Driving Question: How can I use music to have a powerful impact on a multicultural audience, making them realise they are not alone in the mental challenges they often face.

Project Description: Through my mastery project, I wanted to evoke emotions that have rarely been evoked in a listener through a song, to make them realise that they are not alone in the problem they face.

After listening to a song, the listener should think something like, “Wow, I never thought someone else would be going through the exact same thing” or “I can’t believe that someone else found this problem and I have been experiencing all my life but never recognized as a problem.” It’s a mix between a call for action and recognition.

If one person tells me they were in a tough spot in their lives and that my music helped them get through that, I know I’ll have accomplished something.

Driving Question: How can I acquire deep knowledge on Buddhist philosophies and their perspectives on the self and the world by working with monks and creating an original short film?

Project Description: My film introduces the Korean tradition of Zen Buddhism and its view on how to live a good life.

What were your goals for this project? My goal was to gain deep level of understanding on Buddhism, living it, and sharing it with others. I achieved all of these as I spent significant amount of time studying the text of Buddhism, living as Buddhist at a temple, and filming what I have learned to share with the world.

What were your learning takeaways? I’ve learned that suffering comes from trying to perceive impermanent thing as permanent and unchangeable. This includes my sense of self, my life, values, things I cherish at the moment… etc These are not something solid. They are very much fluid, temporary concepts and consists of myriads of components which forms and alters them. Accepting that, and staying thoroughly present, instead of trying so hard to extend the lifespan of these fleeting concepts, will lead to a more fulfilling life.

What are you most proud of? Experiencing even for a short amount of time, the freedom of not needing anything. Happiness to just be.

Driving Question: How can I use a video format to effectively communicate the many facets of the LGBTQ+ community to someone who knows nothing about it?

Project Description: This project is a 5-part video series explaining the LGBTQ+ community for a beginner audience. The intention of these videos is to be a resource for anybody who would like some more information on the community. You can find all five videos below.

Driving Question: How can I create a portrait photo essay which summarizes my senior year?

Project Website: https://charlottesteckart.wixsite.com/mysite

Project Overview: In this mastery project, I made a photo essay on people in my life who contributed to who I am today.  I wanted to photograph family/friends/teachers/and relatives. This wrapped up my senior year and the last year of a six-year journey. I also added written reflections and poetry to each of the portraits I took.

Sample Photos from the Project:

Driving Question: How might I create an uplifting documentary that shows how deafness adds value and diversity to our society?

Project Description: For my second mastery project, I decided to improve my filmmaking skills by making a documentary about deaf artists living in Melbourne. The main objective of this was to tell a story of a group that’s not often talked about and to portray it in a positive, inspiring way. The film sheds light on what it’s like to be a deaf artist in a hearing world and the struggles that come with it. But most importantly, it shows that deafness brings a valuable perspective to our society by showcasing the talent and passion of two Australian artists.

What are the biggest lessons you learned through the process of your mastery project? I think the main thing I’ve learned through this project is the importance of being adaptable and flexible when things don’t go as planned, and knowing that some things are just outside of my control.

Driving Question: Why is the average person not aware of food miles? How can I make people more aware?

Project Overview: Over the course of the last summer, I became aware of how many issues there are in modern agriculture. I focused specifically on the issue of “food miles” which are the carbon emissions produced through transporting food from farm to table. That’s where I got the idea for my mastery project.

The core idea of my mastery project is to teach people about the food miles problem and give them ideas on how to counteract it, through a science kit. I made an urban agriculture science kit that uses hydroponics to teach about food miles and how they can be mitigated using urban agriculture.

Throughout this project, I did a lot of research on urban agriculture and plant growth, for the kit, and a lot of research on marketing and branding, as a method of spreading the message

How to Build Your Own Hydroponics Kit:

How do Hydroponics work?

How to build a hydroponics station

Driving Question: Is there life on Mars?

My goals with this project have been to get people thinking about astrobiology and the possibility of extraterrestrial life, and work towards the general democratization of scientific thinking and knowledge. It is my belief that every member of society should have the tools and ability to conduct scientific investigations if they so wish, and to engage critically with new scientific discoveries and current events. Science isn’t something that should only be available to people who have a four year degree and a lab!

This is why I created a kit that can be used anywhere, by anyone, and bring the study of extraterrestrial life to their own home. I designed/adapted three experiments and activities to inspire critical thinking, scientific inquiry, and knowledge building surrounding biology, astronomy, and alien life. I also took a deeper look in my capstone paper at the reasons why there is so much misinformation about aliens in the media and amongst the general public, and along the way discovered a surprising love for science communication! The conversations I had that this kit inspired are the biggest proof that I met my goal of democratizing science; maybe if we all spent a little more time talking about life outside of earth, we’d be able to make life a little better inside of earth too!

What are you most proud of?

I’m most proud of the fact that even in the face of hardship, and people telling me that I couldn’t make this work, I chose to listen to all of the amazing people encouraging me to keep going and try another strategy. This project started out looking very differently, but I couldn’t be happier with how everything turned out. In fact, this product aligns far more with my original goals than the experiment I was planning from the start!

It was so worth it to stay true to my original intention, and put in the extra detail work to make this something I could be really proud of leaving as my TGS legacy.

What are the biggest lessons you learnt through the process of your mastery project?

I learned that the two keys to a successful project are a lot more subtle than you might think: logistics, and a whole lot of feedback. The biggest mistake I made at the outset of my Mastery was not leaving enough time for certain logistical processes to take place, meaning that eventually, I didn’t get the things I needed in time to do the experiment I had planned. Preparation is really nine-tenths of it, and is an essential part of making all the fun showy stuff a possibility!

Feedback is the other big piece of the puzzle. It’s so easy to get caught in your own little Mastery project bubble and forget that the reason you’re doing all this work is to create something other people will be able to interact with and enjoy! It’s essential to keep that factor in mind every step of the way and appreciate every pair of eyes you can get on your project whenever possible.

Project Overview: Throughout the school year, Arora and I developed our understanding of deaf culture and sign language through using American Sign Language Center classes and the use of ASL University lesson plans, and other resources found on youtube and online. Our consistent efforts allowed me to continuously improve which we hope to continue doing after graduation. The goals at the beginning of the year were focused on vocabulary and conversational skills which were practiced between Arora and myself. It was very helpful to have a partner that was at the same level so we could learn together. We used many sources to aid in our learning but one of the most fun was learning songs. We learned multiple songs to work on our vocabulary and we wanted to share one of them with you!

Driving Question: How can I use non-fictional storytelling to convey a meaningful message about sustainable living?

Project Description: The “Green Leaf” podcast is a 10 minutes podcast. It discusses some aspects of sustainable living. I talk about overconsumption, environmental concerns, fast fashion and how they could all fit into a sustainable lifestyle.

Our remote learning module has been a fun getaway during this quarantine. Fast fashion represents a big part of everyone’s life as most of us dress with it, so it was really interesting to look more into its effects on the environment and how we can reduce them.