Redefining Success: A Case Study of the Lived Experiences of Big Picture Learning Graduates

This qualitative, phenomenological study investigated the influence of the Big Picture Learning (BPL) high school model on graduates\u27 perceptions of success and upward mobility. Traditional comprehensive high schools often narrowly define success through standardized metrics, potentially alienating students with diverse interests and learning styles. In contrast, BPL emphasizes personalized learning, real-world experiences, and student agency. This research explored how the BPL model differs from traditional education, its impact on students\u27 educational experiences, post-secondary pathways, and personal fulfillment. Using semi-structured interviews with BPL graduates, the study revealed five prominent themes: dissatisfaction with traditional education and BPL\u27s appeal, personalized and interest-based learning, development of real-world skills, the importance of relationships and community, and a redefined understanding of happiness and success. Findings indicate that BPL graduates perceive their educational experiences as profoundly influencing their upward mobility, attributing this to the cultivation of essential skills, real-world exposure through internships, and personal growth fostered by the BPL model. They often prioritize career paths aligned with their passions and a sense of purpose over traditional metrics. While some graduates felt less prepared for conventional academic rigor in college, they consistently reported an advantage in workplace readiness and practical problem-solving. This study suggests that BPL fosters a holistic view of success, intrinsically linking it to personal fulfillment, genuine contentment, and positive community impact, advocating for a broader definition of success in K-12 education

ICP-MS operation and application to agricultural wetland samples Senior Project

My role in the laboratory was diverse and the nature of my work changed over the course of my internship. My main objective was to assist Chris Paradis with his pesticide research. To investigate the effects of Imidacloprid and its associated relationships with metals on wetland ecology, mesocosm tubs were dosed and observed. To parse the effects from the various treatment groups, many parameters were recorded, and samples were collected for laboratory analysis. To collect data in the field, a YSI probe was used. Biologically and experimentally relevant measures like temperature and conductivity were recorded. Samples to analyze later on laboratory equipment were carefully transferred to vials

Databases Save Time: Turning inconsistently formatted data into digestible analytics while learning the do’s and don’ts of CS project management

This paper dives into the WWU CS Senior Project experience and provides some tips to follow for future students. First, I walk through the basic overview of the CS senior project. It will talk about how one gets a project, what the 3 basic sections of the project are and what the timeline for those sections is. Once the basic overview is covered, I will walk through my project. This includes a basic description of what it was and how it went in terms of sticking to the timeline. From there, I reflect on my own experience. I will discuss what I would change about my team’s methodology, including more clear communication and better meeting structure. The paper concludes with a discussion about the need for efficiency in working and how it is often misconstrued, and how students have an opportunity to embrace it

One more Light

A disturbed man sits down to chronicle his experiences during the final moments of his life

The Silent Zoo

A work of speculative nonfiction for the stage, The Silent Zoo brings into conversation the loosely-related fields of extinction studies and affective ecocriticism. The play explores the relationships between the contemporary mass extinction event, humans\u27 rapidly-escalating enmeshment with artificial intelligence, and grief. As the culmination of the project, the play will be performed with a live score for an audience at the New Prospect Theatre on June 12, 2025

Wy’east Wildlands Firefighting Intern

In this internship, I got the opportunity to work in a 20 man crew on a fire incident, the Burdoin Fire, in southern Washington. We worked with other contractors and federal agencies to use our best efforts to protect as many structures as possible, and minimize the acreage burned from the wildfire- started from a train spark in the Columbia river gorge. We did our best to maintain safety and professionalism in a setting where we work long, flexible hours while keeping up with our understanding of fire weather and behavior. And, keeping up with situational awareness while completing fuel reduction tasks, prescribed burn operations, and direct hotline containment throughout our 2 week assignment. This was complimented by learning a variety of techniques and tools that help in this profession, such as reading a weather kit forecast, mitigating safety risks, reading offline maps, and using our radios to communicate with other resources on the fire. Here I document what led me to choose this internship and what I was able to take from my time at western into the firefighting world. I talk about the good and the bad of wildland fire, as well as the many things I learned while I was out. Lastly, I talk about how this allows me to gain experience in real world scenarios, as well as build connections to people that have worked in the broad field of environmental science, forestry, and pyrogeography

21st-Century Syrian Composer Identity: Representation and Sustainability in Concert Music

In this work, I explore themes of 21st-Century Syrian composer identity and Syrian music by interviewing three Syrian composers: Kinan Azmeh, Angela Boutros, and Kareem Roustom. I share what I learned from them regarding genre-crossing, “uprootedness,” and the meaning of home. I also talk about the experience of my lecture recital, in which I performed a piece written by each composer. I speak on Syrian concert music representation and sustainability by diving into themes of tradition, education, and perseverance. I conclude that curiosity and compassion are required for livingness and a meaningful quality of life

Mastcam-Z multispectral database from the Perseverance rover’s traverse through the Jezero crater Margin unit (sols 0-1269)

During its first 1269 sols of exploration, NASA’s Mars-2020 Perseverance rover explored the igneous units of the Jezero crater floor, the sedimentary strata of the western Jezero fan front and top, the carbonate-bearing rocks of the crater\u27s Margin unit, and sedimentary deposits within the Neretva Vallis channel. The rover’s Mastcam-Z instrument, a pair of multispectral, stereoscopic, zoom-lens cameras, provides broadband red/green/blue (RGB), and narrowband visible to near-infrared color (VNIR, 440-1020 nm wavelength range). Here, we provide a database of Mastcam-Z spectra and multispectral image products from sols 0-1269. These include: the locations of the regions of interest (ROIs) from which the spectra were extracted; plots of spectra extracted from each observation; “enhanced color images” derived by stretching narrowband images; and “decorrelation stretch” (DCS) images that highlight the spectral diversity in left- and right-eye images. This dataset has been calibrated using Version 3 of Mastcam-Z’s radiometric calibration pipeline, which includes a dust correction and significantly improves upon the calibration of the previous dataset for sols 0-707 (Rice et al., 2024, https://doi.org/10.25710/v4p4-s268)

A Competitive Edge: How Colorblind Modes Offer a Competitive Advantage in Video Games

Video games have become more accessible within the past decade with the more widespread use of colorblind accommodations. Past research has looked into how games can become more accessible but not if those colorblind modes can be used for a competitive advantage. This research proposal looks into how this can be accomplished, along with the expected results. It\u27s predicted that colorblind modes may offer a competitive advantage for those with normal color vision