Write a one-page reflection on your group's sustainability PSA project, discussing the brainstorming process, your contributions to the introduction, and how the introduction and closing slides addressed the sustainability topics. Reflect on what you learned about your topic and others', what you liked about your individual slide(s), and the challenges of using visual formats for public awareness compared to essays. Evaluate the PSA as a medium for promoting awareness and suggest improvements for the project. The reflection should be formatted in paragraphs, including your name, class, date, assignment name, and instructor’s name, and saved as a .doc, .docx, or .pdf file. Points will be deducted for using non-paragraph formats.

This PSA project opened my eyes to more issues generally overlooked by the general public.
First, when I had to choose a topic for the project, that made me look into several areas, and I, as
a citizen, had to decide which problem was the most important to me. That was the issue with the
MTA and the subway system.

MTA issues were the most important to me as I was a broke college student who needed
to get to campus from home and vice versa. I needed to get to my classes on time and schedule,
but because of delays from the MTA subway, I needed to estimate how long it would take to get
to my final destination. Sometimes, it would be on time; sometimes, it would be late. Very rarely
was I somewhere early. Also, upon researching the topic, I discovered that this problem affects
all New Yorkers. This discovery made me want to do a project about the subject.

While researching the topic, I ran into multiple issues related to the broader issue of
improving transportation. For example, there was corruption with the contractors that repaired
and improved the MTA; there was corruption with actual board members of the MTA; there were
infrastructure issues like flooding and criminal activity. In looking at all these issues, I had to
decide which topic to focus on and display to the public. That was a challenging task. Each issue
was significant, and to solve the problem of the MTA, I had to address all of them. So I took a
step back and realized that the best way is to choose an issue to address that is relatable to
everyone, no matter the station, and can significantly impact public transportation’s perception.
To me, that was infrastructure. One problem that can address the average person’s experience of
the MTA subway is the infrastructure. These problems include but are not limited to flooding in
the train station, dangerous and unsanitary bacteria growth, and odd smells that could be
unhealthy for people to inhale.

Lastly, I needed to frame the issue in a way that was easy for people to digest and still
delivered the message on the urgency of the matter. The best way was video format. If people
could see the damages that the MTA’s infrastructure suffered, they would be more inclined to pay
attention and take action.

Overall, this experience of making a PSA made me more aware of my surroundings and
made me realize that the best politicians and leaders often do not wait for somebody to say
something. Instead, as soon as they see a problem, they act on it. They don’t need other people to
tell them to take action. Unfortunately for us New Yorkers, we don’t have those politicians, and
the next best step is to scream from the top of our lungs what we want them to do. And with the
ability to express our wants and concerns, we are as great of a nation as we are today.