Blog 11: Lesson 1 Reflection

1. What are you most proud of in your lesson, and why?

- I was very proud that I knew all of my information and spoke about everything I wanted to very clearly and smooth. I also thought that I matched my outfit perfectly for the scenario for sport fishing and I felt like every sounded pretty interesting and fun as people seemed to enjoy it.

2. What assessment would you give yourself on your lesson? Explain why you earned that grade using evidence from the component contract.

- I'd give myself an AE, mainly because I completed everything that was asked for and more. I just didn't go over book details such as others. I also went over hands on details that you can only get from certain scenarios, plus I give lots of information and plenty of answers for my EQ that I will soon narrow down.

3. If you could go back, what would you change about your lesson?  How can you use that knowledge to give a better Lesson 2?

- I'd bring a fishing pole to show and I'd probably skip talking about one of the solutions and I'd show my props (lures) to others so they can see and enjoy.

Blog 10 - Interview 2 Reflection

https://soundcloud.com/mikeymellark/interview-part-2-103015-1229-am

Above is the link to my interview. (I resubmitted a working one)

1. Please explain how you are spending your mentorship time (Is it at a workplace or somewhere else?  Are you shadowing?  Are you able to do tasks that are meaningfully related to the topic?  If so, what?  Are there other people who are experts in the location?  Etc...)

- My mentor and I are spending quality time in the place where this field takes place. In fact, we're taking part in this field in a wide range of places having to do with this field as well so we're covering a very wide range. As for others, there are very few experts such as my mentor in my location which make it hard to find one.

2.  How did you find your mentor?  How did you convince this person to help you?   

- Well, my mentor is my father so it didn't take too long and he was't very convinced at first, but he gave in by wanting to increase my sport fishing intelligence.

3. How would you rate your comfort level with your mentor at this point in your relationship?  How does this relate to the time you've spent so far at mentorship/with this person?

- My comfort level is very high since he is my father and it relates to the time spent because we have spent endless hours together.

4. What went well in this interview?  Why do you think so?  What do you still need to improve?  How do you know?  How will you go about it?

- This interview went very well, although some of my interviewee's answer started to get a bit off topic. Maybe I can throw in more follow up questions to keep the interviewee engaged and of well knowledge of the question. That way I can get as much information as possible.

Blog 9 - Advisory Prep 3

1. State whether or not you currently have a mentor, and what the status of your interview is with that person (I have completed the interview, I have scheduled the interview, I have not scheduled the interview, etc).

- I do currently have a mentor, but I need a new one to get the maximum number of information. As for my interviews, I've completed the first one, but not the second one yet.

2. At this point, your research is probably guiding your studies toward more specific areas within your topic.  Name the area or two you find most promising and explain your reasons.   

- Catch and release fishing, and Trout fishing look pretty promising as catch and release has a huge variety of species and ways to catch the fish. There's a lot to build off of that topic and as for trout fishing, trout fish are located almost worldwide and there's a lot of information behind it such as ways to catch them and different types of targeted trout.

3. What kinds of sources do you think will help you in the next month to gain more research depth?  Where will you go to get them?

- I believe that more hands on experience in this field will help me a lot more within the next few months. I will go drive out to new locations to fish at these areas and I will go on my boat as well.

4. Write down a possible EQ.  Please don't worry about wording other than ensuring that it provides the option for multiple correct answers.  At this point, the senior team is most interested in understanding your thought process.

- What's the most effective way to be conservative to our environment while taking part in the sport of fishing?

Blog 8: Independent Component 1 Proposal

1.  Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.

- For my 30 hours, I thought that it'd be great to film sessions of me sport fishing and talking about tips and technique as well as simple information that will all be condensed into a 10-20 minute long video that can be presented like an episode on sport fishing.

2.  Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.

- Well, I'll have a lot of have stored on my GoPro or GoPros as I may buy more. Plus, I will have photos and signed letters of proof by my mentor, that we actually spent a certain amount of time working on filming it all.

3.  Explain how what you will be doing will help you explore your topic in more depth.

- By filming, I get to not only practice sport fishing, but review myself in the sport. I can look over the film/video and watch what I'm doing wrong and how can I perfect it such as a hook set or a perfect flip and pitch cast. Then, I can also do more research on how to do it the right way, or how can I perfect it to be done the right way. 

4.  Update your Senior Project Hours log.

- This will be done immediately.

Blog 7 - Second Interview Preperation

1.  Who is your mentor and where do they work?  If their workplace does not reflect their expertise, what makes them an expert?

