Diana Nash

Henderson, NV

Elementary Education with emphasis in Special Education

Community Track

 

 

Beanies

 

    The project I ended up choosing was a very simple project but was rewarding.  I chose to make beanies to donate to those less fortunate. With consideration to the fact that I’m going into Elementary Education with an emphasis in SPED, I originally was wanting to do a project relating to that in any way. So I started thinking of volunteering in the schools to help as a tutor, aid, or whatever it may be that they needed me for. But the more I thought about it, I realized between class time, homework time, and working 2 jobs which added up to over full-time, there wasn’t much time left during the day for me to do that. Making beanies was something I could do almost whenever, as long as I had the supplies with me.

    I spent time working on these beanies during little breaks between classes or work, during work while on my grave shifts, and the few times I got to relax. Even though making beanie after beanie was a bit redundant, it was mind-numbing for me so I quite enjoyed it. I made all kinds of sizes and colors of beanies. The baby ones were my favorite to do because the yarn was so soft and they turned out so adorable. When I first started and was learning, I was slow, but the more I worked on them, the faster I became which allowed me to make more than I thought I would. Even though this was extremely simple compared to others, I truly loved it and it was rewarding to know they will help those in need.  

 

    I’m not so sure I can pinpoint what specifically inspired this idea or made me think of making beanies for my EDGE project, but one day that thought randomly popped into my head. I had always wanted to learn how to make beanies; but never put forth the time and effort to learn, so this was a great opportunity to make that happen. An old roommate of mine used to make beanies all the time and that’s what inspired my desire to learn how to do that myself one day. I ended up choosing this as my project not only because it would make me actually learn, but because I’ve always wanted to be more engaged in charity work, and donating these to those less fortunate was a great way to provide service to others. 

 

    I can’t say that I experienced any real challenges with this project. There were no complications with getting any of the supplies or being able to acquire the required hours. With that being said, I’d say one of the challenges I came across was my idea to knock out a bunch of hours at once. But I quickly learned that it didn’t take too long for my fingers to get sore. I realized I needed to pace myself and do a little bit at a time, which that is clearly not much of a complication. 

 

    My project was focused on benefitting others than myself. I wanted to do something that was charitable and this project was just that. I was able to benefit others by giving them such a simple item to help keep them warm during cold months. I am someone who is not at all a fan of the cold and I can only imagine how grateful some people can be for such a simple gift that is a necessity and not just a want. Knowing that I was able to provide people of a variety of ages and genders something to help keep them warm during winter time. 

 

    This project not only benefitted others, but it also was a benefit to myself. I was able to feel that satisfaction of knowing I’ve made other people’s lives better is the biggest one for me. This project also benefitted me by allowing me to learn a new skill. Although it was a very simple skill to learn, it was still exciting for me to learn it. It has also inspired me to learn other new skills that are more complex. 

 

“I’ve realized I can make a single beanie faster than I ever expected after all of this practice”. 

 

“Now that I’m close to being done, I’m getting more excited to donate them all knowing how much they will benefit others”.