles required an RCA cable
connection, so I had to scavenge to find older model projectors that suited this
connection type. However, the newer consoles used an HDMI exclusive
connection, so I was forced to use the only three boards in the school capable of
supporting such a connection (luckily this was the right amount for the number of
consoles that needed this connection).
d. Venue Selection
i. The first problem I encountered with my project was successfully selecting a
venue to host it at. I originally intended to use a room at the Great Neck Rec
Center that could be rented out for parties or events, but this required actual
rental payments. I then decided to pursue SeaTack Elementary and Great Neck
Middle School, but after I was rejected from Great Neck I was informed that First
Colonial would be available and, because of the demanding technical aspects of
my project, I decided to host at FC (despite being approved to host at SeaTack)

5. List ​all​ people who helped you on the project and ​briefly describe​ the help given.
a. Mr. Butler: acted as project consultant and helped troubleshoot technical aspects of the
project (also served as a panelist)
b. Mr. Pratt: Last minute panel addition (also allowed me to advertise in his 4B Class)
 c. Mr. Spruill: allowed me to advertise in his 4A class
d. Mrs. Duncan: allowed me to advertise in her 4A class
e. Ethan Connell: helped with project set up and event running (generously donated hi wifi
hotspot)
f. Seth Jarvis: helped with project set up and event running
g. Charlie Tamayo: helped with project set up and event running
h. Ian Baumer: Panelist who also helped with project set up and event running
i. Sam Zelenka: helped with project set up and event running
j. Taylor DeJesus: helped with project set up and event running
k. Sean Borden: helped with project set up and event running
l. Jacob Phillips: Panelist who also helped with project set up and event running
m. My Parents: helped with project set up and event running
n. Mrs. V: Helped edit and review emails and other official documents
o. My Parents: Helped with purchasing materials, setting up the event, and everything in
between
p. Wyatt Voshall: Leant his Nintendo Switch and helped run the Smash Bros. room

6. How does your completed project compare to the picture you had in mind when you started the
project? ​Explain the reason behind any changes from your proposal.
I would like to think that my finished project didn’t stray too far from my original idea for the event.
There are many minor details that ended up being changed to make the event more plausible and
executable in the timeframe, but it mostly remained the same. One way that it changed was the venue.
Originally, I wanted to host my event somewhere off site such as another school or a rentable room at
a rec-center. This was changed due in large part to the opening of FC as a venue choice. Because my
project was so technically demanding, it made sense to host it at FC where I knew how to operate
most of the boards and electrical connections. I also changed the tournament format from being a
bracket competition on one game to a ticket system across several games. This allowed for better
diversity of content exhibited as well as allowed for the representation of various interests in gaming.
I also changed my panel set up from consisting of local experts to having teachers, students, and
parents from FC. This allowed for a more open and honest community discussion rather than a formal
lecture style presentation.

7. If given the opportunity, explain what you would have done differently now that you speak from
experience?
Given that hindsight is 20/20, I would have abandoned the search for an expert long before the project.
My self-proclaimed “expert hunt” took up a majority of my time and ended up being largely useless
considering I didn’t have an expert on the final panel. Even though the final product turned out better
without an expert on the panel, it still took up vital time I could have utilized troubleshooting, testing,
or completing other necessary work for the project.
 8. Beyond the project itself, what did you learn about yourself? What did you get out of the
experience in terms of personal growth?
I learned that I was much better at communicating than I originally believed. Throughout my expert
search and my project in general I learned that I could write much better emails than before as well as
actually communicate and speak to random strangers more calmly and effectively than I was able to when
I first began in the academy. I can most likely attribute my calmer, smoother presentation skills to
practicing for several presentations throughout this project.

9. Reflecting on the total amount of time and effort that you put into this opportunity, and reflecting
on the overall quality of the final product, what grade would you give yourself on the project? ​Be
honest with yourself! Justify ​the evaluation of your grade in ​at least 25 words​.
Grade: 93 (A)

Justification: ​I would give myself a 92 or 93. I felt that I kept on top of any issues that sprung up with the
project and was able to stay fluid enough to “roll with the punches”. With the feedback from the project, I
feel confident that my event properly balanced entertainment and education (what I aimed to achieve). I
do feel that having to cut down on some of the aspects (such as the expert on the panel) meant that the
actual educational portion wasn’t as academically valuable, but still made for an interesting and
thoughtful discussion