Project Proposal
Ah yes, here we are again. The project proposal. The part where we have to outline what it is we actually plan on doing for this particular project. Normally, I don't really enjoy doing this part because I tend to have a little bit of trouble keeping each section within the minimum word count (which I presume is the opposite problem to what most people end up facing when writing this stuff), last year this issue came about because I was trying to figure out how to fit in multiple ideas at once in order to show that I had more than one idea, but once I did my idea development for what would become "The Grand Lamppost Heist", it ended up being smooth sailing from there.
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Luckily, since I've done the idea development already, I can just go right ahead and get myself started without hassling myself too much about fitting multiple ideas at once (since the UAL people can read the idea development section on this very website to know I've considered multiple ideas before proposing the one I wish to go with), but there are also a few changes that'll make the whole thing even easier:
As you can see, the word counts have been bumped up ever so slightly, meaning a section where I was only allowed around 100 words before, now I can write around 150 words, so there's an extra 50 words I can use (very helpful indeed), on top of this, there are only three sections this time around, which is likely why the word counts are higher than they've been before. (that, and I'm in year two now)
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With all this being put on top of the fact I like to have a second document open to make sure I'm staying within the word counts for each section (which you can see in the screen shot above), I think this project proposal is going to be a refreshing breeze for me. (which is not something I thought I'd ever be saying)
Ok, that ended up taking less time than I would have expected, as usually I find myself going a little bit over-board and having to delete and alter pieces of my statements in order to fit them within the word counts, but this time around I found it significantly easier to make, likely due to how I did all the idea development before hand rather than coming up with the idea to do the idea development partway through the proposal process. Another factor to take into consideration as to why this part's suddenly gotten easier is because for most of the units this year, we've actually had to make proposals for all of them, meaning I was able to get more and more of a grapple on it as I went along. (almost as if those other project proposals were in preparation for this one)
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But before we move on, I'd just like to quickly do something I really should have done several days ago by actually starting the action plan I mentioned earlier, so without further ado
We Interrupt This Program To Bring You A World First Progression Tracker Update
I don't want to sound rude when I say this but to be honest, I'm not really feeling this "weekly progression tracker" thing. Don't get me wrong, I do like the idea behind it and with a little bit of tweaking it could work in conjunction with the usual project management chart I try to update at the beginning of each week since at that point, there could also be an update at the end where I reflect on whether or not I managed to meet the targets I set out in the beginning of the week, and I suppose if you want to get technical, this is a bit more of an "official" way of reflecting on what I've done each week. However, what I don't like about this weekly progress tracker is funnily enough, the fact that it's a document that you write in. I know it sounds kind of stupid to say this since this could theoretically save me a ton of writing after I take the screenshot and put it in this website, but I've personally come to like doing the project management updates, as they remind me of how much time I have left via the colours changing to grey after each week goes by and via the snarky comments I write under the alias of "Edward The Efficient", who for all intents and purposes, would cease to exist if I didn't also do the normal project management updates too. The reason I believe this is because I get the impression that these weekly progress tracker things are supposed to be more formal than what I've been doing, so having a character who's whole purpose is to lampshade me in a passive aggressive manner likely wouldn't fly here. (which I personally find to be a darn shame, as having such a character actually helped me get things done on time, sometimes even helping me get ahead of my own chart)
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Another thing I don't really like is that (at least as I'm currently getting started anyway) it took me longer to finish this part than it usually does the normal updates I do, as with those updates, all I have to do is change the chart on Excel, screen cap it (preferably with the snipping tool these days in order to save on memory), stick it on wix, write a bit on how I think I'm doing thus far (this part can vary in length because some days there's a lot to say, where as others, not so much) and move on with my project. With the progress tracker meanwhile, I first had to type in what criteria I'm working on this week, then I have to elaborate a little bit on what I'm doing to meet said criteria and then afterwards I have to say how I plan on achieving said criteria (even though we're supposed to do these at the end of our college week), and then once that's taken care of I've got to state what problems I ran into and how I've solved them, and only once that's finished do I get to write a paragraph reflecting on what I've done over the course of the week. But once I've finished reflecting, I'm actually not finished yet as there's also the part where I've got to note down on the resources I used this week (which I presume is mainly intended for the research phase) and only then could I call this part finished and ready to be screenshotted into Wix where I then write an additional piece of reflective writing underneath (much like I'm doing now), and that's not even accounting for the parts I DIDN'T do, such as the checklist (not pictured here) and the "blog post for the week section." (mainly because I'm doing this on a new website)
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While a lot of the steps I mentioned here do have potential if used under a different format, I personally think the time spent writing a new entry on the progress tracker could be better spent working on the actual project.
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Now that this little rant is over and done with, if I don't end up having an option to avoid this part entirely and just go back to focusing on the usual updates I'll still do this progress tracker thing, but it'll be under protest since as of now, I'm just not feeling it like I do the project management chart.
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Alright, now that my grievances with the progress tracker have been aired, I think it's time for a bit of additional context behind this project for those of you that are new here.