Exit interview questions

11.)    What is your essential question? What is the best answer for your question and why?

My essential question is what is the best way for a firefighter to extinguish a structural fire? My best answer regarding my essential question is answer number 2 which is to Practice drills and training techniques on a regular basis at the station.

22.)    What process did you take to arrive at this answer?

The process I took in order to arrive at this answer was definitely an experience to remember. I have been to many stations and met many firefighters throughout this journey. Every firefighter and station that I have been too has demanded a well balance of training throughout the day. I have done ride-along and witnessed firefighting in live action. The number one thing that a firefighter refers back to when in the line of duty is the training that they have done. A personal experience that I had that really made me understand the importance of training as a firefighter was when I had live fire training. We had trained and learned the techniques necessary in order to be able to extinguish a fire. We also were in the right physical condition to fight the fire therefore referring back to what we learned in training to efficiently extinguish the fire. Training is all we do at the station and because of this we will be able to arrive and perform when there is a call.

33.)    What problems did you face? How did you resolve them?

Some problems I faced in regards to my senior project were finding a mentor. I had a tough time finding a mentor that would stick with me and help me throughout this senior project. My first mentor only wanted to help me once every few months because of legal aspects. My second mentor went away to Iraq to serve in the navy. So to resolve this problem I talked to the senior team and within a few hours, I was put into the fire explorer program and gained a great mentor. Another problem I had was solidifying my essential question. I couldn’t decide on an essential question so what I did was, I sat down and analyzed all of my research and what I was training for and realized that focusing my attention on structure fire would be my best bet.

44.)    What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?

My most important source that really helped me understands my essential question was my mentor and explorer post 19. Explorer post 19 puts everything into perspective and makes us think for ourselves while teaching us at the same time. My mentorship has not only made me realize that training is my most important answer, but has let me put my answers to the test. Without them my senior project would have greatly suffered. My second form of source was my research. Specifically and article about fire engineering. This article helped me understand my first answer which is to follow incident command systems.

55.)    What is your product and why?

My product in regard to my senior project is working in a team. Firefighting is strongly group based. You have to be able to work with other people and work with them well. Yes ploy has been trying to teach me this for four years, but I didn’t truly realize how important it is to be able to communicate and listen to you fellow coworkers until I joined the explorer program. Teamwork is important and thanks to my senior project, I know realize that in order to be successful in certain jobs, you have to be able to work well with others.