Kevin Martinez

06/2/13
Vaughn Environmental Initiative or VEI, is a major assessment in my environmental
science class that proposes the challenge to seek change for an environmental issue. Each
separate period is dividend on the issue they plan to face and our class chose the undermined
topic of e-waste. This project was unique in collaboration, since a single period is divided into
departments, each with specific tasks and aims that eventually propel the class forward as a
whole. This company like system reflects a lot of the jobs many of us students will face in the
future and served as a very insightful glimpse on how important working together really is in
determining future success. I was part of the marketing department and our aims were to expand
the aims of our project throughout the school population, with a series of logos, flyers, and
videos to really bring emphasis on our goals. Not only did this assignment help in working with a
group, my peers and I became more aware of the aspects of what is involved in order to
communicate with others that would be really helpful in pursue a marketing career.
Electronic waste is a global issue that occurs everywhere and is a direct result of the
expansion of the global era. Becoming familiar with our environmental topic, I learned about
the severity of the issue and its impact on the environment that many people are not aware of.
Prior to this project I held this mentality that my ecological foot prints was so diminutive that I
held this god like presence by not polluting the earth. This project gently brought me down from
the clouds with the amount of information on e-waste. Our group and I decided to act locally first
and hold drop centers for e-waste. We received eighty plus items that consisted of computers,
laptops, phones, and chargers which were properly recycled with the help of a partnership with
Plant Green. A lot of research, planning, and organizing went into completing this project. For
instance, all the flyers, videos, posters, and the ads that were scattered across our community and
school have brought a better understanding of not only the serious crisis of electronic waste but
also understanding the aspects of a marketing venture.
Around the same time, in my Honors English Class my peers and I were preparing a book
analysis alongside a presentation on list of books of our choosing that were undermined in
classrooms due to their explicit content. This project showed personal growth, by completly
understanding a literary piece like, Always Running: La Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A by Luis J.
Rodriguez by analyzing the current day effects that influenced the author why led to the reasons
why the book is banned from many school libraries. This project awakened a profound interest in
reading that I have never experienced before, which led to me read books from major authors
like Ayn Rand, Steven King, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. This project also helped me overcome my
fear of presenting to class. One of the components of this assignment was to present in front of
upperclassmen to convince them why Always Running is a book worth reading. This assignment

was an enjoyable experience since it truly helped me overcome many of my awkward plateau
phases of disregarding reading and public oration.
Some skills that I learned throughout the process of the VEI project were to communicate
with countless people. Working in the marketing portion of the project, one on one conversations
with countless individuals was one the main tasks of this project, in order to spread the word on
our environmental issue. I have become more familiar with the use of media to reach a variety of
people, by using outlets such as videos, announcements, and presentations to communicate our
ideas and goals. My contribution to project as whole was too specifically create several videos,
flyers, and bits of advertising as seen in the logo that helped create the overall image of
C.A.R.E.
Furthermore, the VEI and the book Analysis project helped me expand on my
communication and understanding, since these two projects forced me to be comfortable with
myself in order to give a thorough presentation or a well formulated marketing ideas. VEI has
helped me view the world in a different light and gave me the courage to act upon the situations
that are occurring in my community or on a global scale. The book analysis has changed my
perspective on the task of reading itself, by becoming more engaged with books and authors,
which allowed me to become more confident on my understanding of literary works.