Blog 14: Independent Component 1

LITERAL

(a) Write: “I, Edwin Giovanni Davila, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.”

(b) Cite your source regarding who or what article or book helped you complete the independent component. 
I completed my independent component along side with my mentor.

(c) Update your hours in your Senior Project Hours link. Make sure it is clearly labeled with hours for individual sessions as well as total hours.

(d) Explain what you completed.

For my independent component I successfully organized and executed a fundraiser to help the NAMI organization promote stigma awareness. In addition to operating the fundraiser I became more informed by doing various hours of research which included listening, reading, and attending testimonials of those directly affected by a mental illness. Then I also volunteered at two NAMI Walks in Affiliation with the East San Gabriel Valley Branch to inform others on mental stigmas and their effect on others.

INTERPRETIVE

Defend your work and explain its significance to your project and how it demonstrates 30 hours of work.   Provide evidence (photos, transcript, art work, videos, etc) of the 30 hours of work.  
I believe that this project allowed me to go outside the box and do something that could really make an impact. Looking back to see all of the work that I have done to make a difference is very impacting not only to me but to others as well. Overall this component allowed me to go places I have never gone before and opened my eyes to see what some of the patients would go through before arriving at the psychiatric facility. Below are pictures of the two NAMI Walks that I was apart of beginning with the Huntington beach walk and ending with the Los Angeles walk.

APPLIED

How did the component help you understand the foundation of your topic better?  Please include specific examples to illustrate this.

This component has allowed me to further understand how a mental illness has affect on not only the person who inhabits it, but, also the people in their lives. Listening to the testimonial of a 14 year old girl named Belle who shared that she had become clinically depressed due to being sexually abused at the age of 8, really opened my eyes and helped me finally understand that the patients I work with are not just patients, but they are someones brother, sister, or even parent. I no longer see the patients as “patients” I see them as individuals who are fighting their way through a life changing experience.