Assignment Six: Elizabeth Piper

Last year for AP Seminar in the first seminar we were tasked with writing an essay using a stimulus packet that everyone was given. The main topic of the stimulus packet was poverty. I have always been interested in current issues facing the world today and I strongly believe in helping the cause to fight off poverty and hunger. I decided to write my research paper about the psychological effects of poverty on the brain. I am also interested in psychology and I figured that this would be a perfect match. I really enjoyed the freedom we got with this assignment. I also like the restrictions we got as well. I am not a fan of being told exactly what to do but I also like have boundaries and parameters. Total freedom and independence is not my cup of tea. Through doing research for this topic I learned many new facts and I was surprised about some of the information I had learned. Through research I learned that the effects of poverty started at a very young age and it can lead into adulthood as well. Before going into this project I knew poverty couldn't be good for the brain but, I couldn't even begin to fathom how deep the effects go. It completely changed my perspective on poverty. Now my want to help diminish the poverty level has deepened. Now I believe we should focus on the children and helping them to get out of poverty. That way we can break the cycle and future generations will flourish.