It has been recently announced that after 3 years, Mr Printer has passed the title of Personal Project Coordinator to Ms Mueller. As a year 10 student who is just starting my Personal Project, I was curious to find out what we can expect from Ms Mueller.

One of the first questions that crossed my mind was what motivates a teacher to step up to the Personal Project coordinator role? What makes them step up and volunteer to guide a group of year 11s throughout the Personal Project? 

Luckily, these questions were answered when Ms Mueller said, “To be very honest, one of the main reasons really was when I first started working here, Personal Project was totally new to me, and I think at first I felt very intimidated by it, and I just imagined that as a student, it must be quite intimidating to think of the Personal Project, so I thought I can really relate to that, so I would be a good fit for the job.” It is very reassuring to know that Ms Muller can put herself in our shows and emphasize with us, and therefore understand our struggles more easily. 

When asked about her hopes for the project in 2021, Ms Muller responded, “I feel like we’re in a really good place at the school at where we are with the Personal Project, and I hope that I will be able to keep up the positive spirit around the Personal Project. I hope that I will be able to give the students the necessary support. And last but not least, I also hope to gain more knowledge, especially about what’s happening behind the curtain, what is happening there so a bit the logistics, organisation and so on.” 

A position like this can come with a lot of responsibilities and time-consuming planning, but it can also come with a lot of excitement. Ms Mueller, in particular, is excited “to be working with the students; to see some students again, who I have known for some years, meeting new students that I don’t know yet,” additionally, she has mentioned that she is “really excited to be working with Mr Anderson.”

After talking to several year 10s, I can conclude that the personal project is stressful even just to think about. In order to lessen the stress of personal projects, Ms Mueller suggests to “Get started really from day one, from workshop one” and to be “organised from day one, meaning that when they go to the workshop, have all the materials ready, that they need to have ready, and make sure their pp journals are ready.”  Another thing year 10s worry about is the process of choosing a topic for the project. According to Ms Mueller, it is very important to choose “something they’re interested in.” This advice is very important, as it can motivate the students for the whole project.

Overall, I can see that Ms Mueller is very excited about becoming the new Personal Project Coordinator and to be working with the students directly through the process of the project. Personally, I am equally looking forward to working with her, and cannot wait to see what she brings to the Personal Project.