Researching Adolescent Cognitive Development (ACD)

 Susan Albarano, Verrazzano Class of 2021, completed major in English Literature (7-12) with a minor in Psychology 

Completing the Verrazzano Capstone is NOT impossible. When I joined Verrazzano Honors in my sophomore year and learned about the requirement, I put it on the back burner until senior year. As an education major, it is a requirement to student teach in the spring semester. I realized that I would not have much time to write a research paper and teach at the same time. Panicking, I emailed Cheryl with my concerns and thankfully, she was able to calm me down. With the help of an amazing mentor, I finally completed my paper.

I took a class about Adolescent Cognitive Development as part of my major earlier in my college career. When it ended, I wanted to learn more about the topic. I contacted the professor and we worked together to complete my research and capstone.

The process of the capstone was different than I imagined. I have written many research papers, so I assumed it would be easy. However, I quickly realized how much work I would need to put into it to make it a good paper. I worked with my mentor closely and we would meet on Zoom at least once every two weeks to discuss my progress. The actual research took more time then writing the capstone. One night I sat at my kitchen table and read at least twelve different sources for at least five hours. My eyes felt like they were going to fall out, but I wanted to get it done. I have a terrible habit of rushing and try to read everything quickly because I think it will speed up the process. However, I found myself needing to re-read everything again. BIG MISTAKE!

I gained a lot of knowledge from my research. As an education major, I will be teaching adolescents. My capstone helped me gain more knowledge on how an adolescent develops and how I can better assist them in the classroom. One important takeaway that I had from completing my capstone is the ability to keep learning. Although I knew most of the information, I was able to find new material and gain more knowledge on the topic. I was able to connect it to my career and find ways that I could implement support to my students when student teaching and when I have a classroom of my own in the future.