It’s 1:51p.m., and instead of lacing up his skates and hitting the rink, Josh Beck picks up a borrowed field hockey stick and prepares to hit the turf. Unlike his love for ice hockey, going to this Varsity Field Hockey practice isn’t by choice. In fact, it’s an English project. Like many others in his class, Beck is part of the Personal Credo Project in Ms. Shanley’s junior honors English III class, which asks students to perform a social experiment by reaching out of their comfort zone and trying something new for thirty days. This project ties into the unit on Transcendentalism, and has students apply the ideas such as self-reliance and individualism to the real world.

“I’ve learned that trying new sports can be fun and interesting and can offer a different perspective,” Beck said. “I practice mostly every day with the team, and attend their home games. It’s much more of a team game than I thought it was. The physicality of ice hockey isn’t there, and it’s not as fast paced, but they’re really similar.”

Beck isn’t the only one who is participating in the project. A few other examples include Emma Hargrove who is learning how to juggle and Katherine Powers who is teaching herself guitar.

Katie Whalen is reffing soccer for the first time to try and become more outgoing. “My goal is to show people that I’m less reserved,” Whalen said. More interesting than the actual assignment is what the students are learning about themselves through the project. On learning how to juggle, Hargrove said, “It’s not easy, and it’s hard to learn something new when there’s frustration every time you try and practice and you still can’t get it. But I’m learning that you can overcome things you didn’t think you could, and practice makes perfect.”

Cathryn Blair has also had a positive response to the project. Blair is embarking on a journey that most of us could not do; not replying to any text messages for thirty days. As an alternative she has to write letters and hand delivers or mails them to her friends if she wants to talk to them outside of school. Instead of complaining about the project, Blair realized that she is learning a lot about society. “I can’t use my phone for any social contact with my friends, which has been really hard,” Blair said. “I’ve learned that society has altered since electronics have been more popular, and it’s really hard to be the only one detached.”

This is the third year Ms. Shanley has assigned this project for her junior classes. She explains the project as an experiment assigned to stretch one’s personal boundaries, learn a new skill, or work on an area of improvement in personality. “My goal is for everyone to learn something about themselves and society,” Shanley said. “The best projects aren’t necessarily the crazy ones, they’re the personal ones. Some of projects can be very moving, and if one person can have a good experience, it’s all worth it.”