SENIOR PROJECT SELF-EVALUATION

Directions: Utilize this worksheet to help evaluate yourself and your project. Be as complete and
descriptive as possible. This self-evaluation should give the scoring team and your teacher a clear
picture of what you accomplished in your project.

Name - Charles Tamayo Project Start Date – January 10, 2019

Title of Project - Sex Trafficking in Our Community Project Completion Date - February 23, 2019

1. In 40 words or more describe who your project benefited and how. In other words, what was the
impact of your project? Be specific.

The attendees of my project benefited because many of them knew very little information about human
trafficking. My friends came up to me afterwards and admitted to me that they did not realize how bad of
an issue human trafficking was here in Hampton Roads. They thought it was just a big city problem, like
Washington D.C., Los Angeles, or New York City. The insight provided by the FBI Special Agent at my
project really left an impact on my attendees on how significant the issue is in our community and how it
compared to other communities around the country. My attendees have also told me that they now
recognize how dire of a situation the victims are in and how essential it is for them to recieve help that they
cannot always grasp. There was one lady at my project who I had personally never met or communicated
before that came from the Samaritan House as a victim, and she told me afterwards that she appreciated
how I had organized this project to talk about an issue that isn’t talked about, but is very severe. I can say
that Michael Juliano benefited greatly from my project as an unintended consequence. While he learned a
lot of information about human trafficking, he also realized that the venue that I used was actually free. He
then decided to use the same venue I used for his own Senior Project.

2. In at least 40 words explain how the project challenged you. How was this a stretch for you? Be
honest. If it was not really a stretch for you, explain why you chose not to take the opportunity to
challenge yourself.

One of the biggest challenges that I faced for my project was securing speakers for my event. Without
speakers, my event definitely would not be able to happen, so it was critical that I got not just speakers, but
really good speakers if I wanted a good project. I needed to look up various experts that I believed would
be good speakers to participate in my event, which took a considerable amount of time and consideration.
A lot of the people I contacted to be speakers had emergencies and events that popped up sometimes at the
last minute, which left me scrambling to make sure I had speakers, even up until the last minute. I should
note that I had been in contact with many of my potential speakers a month before the event, so it wasn’t
procrastination that was the source of my scrambling. My patience, mental well-being (ability to remain
calm), and anxiety was definitely put under a significant amount of pressure and stress as a result of that.
As a result of many of my speakers being confirmed the night before, many of the questions I asked to
guide the conversation of the event I formed either the night before or during the panel as the discussion
flowed.

3. List and then describe 5-8 fundamental ideas/concepts/skills of your project, which you
learned/enhanced during your project. If you cannot think of 5-8, just list and describe what you
can.
Event planning - I have never planed any sort of event before, so I first needed to find a place where I
could hold my project, and if possible, a place that would do it for free. I ended up finding out that the
Virginia Beach Volunteer Rescue Squad has two stations with conference halls that are available for free.
I also needed to plan dates with potential speakers to be a part of my panel. I also had never attempted to
schedule speakers before, so trying to see if particular dates fell within the schedules of various
professionals was a challenge because not everyone I contacted was able to come.
Pamphlet Design - I have never designed anything graphically or manually before, and I didn’t know where
or how to start. When Mrs. Disher requested a digital copy of my flyer so she could use it to announce that
my project was a Master Class, that’s when I knew I needed to get it perfect. Given the nature of my topic,
it was a challenge to design a flyer that both encouraged people to come out but took into account the
serious nature of my topic.
Communication - Since I’ve been somewhat introverted, I haven’t always been the most outgoing or to go
out and take the initiative, but I was able to develop this skill a lot more because I needed to reach out to
potential speakers and to my venue.
Speaking - I’ve been on the Debate Team for four years, so being able to speak was a skill that I was
definitely able to put to use during my panel discussion. I was further able to develop this skill because I
needed to make sure I spoke clearly and not too fast, which is a problem I have sometimes due to how I
have to debate during rounds. It definitely was a bit of a challenge early on to control the speed of my
speech, but as the panel progressed it got better, partially because I got calmer.
Self Advocacy - In order to have a successful project, I needed to be fully immersed in my topic. My
research into my topic made me care even more about human trafficking than I had at the beginning of the
year, which is not to say that I didn’t care, it’s just that I cared a whole lot more than I thought it was
possible.

