Kathryn Hunter

18 April 2012

Mrs. Corbett

AP Literature

Senior Project Speech

How many of you have the luxury of food on your dinner table every night and have a

comfortable bed to sleep in? Well, most Americans assume that everyone is granted with these

pleasures, when unfortunately it is far from that. Based on a study done by the chair person for

Homelessness in Atlanta, there are around 24,000-34,000 homeless people currently residing in

the city we all call home. I chose my senior project topic based on my understanding of the

problem and my motivation to make an impact. Through the process of obtaining the product I

wanted, I held a tennis tournament and camp in my neighborhood, raising profits and collecting

donations, all to be given to Must Ministries in my local area.

At the beginning of this process when deciding on who my project facilitator should be, I

thought of someone I could rely on and who would actually contribute to what I would need

throughout my process. I then thought about someone who knows basic things about tennis and

organization skills that could help me plan my camp. After long, hard thought about whom to

choose, I decided my tennis coach, Mr. Jason Hubbard, would be the best fit. Not only does he

play and coach the sport, he is a teacher and would know how to help plan and organize my

event.

Due to my facilitators help throughout my project, the steps I followed to achieve my

product were very simple and were completed in an organized manner. We would meet on a

daily basis at tennis practice or in the classroom to discuss my progress and what I needed help

or guidance with. Whenever we did not have time to thoroughly talk at practice, I knew I could

go to talk to him at school and have his full attention. The first real step to my project, after

planning everything with my facilitator, was to create and pass out flyers around my

neighborhood. I live in a largely tennis-based community so I knew that if people saw the words

tennis and donations, they would be quick to want to respond. Next I planned and organized the

whole event, ordering t-shirts, buying prizes for the winners, planning out what drills and games

to play with the participants and setting up an area for donations of food and money. Much of my

own money was spent planning, but I knew that all of the donations I was about to receive would

pay off when the camp was over. On the day of the event, I spent ten hours at the tennis courts,

from setting up in the morning to cleaning up at night, and I loved every second of it. In the

morning I had fun drills and skill building for the kids and in the afternoon I organized and

planned an adult round robin tournament for more than 15 people. As stressful as it was, my

facilitator was there for me for a majority of the day and I was also getting much satisfaction by

watching the donations table fill higher and higher with non perishable goods. This project was

definitely something I enjoyed doing regardless of all the challenges I faced.

In order to accomplish great things in life, one must learn to overcome the hardships to

reach his destination. Throughout my project, there were definitely obstacles I had to face but in

the end, I do feel it only made me stronger. Towards the start of my project after I first passed

out my first set of flyers, no one was responding to me about wanting to sign up. At first, I was

confused and almost heartbroken that I had put so much effort into something that people did not

even want to participate in. But after much thought and realization, I figured out that I should not

give up after one attempt to spread the word. So I kept my head up and began to brainstorm

many other advertising possibilities I could pursue to convince people to come. I then began to

pass out more flyers to parts of the neighborhood I looked over, scheduled a meeting with our

neighborhood activities director and convinced her to send out an email to everyone in the

newsletter and I talked to the director of the tennis association to spread the word at adult tennis

camps that play out of my neighborhood. Another hardship I had to overcome was when I

ordered many t-shirts that I had put a majority of my time and effort in and then I realized it was

a fake website that was never actually going to send the shirts I had ordered. However, I did not

let one more small speed bump get me down. I researched around Canton and decided it would

be a better idea to go to the store instead of ordering them online. After designing new shirts

myself, I then drove to the new store and ordered the new shirts. Regardless of all the problems I

faced through this journey, I am grateful that with all of these difficulties there was a lesson

involved as well.

While completing this process, I knew from the beginning there was a possibility I was

bound to hit some speed bumps. But through the overall journey, however, I have learned so

much about myself and I am glad things worked out the way they did. I learned through this

project that if I work hard enough and put enough effort in to something, that in the end, it will

work out and even if it does not, then I will always know that I could not have tried any harder. I

have always known that I am an organized person, but this process definitely put my skills on a

new level with the amount of planning I have done and the amount of lists I have created to

complete this in the most orderly fashion as possible. I also learned a great deal about my

communication skills due to the amount I had to talk to the director and multiple coaches of my

tennis community and due to the fact that I set up a personal meeting with the head of activities

director for my entire neighborhood. I also met many new people from my neighborhood that

came to the camp that I very quickly became friends with and thoroughly enjoyed talking to and

meeting. One career choice that I am definitely considering is something in the field of

marketing and advertising or pursuing a field in party/event planning and organizing. I think this

project only benefited me for the better and confirmed that I do want to pursue a career in

marketing.

Thank you for your time today. Are there any questions?