Courtney Carpinello ’14, Amanda Paolino ’14: Many Episcopal underclassmen are unaware that senior project rules changed this year. Although Episcopal’s new policy for senior projects in some ways helps students to learn more effectively during their two-week project interval, this policy also restricts student creativity and limits possible project ideas.
The senior project is an opportunity for students to spend time exploring their interests and look toward the future in terms of career goals. However, the ability to accomplish both of these goals is severely limited by the new senior project standards.
In the new rules, students are required to answer an essential question and create a tangible product, which they will later present to a meeting with juniors and faculty members. Sarah Baker ‘01, Form Dean of the class of 2013, explained, “The students have always had to produce something to present.. The difference is that before it would be okay for a student to make a PowerPoint explaining their project…but now the product must be something made during their senior project. For example, if a student is working for a charitable foundation, they could create an economic plan for the charity.”
Athletic administrator Kimberly Piersall stated, “With the new change, students are more conscious of doing something constructive that displays the time they invested.”
Baker also added, “I’ve read all of the proposals for this year, and I think that they were more viable than in the past.”
However, the class of 2013 does not share the same enthusiasm for these changes, which actually limit their ability to explore interests and passions.
Katie Larkin ‘13 noted, “I was planning on doing an internship, and producing something wasn’t supposed to be part of it. Now I have to change it and add this part on my own because it wasn’t originally being offered in the internship.” This is a problem that many members of the senior class faced with their project ideas.
Students sometimes know years in advance what they want to do for their projects, but this new circumstance altered many senior’s plans.
Some students had to make adjustments or completely alter their original idea to fit this new requirement. This amendment to the rules limits the students’ ability to complete projects in which they are most interested, since they must first focus on fulfilling the requirements.
James Achuff ‘13 commented, “I don’t like that we have to answer an essential question this year. It restricts what we can do and forces us to focus on a smaller area of study.”
This essential question along with the creation of a specific product constricts the capabilities of the students, forcing them down a narrow path.
In the past, students were able to spend the time doing something that they believed would be beneficial in terms of career goals, but now they cannot always pursue their interests because they need to fulfill stricter requirements.
Bennett Smith ‘13 noted, “A lot of people are just going to twist their original ideas to make some type of product, and it’s not going to be a main focus of their project.”
Instead of spending time acquiring life or career skills, students will instead be forced to divert their attention to creating products that, in some cases, only tangentially relate to the project itself.
This new rule has considerably changed the way in which senior projects will be carried out this year and into the future.
Although these changes cannot be revised for this year’s seniors, the school administration should consider working with next year’s senior class to devise more effective senior project policies.
Only then will students have the flexibility to explore their interests and passions, an integral part of senior projects.

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