- My mentor is my father, Delbert Nuñez, who currently works at American Sample as the production room manager. As you can tell, his workplace doesn't reflect his expertise in sport fishing, but he has over 40 years of experience in this field and he has also been a part of the California Department of Fish and Game for over 30 years.

2.  What five questions will you ask them about their background?

1. What is your most fond memory involving sport fishing?
2. Who introduced you to fishing that got it all started? And how old where you then?
3. How much experience do you have compared to others with sport fishing?
4. How many associations or clubs have you been a part of with sport fishing?
5. What helps you to decide that you want to keep on fishing after all these years?

Blog 6 - Advisory Prep

Above is a picture of myself targeting trout in a beautiful stream located in Sierra Nevada.

1. What has worked well for you concerning senior project this year?  What has made it a positive experience for you?   

- Interviewing my interviewee and spending mentorship hours wit him has really had a huge impact upon with my senior topic. It has made the world and topic of Sport Fishing not just an activity or subject to me, but rather a way of life and a connection. It has made a huge positive impact on me with inner-self and seeing Sport Fishing from a whole different perspective that lights a world of fire and lets me see ways that many others can't see. So, overall this has all been a great experience in teaching me so many different things about it in different ways. 

2. What are you finding difficult concerning senior project?  How can you adapt to make that portion work better for you?  How might the senior team help?

- The only thing that I find difficult is finding time with school now in session, to get out and get more hands-on experience with Sport Fishing rather than verbal stuff. I can adapt with scheduling by adjusting my schedule to evolve around this area and the senior team could help by dedicating an entire day to senior project hours which is highly impossible, but it would be nice. :)

Blog 5 - Interview 1 Reflection

Here is a picture of my interviewee (person on the right) and I (person in the middle).

1. What is the most important thing I learned from the interview? Is there anything I would do differently for other interviews?

- While interviewing my interviewee, I learned lots of informations on laws and regulations and basics of all round sport fishing. But of next time, I think it'll be a great idea if I give my interviewee the questions a day or two ahead so that they could read the questions and come up with a good answer to give once I ask them the question.

2. Did I get additional resources and contacts? What is the most useful? Why?

- Yes, for a new resource, I can start reading the Western Outdoor News and I have a new contact that my interviewee mentioned whom goes by the name, John Woodrum who is the owner/operator of the Pursuit which is a well know sport fishing vessel out of San Pedro.

3. What makes my interviewee qualified to help me?

- My interviewee is a certified and licensed fisherman.

- He is also a member of the California Department of Fish and Game.

-He also has over 45 years of experience with Sport Fishing which is 30 more years than me.


Link to my interview: https://soundcloud.com/mikeymellark/fishing-interview-91515-333-pm

Blog 4 - House Advisory Prep 1

As the year goes on, and as our senior projects come close to a final completion, I hope to have more knowledge than ever about sport fishing. I hope to accomplish many goals as well that involve sport fishing, like most fish caught and released in one day. Plus, I hope to accomplish my goal of catching my biggest fish ever, but most importantly I plan to accomplish a major goal involving my peers. I hope to teach my peers and many others about sport fishing to give them a reality check that sport fishing does not kill. Sport fishing promotes catch and release as well as fish farms to help grow our huge populations of fish. Commercial fishing is what kills, and it angers sport fisherman because we are not what you think. 

Blog 3 - First Interview Preparation

1.  Who do you plan to interview?  Why?

• I plan to interview my father.
• The reason behind this is because my father has over 40 years of experience in sport fishing, and I'm much closer to him that any other fisherman, so because of this, my interviewee will be more comfortable with my questions and give me a full answer with more detail and possibly more detail than the best fisherman could possibly give me.

• The second person I plan the interview is main owner at Sav-On Tackle because he owns a fishing tackle shop and knows not only from his perspective, but he talks to thousands of customers and other fisherman who have information to share, so he must know a lot of specific details in and out of fishing.

2.  Five questions will be assigned to all seniors to ask.  What additional questions do you plan to ask?

1. What is the most important factor when it comes to sport fishing and why?
2. How would you describe a good day of fishing?
3. Is there a difference between commercial and sport fishing? Which is better and why?
4. Why do you continue to sport fish after all these years? Do you ever get tired or bored?
5. What is the best thing anyone has ever taught you about fishing? 

Here is a picture of my interviewee while we were at           

San Clemente Island.     

