Original Work Progress Assessment #1 

 
Date: ​March 4, 2019 
 
Topic: ​Neuropsychology 
 
Introduction: 
Under the guidance of my mentor, Dr. Mark Barisa, and my teacher, Mr. Pirtle, I have decided 
to do an Original Work project entailing of three main components. The first of these components is a 
case study depicting different neuropsychological disorders, such as, but not limited to, schizophrenia 
or autism spectrum disorders or even Tourette’s syndrome. This component involves me doing 
research on various neuropsychological disorders and then writing a concise one-to-two page 
description of the disorder in order for people, mainly those in my class and those who want to 
understand the basics of different neuropsychological disorders, to get a better understanding of the 
various types of neuropsychological disorders. The second part of my original work is a 10-video series 
on 10 different neuropsychological disorders that I chose and then I make a lecture-type video in 
where I am explaining the different disorders using a whiteboard to depict my illustrations. These 
videos will then be uploaded on a platform that will be accessible by everyone in the world; the 
platform will be Youtube. The last component of my project will be presenting my case study and the 
topic of neuropsychology in a medical seminar that is being developed and hosted by Samyuktha 
Kumar, a student in my ISM class. My work in the medical seminar is to present a topic relating to the 
progression of human life and taking into consideration that the topic of neuropsychology can be 
applied to various stages of human life, I will be presenting three times, one for childhood, one for 
mid-age, and one for geriatrics, and I will be presenting on a certain disorder that occurs in those three 
different stages of life and this component of my project entails me doing a lot of group coordination 
and work with the rest of the members of the seminar and rehearsing for the seminar. Overall, my 
mentor will be helping me with the research behind the case study paper and also the research for the 
other components as well and I can go to him for any questions that I have regarding my original work 
project. As to how this project will benefit the community and why am I doing it in the first place, the 
answer lies in the sheer amount of information that will be presented. Through a Youtube channel 
with a 10 video series will I be able to spread awareness about mental disorders on a global scale; this 
being able to connect with all instead of just the local community. With the case study, I will be 
gaining a better understanding of the different disorders that a brain can have and further deepen my 
understanding of the field of neuropsychology itself. Not only that, but the case study can also help 
with allowing others to understand more about different disorders in a concise manner. The medical 
seminar can help to present my topic and the various disorders to the local community, therefore all 
three of my components are important for the community in one way or another and they not only 
help the community, but they help me as well in gaining a deeper understanding of my topic and why 
it is essential to learn about.  
 
Current Point in Progress: 
I have my original product calendar here. Highlighted green is the things that I have 
accomplished, the yellow is the things that I am in the process of completing, and the red is things that 
I have either crossed out and deleted out of my original work project. The non-colored lines are the 
things that I have yet to accomplish and the underlined lines are the things that I have changed to my 
original product calendar. In the beginning of this process to do my original work product, I originally 
had a fourth component, where I would conduct a middle school seminar to help further spread 
mental awareness, but I quickly realized that I was not able to put much work into it and that I was 
actually doing more work for my channel than my middle school seminar and that I wanted quality 
work rather than quantity, so I decided to cut out that fourth component. Other than that, my 
product calendar time dedication to each one of my components has changed and that had been 
underlined with black in order to show the changes that I have made regarding the removal of the 
fourth component of my original work product proposal. As to what I have done with each 
component, I have worked on the Youtube channel by gathering the materials for it, including the 
camera and whiteboard and the markers necessary and I have written the scripts regarding each 
disorder. For my case study component, I have thoroughly researched the different disorders that I can 
talk about for the and I have also researched how to write a case study. For the medical seminar, I have 
researched a few disorders that I can talk about for children, adults, and the elderly and I am in the 
process of collaborating with Samy and the other people associated with the medical seminar in order 
to put together slides and rehearse for the medical seminar which is on April 19th. 
 
Calendar 

Week 1: ( Feb 4-9) 

● Talk to Dr. Barisa about doing a case study- did a week earlier 
● Talk to Mr. Pirtle about the middle school presentations and understand how I should 
persuade the higher officials to allow me to do my presentation-​deleted 
● Gather the materials for the Youtube channel- did a week earlier 
 
Week 2: (Feb 10-16) 
● Persuade the higher officials and decide on official dates to host the workshop-​deleted 
● Get the permission from the clients to use their brain scans - changed to researching 
how to do a case study 
● Research the different mental disorders via EBSCO 
 
