Cross Country in 40 Days

          Out of all of the projects and classwork papers I have completed throughout the school year, this project seemed to stand out. The project consisted of picking 5 destinations (cities) in the U.S that you wanted to visit; however, those cities also had to intertwine with U.S history. After you have chosen your preferred destinations, you have to figure out how many miles it would take to go round trip. Starting and finishing at Philadelphia, the stops I made along the way included, Austin, Texas, Sana Fe, New Mexico, Los Angeles, California, Portland, Oregon, and Charleston South Carolina. This trip was a sightseeing trip and like you would in a realistic situation, you had to figure out how much it would cost to eat, stay at the hotels, fuel your car, and rent a car.
          This entire project was at each individual's pace which worked out extremely well for me. I can go as fast as I wanted without having to wait, while I also could take time on specific parts of the project I might have been confused about. While this project tied in with U.S history, it not only taught me pre-algebra, math, and setting proportions, it also included a life lesson that I will know for a life time. Time management and being wise with your money are crucial understandings that I will need to know in the future. For example, I didn't want my trip to be a year long, and I also didn't want to pick the Jeep (the most expensive car available to drive my 7,650 mile journey) because it was a cool car.
          The math needed to finish this project is tedious and hard. The fact that this project had multiple steps really encouraged me to try and get one step done each day and to strive for two. The pleasure I received during this project was form part 2. In this section you had to figure out how many miles per gallon your car could go.  The reason why is because I feel as if I worked the hardest on this part over all of the others. The math needed to complete this portion was meticulous and I was intrigued even more each car I completed. Before the completion of this project, I was forced to face rough patches along the way. The hardest part might seem silly to you;nevertheless, it was pretty difficult for me. Sometimes choices are good and they allow you to do what you want; however, a bit more boundaries might have helped me finish this task a bit faster. Being able to pick your own cities was actually the hardest part for me because I am not very quick at picking choices. With over thousands and thousands of cities all over the United States,  to only pick five was a bit arduous.
          Overall, this project broadened my horizons and helped learn about math, social studies, and daily life situations. To be able to do projects similar to this one would be great because I really enjoyed everything involved with it. From the Civil War to the Battle of Fort Sumter, the cities I chose tied in perfectly with U.S history, while they also were cities that I would want to visit in real life.