The Dream Team by Emma

The Dream Team by Emma - December 2017 Scholarship Essay

School projects are among the most revered and feared of the educational system. Who will you work with? Will they be competent? You have to speak in front of the class. That is certainly not ideal. But I have an almost foolproof strategy for conquering the school project, in teams or on your own. The key word: resources.

Humans, historically, do not like to work alone. The first step in my 3-step process to successfully completing a project is to find some collaborators. In some cases, your collaborators are assigned to you, especially at the high school level, but that does not mean you are confined to your group. Talk to people knowledgeable on the content of the project; ask for help proofreading and fact checking; get a friend to bring you coffee during crunch time. People are often your most valuable resource in a project.

The next step: strong research. Mine for resources, keep track of what you use, and cite the sources. The world is full of knowledge, use it. A few very strong sources is infinitely superior to ten weak ones, so take the time to find the information that will be most useful to you. It will help the strength of your project overall.

The third and final piece to this puzzle, do not settle for anything less than you are satisfied with. If you present a project that you are not proud of or did not try hard on, that translates poorly to those you are presenting it to, and the judging party. You do not have to like the topic to be proud of the result; do your best work, always, and revel in that fact.

In conclusion, resources are the secret to a successful project. At every level, make sure your project is strong and something you can be proud of. That is the real secret to academic success.