Hello everyone, and welcome back to my final blog post for this inquiry project. Throughout this inquiry, I researched the mental, emotional, and physical impacts of cancer on both patients and their families. In this post, I will reflect on the challenges I faced during this project, how my thinking has changed, how this learning may affect my future, and the impact it could have on others.
a. What challenges did you overcome throughout this inquiry project? How did you overcome them?
One of the biggest challenges I faced during this inquiry project was working with a topic that is extremely sensitive and personal to me. For most of my high school years, my dad battled cancer, and he recently passed away. Because of this, researching cancer was emotionally difficult at times and brought up memories and feelings I wasn’t always prepared for.
Another challenge was staying focused and objective while still being respectful. It was hard to separate my personal experiences from the research I was doing. To overcome this, I broke my inquiry into clear sections, mental, emotional, and physical impacts. This helped me stay organized and allowed me to approach each topic thoughtfully, without feeling overwhelmed. Using reputable sources and focusing on learning rather than personal emotion helped me push through and complete the project in a meaningful way.
b. How did this inquiry change the way you think?
This inquiry changed the way I think about cancer and illness overall. Before starting this project, I mostly thought about cancer in terms of treatments and physical effects. Through my research, I learned that cancer affects every part of a person’s life, including their mental health, emotions, identity, and relationships.
Because of my personal connection to this topic, this inquiry helped me understand experiences my family and I went through but never fully explained. Learning about caregiver fatigue, emotional role changes, and long-term stress gave me a clearer understanding of what was happening during my dad’s illness. It made me more aware of how deeply illness affects not just patients, but everyone around them.
c. How did this investigation impact your future decisions?
This investigation will influence how I act and think in the future by making me more compassionate and understanding toward others. I now realize that people facing illness may be dealing with challenges that aren’t always visible. This will affect how I support others and how patient I am in difficult situations. It also helped me develop stronger research and critical thinking skills. Learning how to break down a complex topic and approach it carefully is something I will carry forward into future school work and real-life situations.
d. What impact could this investigation have on others?
This investigation could help others better understand the full impact of cancer beyond just physical symptoms. On a local level, it may encourage more empathy and support for patients and caregivers within families and communities. People may become more aware of how important emotional and mental support is during illness. On a larger scale, this inquiry highlights the importance of viewing health as something that includes mental, emotional, and physical well-being. Understanding this can help promote more compassionate and supportive approaches to care. Overall, this project shows the value of awareness, empathy, and education when discussing serious health challenges.
Thank you for following along throughout my research, I hope you learned something new!
