What are your plans for working on your Capstone during Spring Break?

Spring-break is a busier time than the regular academic rotation, particularly during the Junior year. Obligations and ambitions compound exponentially as the college application process enters full swing. Kids often have college visits and other activities scheduled alongside their downtime, and this felt true to me.
Over the three-and-a-half week vacation, I set out to create a prototype of my new idea: an LED strip that increases in luminosity with violin playing. The biggest struggle I had was not the logistics and mechanisms behind the design, but rather the commitment and resource prerequisites. Just because I knew how a circuit and its components worked does not equate to me understanding how to construct one. Finding and locating each individual part that I needed, as well as finding the tools needed (Solder, breadboards, etc...) proved to be a significant challenge. More than 10 hours were spent simply looking at components and comparing prices. Now with the parts and materials sorted out, it was time to move forward with a physical creation.

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