Almost There

9 days and counting. The days are passing, the boards are in the making, invitations are being passed out, and portfolios are compiled.

Weekly Report 1/3/2018 to 1/7/2018

As research showcase approaches, the primary focus of this week has been the display board and portfolio preparations. The main focus has been the way to execute the idea on paper onto the actual display board. A few months ago, we had drawn out out tentative designs for our board and the time has finally come to put the design to life. This week began with making all the labels for the various topics that would be included on the board including the topic, topic proposal, research, interviews, original work, mission statements, and quote.

The website portion has been set up since the the fall conference; however, it needs to be updated with a couple of weekly reports and assessments. The binder portfolio needs to be updated as most of the annotations did not print correctly. The binder must be updated with weekly reports and assessments as well.

The main difficulty for the last month has been to get a mentor. It has been over a week and my potential mentor has not responded so it has been difficult to decide whether or not I should move on to other doctors or keep following up. The time has run out to obtain a mentor, but getting any sufficient replies from a neurosurgeon is difficult since they are constantly busy. I will continue to be on the lookout for responses to my mentor request email. However, at this time it is best to go ahead and email other doctors that I interviews and try to get a hold of the person that responds the fastest. If that does not work the next step would be to call doctors in order to get a mentor as soon as possible. It is getting frustrating to not be able to obtain a mentor especially since everyone else has nearly obtained a mentor or have a mentor and have begun work. The next week will be focused on getting a mentor as soon as possible in order to begin mentor visits.

The original work process continues with more research on pediatric gliomas and the various treatment options associated with every type of tumor. The prototype portion has been diagramed and put on paper and the execution part remains. The brain will be made out of white air dry clay and droused in red to create a visual look of blood. The surroundings will be covered, similar to a surgery and the tools will be put in place based on the type of tumor. Research will continue for the treatment plan and the drafting of the final treatment plan will begin this week. The information on different tumors and treatment options has been gathered and now correlations must be made in order to create a final product.

Overall, the past week has been good in terms of progress with research showcase and original work; however, the mentor ordeal lies in its place. The invitations have been handed out and research showcase is next week and time is running out quick.