Week 3: ( Feb 17-23) 
● Get the research necessary for my case study 
● Gather the materials for the workshop- ​deleted  
 ● Collaborate with teachers in middle school to understand when they might be free for 
the workshop in order to make the workshop worth their time-​deleted 
● Finalize script with mentor for videos- moved to Week 6 
● Research mental disorders/​ v​ ideo editing- moved to Week 7 
Week 4: ( Feb 24-March 2) 
● Analyze the scans necessary for my research paper 
● Create the activities needed for the workshop and presentation- deleted 
● Film the videos for the channel- changed to working on finalizing the scripts 
● Research mental disorders 
Week 5: ( March 3- 9) 
● Work with Samy and others the medical seminar by creating my slides 
● Continue creating the activities for the workshop- deleted  
● Start editing the videos for my channel- changed to working on scripts and film on 
Week 6 
● Go over case study with my mentor  
● Research mental disorders 
Week 6: ( March 10-16) 
● Start writing the abstract and lit review for the research paper- changed to Week 8 
● Rehearse with Samy and the others 
● Research mental disorders and do a final analysis of the scans if there is any 
discrepancies based on my analysis of the scans with my mentor 
● Upload the videos onto the Youtube channel ( two times a week)- changed to starting 
from Week 8 
Week 7: ( March 17-23) 
● Outline my research paper and collaborate- changed to Week 5, since I was ahead at 
this point  
● Research mental disorders 
● Write the data collection and methodology of the research paper 
● Start hosting workshops at middle school- Starting with Roach Middle School- 
deleted 
Week 8: ( March 24-30) 
● Upload videos 
● Write the data analysis and the conclusion of the paper 
● Host middle school workshop- Nelson Middle School​- deleted 
Week 9: ( March 31- April 6) 
● Upload videos/ Edit the video footage and film it  
● Go over research paper with mentor 
● Rehearse for the medical seminar and finalize the presentation for the seminar 
● Host final workshop with middle schools- Maus Middle School -​deleted 
 Week 10: ( April 7- 13) 
● Upload videos/ Edit the video footage and film it  
● Practice for the medical seminar 
● Edit the research paper and add more about my research 
● Collaborate with Samy about publishing my work with the medical journal  
Week 11: ( April 14- 20) 
● Conduct the medical seminar on April 19th 
● Reflect on the completion of my workshop- ​deleted 
● Upload videos/ Edit the videos and footage  
Week 12: ( April 21-27) 
● Cannot do much this week due to Orchestra and Spring trip, so relax 
● Revise the case study paper over again and send final edits to mentor for final approval  
● Reflect on the medical seminar  
Week 13: ( April 28- May 4) 
● Finalize my reflections and print out my research paper 
● Reflect on my youtube channel and the feedback I am getting from the comments 
Week 14 and 15: ( May 5-15) 
● Finalize my work for Final Presentation Night and tie up any loose ends 
 
Checkpoints: 
Recent Checkpoint: 
● March 4th, 2019 
○ This mentor visit was the most recent meeting that I had with my mentor and in the 
previous mentor visit, my mentor and I had discussed my original work and how I 
could possibly go about my research paper. In the most recent meeting, my mentor 
and I had discussed the outlining portion of my case study and how I could make it 
more understandable for people who are not really medically inclined. We also 
discussed the disorder of schizophrenia and how it is a misunderstood disorder, like 
how I was misinterpreting it with my research. After this mentor visit, I realized that 
my work on my script and research may have been taking the wrong way since what I 
knew about schizophrenia while being from credible sources, did not give me the full 
picture about the disorder itself. Thus, I am at a point where I am wondering how 
much of the research I had done is useable and how I could better my options since I 
am about halfway done with my project already. I realized that I would need to do a 
couple of things to be ready for the next mentor visit and the next week in order to 
make my work more inclusive of all sides. Some actions I would need to take are: 
■ 1. F​ ind databases that are purely medical based-​ Take sources that are not just 
from a general database like EBSCOhost or Exploria and look at more of the 
sources from the National Database of Health or Neuropsychological 
 Journals and websites so that I can sources that may be more detailed and are 
more inclusive of all of the information that I might need to know. 
■ 2. U ​ nderstand the research and then write the script ( for the Youtube 
Channel)-​ Make sure that the research is sound and then write the scripts 
according to that research in order to make sure that the script and future 
videos are fully credible and helpful to those who watch it. 
Upcoming Checkpoints 
● March 19th, 2019 ( or during spring break, the exact date TBD) 
○ My plan during this day is to 1) talk to my mentor after my shadowing experience and 
finalize parts of my scripts and make sure that they are intact in terms of credibility 
and 2) see how I can use my shadowing experiences with my mentor within my 
original work product. I plan on utilizing the knowledge that I gain from this visit to: 
■ 1. M ​ ake the scripts as factual as possible and film those sections-​ The 
whiteboard part of the youtube channel is the part of the scripts that I have to 
make really factual and then I will film those sections for the videos so that I 
could then start editing the clips together. 
■ 2.​ Start writing the various case studies for each individual disorder- T ​ he 
research for these portions are mainly completed but after this visit, I can start 
writing and then finalizing the different parts of my case study component of 
my original work. 
Conclusion: 
Overall, the progress that I have made over the past few weeks on my original work project is 
tremendous, especially considering that I decided to take on a huge original work project with three 
different parts. Throughout my journey so far, I have deleted a component of my project, debated on 
the quality of my work, and dreaded the upcoming weeks in terms of trying to work hard enough to 
make sure that I am able to meet my calendar’s deadlines for the week. However, this process is 
extremely vital for my learning as it shows me how important staying on task and working hard is and 
that quality is better than quantity. I learned a lot more through my failures and obstacles so far in the 
journey of my original work that even though I dread the upcoming weeks, I am excited to take them 
on and learn more so that I can grow as a person. This process has been discouraging at times when I 
was working on my different components and I felt like I was not getting anywhere, but it was also 
rewarding at times when I got to learn more about the topic that I enjoy and love. Sometimes, the 
process was disagreeable with my work since I realized how much I had to do for one part of my 
original work, like positioning the cameras for filming the Youtube Channel, but it would take hours 
to find a lighting that I liked, but there were also times where I finished my research and scripting a 
week in advance and I could move onto the next phase. My process and journey have seen its ups and 
downs, but it has taught me more about persistence and hard work then I have ever learned before. 
After the mentor meeting that I had, I have realized where I really want to take my original work 
project and I plan on taking it to the heights that I want to, to make my business platform, the 
Youtube channel, into a successful platform to spread mental awareness and to create a collection of 
case studies to help the ordinary person understand mental disorders to a better extent. Yes, I will have 
questions, like will I finish on time or will my work be the standard of the expectations ISM has, but all 
of these questions and self-doubt will help me grow not only as a person but also as a student and as a 
professional and I am willing to learn more and gain more experience, whether it be good or bad. 
Therefore, I cannot wait to see what the next couple of weeks of ISM brings in terms of my original 
work and I cannot wait for the future obstacles because, without them, one can never grow and 
prosper.