The Scholar: Jefu Lee
The Project: Don Quixote, But with a Modern Twist
The Essential Question:聽“I wrote my own version of the novel Don Quixote, and I based it off of chapters 1-8, which are the chapters that are most known. It鈥檚 a really long book, but that鈥檚 where the main plot of the book happens. I wrote my own, more modern version. I used the help of Ms. Kokoska, because at first I couldn鈥檛 come up with an idea and she suggested to me maybe a book that I read, and Don Quixote popped into my mind instantly and I decided I was going to do my own version.”
Surprising Discovery:聽“I found the reading pretty challenging. I鈥檓 usually comfortable reading in Spanish, but it was a really old book so the language was different and it was hard to comprehend sometimes.”
Biggest Challenge: “Writing it. I kind of had an idea in my mind, but it wasn鈥檛 solidified yet. I was just writing along every chapter I wrote. And just finding the time to write it. First trimester senior year is very stressful鈥搇ot of homework, lot of college stuff, so it was hard to find the time to write it.”
Tip for future scholars: “You鈥檒l have fun. It鈥檚 a small class so you鈥檒l have time to talk to your teacher a lot, ask for help. It might be a little stressful, but it鈥檚 very rewarding once you finish it and once you make the presentation, after that you鈥檒l feel a lot more relieved.”
Was there a specific story or account that you recreated that really stood out as memorable? “Yeah, the windmill chapter in the book. It鈥檚 the most famous part of the book, a lot of people know it even if they haven鈥檛 read it. Writing my own version of that was fun and exciting鈥揷oming up with ideas that would relate to our era right now.”
