Final Reflection Questions

1. While writing your paper, what did you learn about the research process?
While writing my paper, I learned how to write, cite, and include in-text citations in MLA
format. During this process I also learned which sources were credible, and which were
considered not reliable. Another new concept was the limited use of to be verbs in the paper,
which really allowed me to stretch my vocabulary, and to even learn new terms. Throughout the
overall process, whenever I needed a question answered, my mentor and teachers were more than
helpful. Since I had planned on creating a new tool to use while teaching golf, the research
taught me that creating the product and being completely original would be rather difficult, as
golf has so many different training aids to choose from and use.

2. How was the research related to your mentor hours?

The research related to the mentor hours because the main focus of the research and the
paper focused on teaching professionals, which was what my mentor hours were spent doing. My
mentor for the project was a teaching professional, and the bulk of the paper was spent
researching and explaining about teaching professionals, while giving a quick dusting over of
other careers in the golf industry. The specific mentor hours were spent giving myself a taste of
the teaching profession in a group setting. Since the research was mainly about teaching
professionals and their jobs, the mentor hours were easier to complete, since I had learned the
basics of the job.

3. Summarize the mentor hours that you completed.

I spent my mentor hours with Mike Abate of the Youth Golf Foundation of NC. Mike is a
personal friend of mine and was more than helpful in allowing me to get my mentor hours
through his classes. My hours were spread out across four days, and each day was a different
group of kids. The class was held at the newly renovated Mooresville Golf Club, which has
ample practice facilities for teaching kids how to play the game. With my product being a putting
aid, the classes spent more time on the putting green each day, learning how to create a more
consistent putting stroke.

4. How did working with your mentor affect your understanding of the topic area and
/or the professional world?
Working with my mentor allowed me to understand that teaching the game of golf can be
challenging, and fun at the same time. My personal experience in teaching prior to this project
was little to none. Being able to teach in a calm, nurturing, and entertaining way really allowed
me to see the happier side of teaching kids from the age of 5 to 14, which I had thought would be
challenging, since some kids can get rather adventurous when in group settings.
 a. If you mentor was not directly related to your topic, what did you learn
about the profession that can be translated to any future professional
setting?
I learned that regardless of where you work, how you work, or with whom, the
main goal is to have fun, and enjoy what you are doing. Finding a way to have fun with
your work should allow for less stress in the workplace, and better customer reviews.
Showing the client that you enjoy what you do, and that money is nothing but an object
will allow business to flourish. Just like the great teacher Confucius said, Choose a job
you love and you will never work a day in your life.

b. If your mentor contributed to the development of the product, how were they
involved?
My mentor did not help me develop the product.

5. How did creating a product and completing the hours challenge you personally?
Creating the product and completing the hours challenged me to become productive, to
learn how to teach, and what traits work best when teaching. For me, I had not led a class as a
teacher in any circumstances, having only volunteered and helped demonstrate different aspects
of the game of golf. Until my mentor hours I had spent very little time speaking to groups of
people, while trying to instruct them on what to do, and how to do it. When creating the product
itself, with the design being almost as simple as you could get, I made sure I was still stretching
my prior skills, as I had no experience using a welding machine. To create the product, I had to
weld a tin bucket onto an already existing putter, learning how to properly weld and to use the
proper safety equipment. Both aspects of the product and hours really allowed me to grow as an
individual, and learn how to do things I had little to no prior experience doing.

6. Do you feel prepared academically and emotionally for the presentation?

I feel that I have been given more than enough information from teachers and my mentor
about the presentation and how to present it. Public Speaking has helped me become more
comfortable than I normally would when presenting and talking aloud to a group of judges or
peers. English has also helped me to go about writing a thorough Pride Paper, and understanding
the guidelines of the portfolio. There was also help from another teacher that assisted me in the
guidelines for the product approval form, leading to immediate approval of the product.
Emotionally, I have always tried to keep a positive attitude, and to always be calm. I feel that for
this presentation, I will be nervous, but I will do my best to keep on track, not overreact, and to
keep a smile on my face.
 7. How did the entire process stretch you as a learner and as an individual?
Similar to part of my response to question 5, I was stretched via my lack of teaching
experience and lack of welding experience. Being able to stand in front of a group of individuals
and tell them what to do and how to do it is one of the main responsibilities of teachers that I
have not possessed prior to this assignment. Although those around me consider me to be
outgoing, I do not spend extended amounts of time in front of groups telling them what to do. I
now know a good way of getting a point across when teaching, which is repetition and execution
of what is being taught. This allows me to continue my life as an individual with a better
understanding of how to get a point across and how to converse with people on a more
intellectual stage, regardless of age.

8. Other than time management, describe an obstacle you encountered and how you
overcame it.
An obstacle I encountered was the unpredictability of children and their actions. With
kids having the ability to get excited over the smallest action, it may become difficult for them to
stand outside for 2 hours and just hear someone talk. With this, I tried to keep everything in the
lesson plan entertaining and time consuming. Another problem with the students from the classes
was that sometimes conflict arises, and being able to quickly resolve the problem is beneficial.
Weather was the main obstacle, as golf, being an outside sport, requires a minimum of decent
weather. This would have been a much larger obstacle had the weather not cooperated, but I was
very lucky in the timing of my mentor hours to weather conditions.

9. What life skills did you acquire and how will they help you in the future?
With this project, I have learned how to be open, and how to present myself in an
authoritative way. Prior to this project, I spent most of my time around groups of people not
talking, and keeping to myself. When you are then thrust into the spotlight, having control over a
group of children, you have to change your personality very quickly. The group setting really
tests patience, which was another aspect of the job that I would have to adapt to, since I am
always wanting to do something, on time, and get to the point immediately. Whereas in this
setting, you must spend time explaining a concept, put it into detail, give examples, and stay
patient with the kids who struggle more than others.

10. If you had to go back and do parts of the project again, what would you do
differently?
Overall I feel very positive about the project, my choice of topic, the mentor hours, and
especially the product. This makes it difficult to think of anything that I would have done
differently. However, if there were to be one thing I would want to have changed, I would have
liked to include adults in the use of the product instead of just children. Since the putter used for
the creation of the product is a full sized adult putter, not all kids from the classes were able to
use the product, so I felt limited in the amount of use I got out of the putter.

11. Based on the entire Pride Project experience, do you plan to pursue this field as a
career or college area of study? If so, why? If not, why? Please be specific.
After this experience, research, product development, and mentor hours, I would be more
than happy to pursue this field in the future. In the presentation, I elaborate on this via my
explanation of colleges that have Professional Golf Management as a major, and that I plan to
attend NC State University and pursue this major beginning in the Fall 2017 semester. With
PGM being such a large and broad selection of jobs, I could find that something other than being
a teaching professional would be a better career path. Since learning of the PGM major, I knew I
wanted to attend a college that had the coursework. To summarize the big picture of why I will
continue through college for a golf career, all I can say is that since I was a young boy, I have
played golf, practiced, and learned about the game. Such a large amount of my life has been
dedicated to perfecting the imperfect game, that I would absolutely love having the opportunity
to work in the golf industry.