4. List and describe 4-8 problems/obstacles/issues you encountered in your project, and briefly
describe how you solved each. If you cannot think of 4-8, just list and describe what you can. If
you did not solve the problem, then tell why.

1. My speakers - Initially, a few people that I contacted to be speakers were unable to come out
to my event, so I had to look for other speakers. Some of my other speakers certainly took their
time getting back to me, if they did at all, so it left me stressed out and on edge waiting for
them to get back to me, because their presence and participation was essential to my event.
Ultimately, I contacted other people or continued to reach out to my speakers and connections
until I got speakers to confirm that they will be at my event, or that they would not for whatever
their various reasons were. This was a significant obstacle for me, because it went all the way
up to the day before my event was held.
2. Pamphlet design - I needed to design flyers for two reasons; to promote my project, and so
Mrs. Disher could make my project a Master Class. While I saw some of my classmates using
bright colors and putting cartoons, drawings, and other images on their flyers, I couldn’t exactly
do that. My topic is kind of a solemn one, and definitely not a happy and cheerful one. I
needed to make sure that my flyer portrayed the correct tone for my project. With the input of
Zachary Philips, I ended up choosing a flyer that was relatively plain, but had a black and red
gradient background.
3. Photos - As a part of my Weebly and project, photos are required for project documentation.
However, a condition of the presence of ⅔ of my panel was that there was not going to be any
sort of photography, because Detective Benson and Special Agent Roese conduct undercover
work. I was worried that I wasn’t going to have any pictures as a result of it, but luckily, Mrs.
 V took a picture as I was about to start my event, so I now have one photo of my event,
compared to none.
4. Anxiety - I have always had problems with my anxiety, such as staying calm when things aren’t
going so well, or even just to try and get things done as soon as I possibly could. As I previously
mentioned, many of my speakers didn’t exactly had a solid 100% confirmation that they would
attend until the day of, so that week of my project, I had a very hard time staying calm. That
lack of calmness was an impediment my ability to think clearly and get some other much
needed work done on my project. Ultimately, I ended up calming myself that night before my
project, which I didn’t think was possible, and I didn’t have a massive panic attack during my
project. I did have a close call though when a lot of people weren’t initially at my venue for
my project, but that was later cleared up when my friend called and explained that a bunch of
them were by the fire department station, which was where they thought it was. Luckily, the
fire department station was right next door.
5. Formulating Questions - While I have been on the Debate Team for four years, I still
sometimes have a hard time when it comes to communication. Mainly it is because I’m so
used to writing everything down and just throwing out quick questions during debate rounds.
But I needed to come up questions that would really drive the conversation of the panel that
would elicit a somewhat lengthy response in comparison to the questions I would as in a three
minute crossfire in a debate round. Furthermore, many of the questions I asked I had not
previously prepared, because they needed to continue the flow of the discussion.

5. List all people who helped you on the project and briefly describe the help given.

Mr. Aaron Pratt served as my consultant throughout this past year.

Mrs. Melissa Disher allowed me to make my Senior Project an LSA Master Class, so that way I could
incentivize Juniors and Sophomores to learn about Human Trafficking while fulfilling a requirement to
graduate from the LSA.
Mrs. Van Schenck provided me feedback when I contacted each of the following professionals about being
a part of my project, and came to my event as well.
Special Agent Roese allowed me to interview him as I was preparing to write my paper, and then agreed
to be a part of my panel. He initially told me that he couldn’t be a part of my panel because of family
matters, and attempted to connect me with people of Homeland Security Investigations, but HSI never
contacted me, and he agreed last minute to be a part of my event.
Mr. William Shackleford of the Office of the Attorney General connected me to Mrs. Velazquez of the
Office of the Attorney General when he himself was unable to attend my event.
Mrs. Ebony Velazquez connected me to Detective Benson when a family emergency came up last minute
and she herself was unable to be a part of my project.
Ms. Katherine Ashford of the Samaritan House provided Detective Benson with information about
services provided for victims when she herself got sick before my project.
Detective Benson of the Virginia Beach Police Department agreed to be a part of my panel literally the day
before my event.
Mr. Nicanor Tamayo Jr. of the Virginia Beach Emergency Medical Services (and my uncle) provided me
the idea of using one of the Virginia Beach Volunteer Rescue Squad Stations as a venue of my event.
Administration Captain Dale Drescher of the Virginia Beach Volunteer Rescue Squad allowed me to
use Station 8 as the venue for my project, and also agreed to be a member of my panel.
I’d like to thank the (Legal Studies) Academy for providing me with the opportunities to both have a senior
project and the opportunities I used in preparation for my senior project.

