I had a good time connecting with likeminded people and meeting important figures in my state government. I saw many different state departments and learned about how they all connect and make a difference in their communities. I also made and presented a policy proposal on dealing with solar panel waste as if I was part of the North Carolina department of environmental quality.

I did a background check on how I could complete my plan with our school's college counselor. She approved my idea, so I moved on with it. I made a list of all the people I wanted to work with and emailed them. I got a response from a representative of Colleges That Change Lives who helped me put together my library display and gave me the resources to create and publicize it. I also set a timeline for my project (which was longer than 6 months due to the schedule of my school's counselors). I planned to complete my project by the next winter, March 15th. I planned to acquire all of the books and other supplies (such as homemade and donated brochures and book covers) by March 2nd. My budget was $145 because I got a few books donated to me from Colleges That Change Lives, but had to buy a majority of them myself. The costs of the books varied but I planned on buying 17 books total. The total cost was about $132. Since I was the person putting up the library display, my family and I covered the costs.

On the day of the opening of my library section, my grandma (a former librarian) helped me bring in the books, brochures, and other supplies to set up in our school library. I also put up lots of posters I had created and printed out all around the school to spread the word. I had the contacts of my college counselor, the teacher who runs the library, and my grandma in case something went wrong or I needed help. I then took pictures and had some of my friends come to celebrate its opening!

Since our library does not have a checkout system (it works on the honor system) it is difficult to tell how many books people have read or if they have gained information from them. However, one of my friends (Brooke Evan) told me that she was reading one of the books (Choosing College) and learned that she must look beyond the mold and explore colleges that she had not originally thought to tour. I wrote to the representative who reached out to me earlier in this process (who had offered to publicize my library on their social media) from Colleges That Change Lives, sending her a picture and information about my completed project. However, she has not written back yet so I am not sure if my project will be publicized this way. I also made sure to thank her in this email for all of her help throughout the process.