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Michael Han

Project Title
Period 1
Ms. Shimp
7 December 2014
Senior Category
While determining what my topic should be, I asked myself, Who was an influential
leader that I would enjoy researching? It was then that I remembered learning about Nelson
Mandela and hearing about him on the news, which led me to the conclusion that Nelson
Mandela would be a fantastic person to research because he led a great and powerful life as well
as left behind a grand legacy.
I started my research by looking for speeches spoken by Nelson Mandela in order to
represent his leadership and the influence he had on his people. Next, I searched for other
reliable and more recent sources; CNN, the New York Times, and quotes from South African
President Jacob Zuma as well as President Obama being examples of such, of which I planned to
use on my website. After realizing that I needed a larger variety of primary sources, I sought out
images that reflected Mandelas views as he protested and videos of interviews or Mandelas
reflection on his imprisonment as well as his journey towards ending apartheid. A slight problem
I encountered while researching my topic was not being able to contact anyone that was involved
in Mandelas fight for equality in order to interview them and better understand Nelson
Mandelas legacy. Nonetheless, I continued to look for sources that would help my research as
well as answer the question: Why is Nelson Mandela a significant figure in world history?
Finally, I went to a local library in order to find more information on my topic, but could not find
anything that would be useful to my research.
I choose the website category because I liked the idea of being able to use images, text,
and various forms of multimedia in order to present my work. Another factor that helped me lean
towards creating a website was that I do not enjoy writing and did not feel that I would be able to
create a neat and presentable display board. Furthermore, by creating a website, I have the
freedom to be able to work from anywhere and easily incorporate videos and images onto my
project in order to make my primary sources more diverse, a problem that I encountered during
my research. In order to create my product, I began by making a draft of the different sections
that I would have and what would go into each section. Then, I focused on making the website
flow well and easy to use.
My topic relates to this years theme, Leadership and Legacy in History, because
Nelson Mandela stood strong against apartheid as he fought for his beliefs and led the people of
South Africa to freedom from the unjust government and towards equal rights and democracy.
Nelson Mandela is a leader because he brought his people towards salvation during a time of
racism, social injustice, and imbalanced government. By working so hard and finally defeating
apartheid, Nelson Mandelas strength became acknowledged by people across the world, and
even after death he wields a great influence.
Word Count: 504

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