I’m most proud of sticking with PLTW for three years during which I learned a lot about engineering and myself. PLTW provided a unique experience to see firsthand what engineering is like as a career. Through talks with people working in the industry, I learned that being an engineer is not for me. I think that exploring different careers is an invaluable experience.
Now to all incoming PLTW and Academy seniors. Because the class is two periods long, it might seem like you have a lot of time to work but in reality, time goes by really fast. It felt like our capstone project went by incredibly quickly. The biggest piece of advice I can give is to make sure to pick a capstone project that you are really passionate about. I liked the project that I was working on but if I didn’t, it would have been really hard to make any progress. Another piece of advice for the capstone project, make sure to pick your group wisely. After being with your classmates for years, you know which ones work and which ones don’t. You also know roughly the quality of the work. I would recommend picking your capstone group based on that rather than being with your friends.