Capstone Diaries: Racial Disparities in the Covid-19 Pandemic
Capstone Diaries is a feature where CGS sophomores share their Capstone experience week by week, from choosing an idea to completing their oral defense. This installment is by Karel Tinkler (CGS ’21, COM ’23), a student on Team W whose project focused on racial disparities in the Covid-19 pandemic in Massachusetts.
Week 1: Capstone Kickoff
At the end of March, we transitioned from finishing out our CGS classes to beginning our Capstone project. Toward the end of classes, the professors sent out a Google survey where we put down five to six other namesof people that we wanted to work on Capstone with. I would recommend forming a group before the survey is sent out, but if you do not have a preference, the professors will place you in a group where more members are needed.
I already had a group in mind, so I put down the six other group members’ names and we began forming a group text message to stay in contact and start planning. On Friday of that week, there is a Capstone Kickoff where your professors and the rest of your CGS team meet to go over the Capstone syllabus and deadlines. The professors give you helpful advice on how to effectively work with group members and set a schedule for three mandatory meetings with your group. The professors are really good about accommodating everyone’s class schedule and finding a time that works for everyone to meet.
Week 2: Research and outlining
By the time your first meeting with the professors rolls around, your team is supposed to have agreed on a topic, constructed a group contact to hold everyone accountable, and chosen a format for your written report. Your group can either provide a policy recommendation or have an adversary format where the group argues both sides of the topic. Additionally, the professors provide a comprehensive list of 20 topics that change year to year that your group can decide on. It can get a little overwhelming trying to agree on a topic among seven group members, so I would recommend using a survey platform to narrow down the group’s preferences for the topics. My group used a survey to help find everyone’s top three topic choices, which helped us more easily agree on a topic.
During this week, we spent most of our time on research. I definitely recommend dividing the research among group members by topic, such as background/history, current legislation or a case study. That way the research can feel more purposeful and manageable. Furthermore, through my Capstone experience I learned the importance of creating an in-depth and well thought out outline from the beginning. Creating an outline not only helps to organize the structure of your paper, but can guide your research and assist in dividing up work among your group members.
Week 3: Collaborating with professors
During this week, we started to transition from pure research to writing the paper itself and had our last assigned meeting with the professors. The professors take pride in being a sort of “coach figure” through the Capstone process, so take advantage of the professors and the advice they can provide you. For example, one of my group members wanted to do a case study illustrating the relationship between wealth and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. My group member did not know what neighborhoods within Boston to focus on that would demonstrate the problem we were trying to solve. After a quick office hour session, the professors happily provided three neighborhoods to focus on that illustrated real life variables that affect vaccine distribution and access.
At times the Capstone project can be overwhelming, but you have to remember the professors created the topics, so they have a good amount of background knowledge to push you in the right direction. The professors may help by giving you advice on how to structure your paper or may help with the content of the paper by giving you key terms to look for when you research or certain scholarly journals to guide your research.
Week 4: Writing the paper
With just two weeks until the final paper is due, my team was now completing research, writing, and beginning the stages of editing. If your group makes sure you have a strong outline from the beginning, this will alleviate the struggle of editing and compiling everyone’s writing together at the end. Although this is a group project, each member needs to take it upon themselves to carry their load of the work. By week 4 if everyone has a solid rough draft of their work you will be on the right track to have time to edit and read through the paper multiple times.
As part of the editing process, this can be a good time to look at the flow of the paper and page length. After compiling individual group members’ work, you may have to make little changes to make sure the voice or tone of the writing is cohesive. There may also be holes in the writing that could potentially need more background or a specific case study. After reading the paper all the way through, this is your last chance to add more writing to clarify points within your paper.
The editing process is tedious and tiresome after completing all of your research and writing, but it is so important to make sure your paper sounds like it was written by one collective unit, rather than seven individuals that just happened to combine their writing.
Week 5: Editing
It is time to collectively sit down as a group and popcorn read or individually read aloud your paper from start to finish. Capstone is due at the end of the week and by reading aloud as a group you can catch errors that the writer may not have seen and check again for the flow of the paper.
If you have set deadlines for your group throughout the process, this week will not be as stressful. Week 5 is all about finalizing punctuation, spelling, the glossary, the works cited, and formatting of your paper. Your CGS experience is coming to a close, so make sure you go out on a high note by taking advantage of this last week and turning in Capstone with no regrets. The last few weeks have been exhausting and stressful, but they probably have flown by and it is such a relief when you turn in your project on Friday. You not only addressed a real life problem and completed a 50 page paper with six other individuals, but have hopefully made some new friends or established a stronger friendship while bonding over the Capstone process, or if anything have been provided an opportunity to build your character by being flexible and adapting to a variety of personalities while trying to complete Capstone.
Week 6: The Oral Defense
The final step to the Capstone project is the oral defense, which sounds very intimidating, but essentially is just an educated conversation about your paper with your professors. I was worried about the oral defense, especially because it was during finals week when other classes were finishing up. However, if your group has read through the paper and you have done your research within the last weeks you will naturally know your paper front to back. The professors are good about making you feel comfortable from the beginning. During my oral defense, the professors started out the conversation by going around to each group member and asking what we learned from the Capstone experience, before beginning to ask questions about the content of the paper. One lesson learned from the oral defense is to be self-aware of how you act in a group conversation. Everyone needs to talk within the group, but talking for five minutes is just as bad as being silent.
At the end of the two-hour defense, the professors will give you time to do peer reviews and that is the end of CGS. It is crazy how quickly your two years go by, and Capstone is a great way to end it – an experience that makes you proud and an experience that could potentially be a valuable asset for employment. At age 20, you have learned to work in a group, speak publicly, and solve a real life problem. In the moment Capstone may seem intimidating, but once it is done you will realize all of the valuable tools and lessons Capstone has taught you from just those six weeks.
— Karel Tinkler