6. How does your completed project compare to the picture you had in mind when you started the
project? Explain the reason behind any changes from your proposal.
I would say that my project turned out how I initially planned from the beginning of the school year.
considered having a supply drive as well in my neighborhood, but I ultimately could not do that, due to my
neighborhood’s policies. I did not consider that a significant factor because I never wanted to make the
focus of my project as some sort of collection drive. I knew that I wanted to have speakers who can talk
about human trafficking and teach people about how significant of an issue it is, because not even a year
ago I was completely oblivious to this particular issue. Human trafficking is not an issue that should be
ignored or overlooked, and I knew that I needed to have experts who can stress that point.

7. If given the opportunity, explain what you would have done differently now that you speak from
experience?

If I could do anything differently, I would probably have advertised my project better. While others spent
longer planning their project, I only planned for about a month, and the uncertainty that I had with my
speakers caused me to be hesitant when I was advertising my project. While I had advertised over social
media, there were quite a bit of people that said that if they had known sooner if my project was on February
23rd then they could’ve came. There was even one teacher at FC who was interested in my project topic,
but was not there because she did not see my flyer until a month after my project. That being said, I
should’ve put up more of my flyers around the school, posted on social media sooner, and gone around to
various classes to talk about my project and to promote it more. I still had a good-sized turnout at my event
though. Additionally, I should’ve emphasized the location of my project. About half of my attendees did
not realize that the Virginia Beach Volunteer Rescue Squad Station 8 was not the same building as the Fire
Station that was next to it, so when they arrived, they went to the Fire Station instead, which was at the
beginning of the street. The street curved, so when going down, you don’t initially see the Volunteer Rescue
Squad Station 8, so although that is a little thing and it didn’t affect my project too much, I should’ve still
put something on my flyer about that particular thing so it made it easier for my attendees to find my event.

8. Beyond the project itself, what did you learn about yourself? What did you get out of the experience
in terms of personal growth?

I haven’t always been the most confident person when it goes to reaching out to people I don’t know. I
always had this fear of rejection that’s prevented me from doing a lot of things, but I finally was able to
overcome it, at least partially, when I contacted my speakers and my venue. I also finally found out how
to not completely freak out. My anxiety has given my a lot of problems in the past, and I was surprised
when it didn’t become a significant problem during my project. I’m also fairly reluctant to accept help, so
it was a change for me when I needed to talk with my consultant when I needed help for coming up with
questions, both for the panel and during my professional interview. I also improved my time management,
because not only did I have to meet deadlines, I had to self create the deadlines themselves. I needed to
hold myself accountable, which I don’t normally have to do. Most importantly, I didn’t think that I would
be able to complete this project. I’ve been dreading it since 8th grade, and just knowing that I have
completed it is just massive.

9. Reflecting on the total amount of time and effort that you put into this opportunity, and reflecting
on the overall quality of the final product, what grade would you give yourself on the project? Be
honest with yourself! Justify the evaluation of your grade in at least 25 words.
Grade:
B
Justification:

I don’t quite believe that my project is quite at the level of the Sistine Chapel. I think that if anyone could
come close to that level, than it would be Lucas and the play that he wrote/directed/starred in. I do have to
say that I did work hard on each aspect of my project and I accepted as little help as I could because I
wanted to make the event truly mine, so I handled myself and planning fairly well. I did rely on my
consultant to make sure everything was perfect after I had already made the decisions and to receive
additional input. I am also fairly proud of the fact that I secured both an undercover detective and an FBI
Special Agent as speakers on my panel, and their insights were valuable to my project and to those at my
event who knew very little about human trafficking (which was a large portion of my attendees).