1. Andrew Kepley Mrs. Otter English IV 21 January 2010 Reflection Essay Over the past four years at NHS I have collected loads of work pieces and assignment and I have narrowed them down to just these three. My three work examples show what I can do, they show what I have learned and they show how I have improved over the years. I also chose these three because they are all involved in what I am interested in as a career. The first academic accomplishment that I chose was an Algebra II assignment. I chose this work because it is involved with what I am interested in as a career, just like all the other academic accomplishments, which I chose. This work piece was one that was over Trigonometry, which you use daily in the machining field. I got an A+ on it and it helped me up my grade by a whole letter. I was so excited when I got the paper back. I also chose this because it shows my strength that I have when doing trigonometry. Some people say that it is hard stuff but for me it is easy as pie. Some things that I could have improved on were I had a couple mistakes on the paper that could have been fixed but I still got an A. My second academic accomplishment was a Machine Tech assignment. This assignment was an arbor press, that I did the end of my junior year. I chose this piece of work because it shows how far I have improved in the class, like how I have learned to use the machines like the manual lathe and the manual mill. In this project, I was trying to produce a part that was worth an A and that worked and performed correctly. One of the processes that I went through to making this part is that I had to create a process plan that included all of my spindle RPM’s. It included all of they feed rates, and I also included my specifications for the part like sizes and dimensions. What I learned from working on this assignment is, that it can always be improved no matter how good you think it is. You can always add a few touches to make it even greater. My third academic accomplishment that I chose was another assignment from Machine Tech. This project was a skills competition part that I also did at the end of my junior year. I chose this piece because it demonstrates how I can run a manual lathe in a competition standpoint. I went into this competition with no knowledge of what it was going to teach me. In the process, I learned how to use time wisely, how to keep cool when things are not going your way and to try your best. When it was all said and done, I took first place in the manual lathe part of the competition out of 105 people from across the state and I am number one. Some of the special challenges that I faced were preparing my self-weeks before it even started. Working by yourself without any help from your instructor, and just having the ability to run the machine and hold tolerances to the specifications on the print you are given. This competition was very exhilarating to go to, and I was proud to be a part of it as a junior. Through my high school experience, I have learned many things that have been very beneficiary to me. They have taught me how to become better at math and in machining. The competition has been the biggest impact though because it showed me what the real world would be like competing for a job doing your best. In addition, never think that you cannot do something because if you put your heart to it you can always do it. The past four years at NHS have added a great amount of knowledge and knowhow to my life and I believe that it will help me to go far in life.