Blog 2 - Summer Mentorship

Senior Project Hours

1. List the contact name, phone number, and organization of the person with whom you volunteered.

• Contact Name: Delbert Nuñez
• Phone Number: 626-392-7803
• Organization: California Department of Fish and Game

2. What qualified this person as an expert in your topic choice?     

• Delbert has over 40 years of experience with Sport Fishing.
• He has been a licensed angler for over 30 years.
• He is currently involved with the California Department of Fish and Game.

3. List three questions for further exploration now that you've completed your summer hours.   

• How can I become the best Sport Fisherman I can possibly be?
• How many different style can you sport fish?
• Does sport fishing help increase the population of fish species?

4. What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?

• When I first came into this topic, I had just seen fishing as a hobby that was designed basically around catching fish and throwing them back, then repeating the process. But, as my summer went on, and as I continued to learn about Sport Fishing with my mentor, it started to become more of a spiritual connection instead of a hobby. I started to realize that there was more to fishing than just trying  to catch a fish, in fact, catching a fish was just a bonus. This helped me become an even better fisherman because I started to feel a connection with water and the living beasts that rule the underwater world which made me truly respect them. Whenever I was around or in the water, I was in their territory and had to respect them for it, so I had to be even smarter than they really were and trick them into a hard fighting battle where I could net and release them, or they could snap the line and break my heart. But at the end of the day, you'll learn from your mistakes, even the best fisherman in the world learn new things every time they go fishing, but it's how you put these new answers into effect. So in the end, I learned  how to truly connect with the sport of fishing which made me ten times a better angler.

5. What is your senior project topic going to be?  How did mentorship help you make your decision?  Please explain.

• My senior topic is going to be "Sport Fishing"
• My father who is my mentor helped me to decide to pick this topic as my senior project topic because ever since I was a child, he always influenced me by taking me fishing and teaching me the ways of fishing. But over this summer, we really dug deep into sport fishing, and he told me to pick something that I really want to know and connect with because I'm going to have to spend my entire senior year on that topic. So, I really thought about it and I wasn't one hundred percent sure that I wanted it to be sport fishing, but one morning my father spoke with me and really helped me connect with sport fishing, suddenly this world of colors and things I've never seen nor felt before just hit me and that was when I knew that I really wanted to do my senior topic on Sport Fishing.

Blog 1 – Senior Final Lesson/Interview Reflection

1. What three lessons were most helpful for you to see, and why?

• The first lesson that was one of the most helpful for me to see was Coaching Hockey by Slade Suzuki. I learned very important information about coaching players which relates to fishing to me because when you are fishing, you are sort of coaching the fish to bite and to come in towards you to reel it in so watching Slade's presentation helped a lot.

• The next lesson that helped was Dog Training presented by Peter Steinwald which gave me an idea of how to work with animals and how to train them or get them to cooperate which you in any situation. 

• The last lesson that was very helpful to me was Fitness which really gave me a good idea on how to healthy so that I can perform to my full capability throughout the day in any sort of activity.

2. List one thing that you learned about the senior project in interviews that will help you get off to a good start?

• In all honesty, I wasn't able to interview the seniors because I was pulled out of school early that day, so I missed out on the opportunity to learn valuable information.

3. What topic(s) are you considering, and why?

• I have one topic taken into consideration that I want to do former which is sport fishing. The reason why I want to do this is because fishing has been with me since I was 2 years old and the passion I have for fishing has only grown. So, I'd like to journey off to learn all about this wonderful sport that there is to know so I can teach my classmates, teachers, and peers about what a wonderful sport this is so they can see the true beauty in just some string and a pole.

4. What EQ do you think might be interesting to consider in guiding a project like this? (Please don't worry about any sort of formula...we want this question to come from your genuine interest).

• I have roughly came up with this EQ over the week, "What's the most efficient way to have a fun time fishing while being conservative to the environment's species?" 

• I came up with this EQ to teach the student how to have a fun time because there are almost an infinite amount of things you can do while fishing to make things interesting. Im approaching that question because the first thing that majority of people say about fishing is that it's boring or they can't catch anything. Then, I approached the conservative side because a lot of people complain about a decline in fish species, but their are way to actually increase their population.

5. What are some ideas you have about finding summer mentorship?

• I have several ideas for mentorship starting off with my father who is a professional fisherman and fishing guide that I can mentor with. My other idea is to mentor with a captain on a commercial fishing vessel so that I can learn as much as possible while at sea.