My goal for my capstone project was to complete a needs assessment about program offerings for a local non-profit. Sadly due to time constraints I was unable to complete my project within the semester. While my project did not go as planned I learned a lot from my missteps and plan to continue my project after graduation until I am satisfied with the results. As Malcolm Forbes once said, “Failure is success if we learn from it” and I have taken that quote to heart in this experience.

During my project I learned about the importance of clear communication when dealing with people from different organizations. This project was a dual project for my Community Based Research Certificate which required me to perform research for a community partner. Between my advisor for my CBR certificate, my advisor for the leadership capstone and the people at my community partner it became very complicated very quickly to settle on deadlines and clarify expectations. Going forward I have learned that when at all possible you should get all stakeholders involved in one conversation so there is less back and forth.

Building on that I learned the importance for advocating for myself and my goals. One of my Clifton Strengths is harmony and this project taught me that there is a fine line between harmony and martyrdom and unfortunately I was on the wrong side of that line during my project. My desire to give grace to my non-profit which was a small organization with limited resources led to my project falling behind schedule. If I could do it over again I would be more active in following up with my partners so my project could be successful. After all this project was meant to benefit them so it’s success was important to everyone.