Seniors bustle around to blow glass, live La Dolce Vita, and bake cupcakes. It’s that time of year again—Senior Projects.

Senior Projects, a graduation requirement for all Albuquerque Academy seniors, is an experiential education program that gives students “the opportunity to explore real-life opportunities and work independently,” said Jeremy Johnson, one of the faculty members managing senior project. The projects last for four weeks, and a fifth week consists of Presentations of Learning, in which students report and reflect on what they learned during their project. There are four types of projects a student can choose from. The most common is an internship, in which students work with a company, business, organization or individual for the duration of the project. Students can also participate in mentorships, working one-on-one with a faculty member. Seminars, offered by teachers to a group of students to explore a topic are also available. Students can also choose a self-directed project. “I’m glad it’s the culminating project for seniors,” Johnson said. “It’s a good transition into college.”

CRIME LAB INTERNSHIP

Martin Hussey ’10 is interning at the Albuquerque Police Department Crime Lab. “I wanted to do something that interested me,” Hussey. “I love crime shows, and I wanted to do something that I would never do in my life again.”

Hussey’s internship consists of moving around the different divisions of the crime lab and exploring what each one does. “Last week I was in the narcotics department, also known as the chemistry department,” Hussey said. “I have analyzed meth, heroine, pot, cocaine and pharmaceuticals.” Hussey has also worked in the ballistics department, shooting guns and analyzing each bullet’s unique marking. “I have surprisingly good aim,” Hussey said.

Although sometimes Hussey finds that he has a lot of idle time, he still enjoys his project because he is doing things he never did before and finding out new information. “[A crime lab] is totally different from what I thought,” Hussey said. “Crimes shows are totally wrong in every aspect. Like in CSI, one person does everything. [In reality,] they have so many people working.” Hussey also feels that his project will help him in the future. “I’m learning stuff that will be useful for my future career [of public policy],” he said.

Hussey’s project is a 30-hour-a-week internship, and he works 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.

SUSHI AND SAKE INTERNSHIP

Kynsey Creel ’10 is also interning, but in a culinary project. Her project is with Sushi and Sake, a local sushi restaurant on Academy. “I mainly do food prep, which includes cutting vegetables the right way [finely and precisely],” Creel said. She also works as the tempura chef and helps prepare desserts. Tempura consists of batter-fried shrimp or vegetables. Creel works the night shift, from 4:30 to 8:30, and “I feel tired when I come home,” she said.

“I’m interested in computers, so I could have interned at Sandia [Labs],” Creel said. However, she wanted to choose something more interesting and “out there” for her senior project. “I really just love sushi, Japanese culture and Asian culture in general.”

Creel is happy with her choice of senior project. “I’ve had jobs at Albuquerque Academy before, but working with other people in the kitchen, you become a team,” she said. Although her job can be stressful, and, being the intern, she gets blamed for some of the mistakes in the kitchen, “I feel like I got lucky with my project,” she said. “I’m super busy all the time and am learning tons of new things.”

Creel’s senior project has also taught her to appreciate a restaurant’s food more. “I kind of wish I was sitting enjoying the dinner,” she said. “I’m more grateful now going to a restaurant. The food isn’t that easy to make.”

INTERPRETER FOR STATE COURT INTERNSHIP

Heidi Harrison ’10 chose a different kind of senior project, one more career-driven. “I’m working as a Spanish interpreter at the state court,” Harrison said. “It’s what I want to do post-college.”

Harrison’s internship involves following interpreters around the court. The trials she attends usually deal with felonies and domestic violence. “Typically, the Spanish speakers are the criminals or are asking for restraining orders,” Harrison said, and the interpreters translate for these Spanish-speakers.

Harrison’s internship lasts for four and a half hours everyday. One hour is usually spent in court (although she does not interpret) and in the remaining three and a half hours, Harrison practices her translation skills by translating tapes of practice court cases.

Although Harrison is not as busy as she thought she would be, she still appreciates her internship. “It gives me respect for the interpreters,” she said. “It’s a hard job.”

NOVELWRITING SELF-DIRECTED PROJECT

Zach Calhoun is taking a different route than other seniors, opting for a self-directed project. “I’m writing a novel,” he said. The choice for Calhoun was obvious because “I want to be a writer, so it just made sense.”

Calhoun spends about four hours every day working on his novel, which he describes as “a stream of consciousness. It’s basically a really long monologue that takes place in one night.” He does not typically work on his novel at home, preferring the library or a restaurant. In addition to writing, Calhoun occasionally meets with his sponsor, English faculty member Peter Nash, to touch base.

Calhoun likes the freedom of his senior project and the ability to do what he likes. “I spend my time and energy doing one thing, which is nice,” he said. “Every single day, I write.”

For Calhoun, the challenge of his project lies in the four-week time frame of senior projects. “I have to have a finished project in just four weeks,” he said. Spending the first week alone brainstorming ideas “made it harder,” Calhoun said. “I don’t have much on page.”

Calhoun estimates that the formatted final product will be more than one hundred pages, but does not plan on publishing the completed work. “I see this as more of an exercise,” he said. “If I [were to publish the novel], I would expound on it.”