Introduction to my Journal

Dear Dwayne,

Yes. Dwayne. Let me explain. When some people write in a diary or journal, they begin each entry with "Dear Diary" or "Dear Journal." I am different, so I am writing to Dwayne, my culminating project journal. But right now, I'm writing to you so you're not confused later. The combination of "diary" and "Dwayne" is alliteration. Dwayne is also my favorite person in the movie "Little Miss Sunshine." No, that has nothing to do with the project.

Why name your journal at all, you ask? I will tell you. I have read the guide to the culminating project word for word, cover to cover (taking note of the many grammatical errors), and it is clearly stated that it is vital that this project b personal and meaningful to the student. Writing is a huge part of my life, and I love it, which is why my project is centered around poetry. Because keeping a journal is required, I'm going to make this personal to me, which is why I've named my journal. Honestly, how many people name their journals?

Quite frankly, writing in a journal (especially for a school assignment) can be rather dull, so I will be personalizing each entry, because it is important for me to be interested in what I'm doing. Also, I am an over-achiever, I admit. Because of that disability, if you will, I will be using this as a real journal that any other 17/18-year old girl would use. However, everything will be connected to the project at hand. I assure you, this will be unlike any other journal you've read before.

Although I'm writing this before our first culminating project meeting senior year, I'm beginning to think that the over-all point of this project is pointless. We will be asked to demonstrate presentation, organizational, time-management, and research skills. For IB students, we've all done that - multiple times, in fact. For that reason, this project is pretty useless for anyone with experience in the IB program.

Having that said, this project appears to be little more than one of time-management. How will I have time to complete all of my school work, apply for college and scholarships, participate in extra-curricular activities, and complete this project? Forget about free time. The secret lies in time-management and a whole lot of discipline. That is what I'll be learning most of all. I appreciate that IB students can use past projects or essays such as the extended essay as part of his project, but they're not going to be learning anything else. It's only proving my point that IB students have the skills necessary to complete this project with their hands tied behind their back.

In the future, I encourage the people in charge of this whole project to re-think who should be required to complete this project, because IB came first, and we already learned what we needed to learn in order to complete this project. Most likely, you will find that IB students will quietly complete this project while it will be the non-IB students who won't complete this without a fight. Please do the correct IB thing and look at all sides of the argument. IB students don't need this. Anyway, have fun reading my journal.