As soon as he heard about the Grande Project, this year’s pandemic adaptation of the traditional Senior Project, senior Jacob Sprock knew what he wanted to do.

For his Grande Project, Sprock decided to research the topic of addiction and substance abuse. In addition to his research and work in the field, he is going to send a letter to an elected official in order to inform them about the effects of addiction in the community. 

“Somebody very close to me died in 2019 because of an addiction, so I just wanted to volunteer,” said Sprock when asked why he chose the topic of addiction.

He stated that his personal experiences with addicts drove him to center his project around addiction, and that he already knew that he wanted to do it when he was told about the Grande Project over the summer. 

Throughout the research process, Sprock has learned a lot. He has especially been interested in how addiction is treated in different countries.

“In Portugal, they have a specific way to treat addicts,” said Sprock. “When they catch someone who is addicted to an illegal drug, they don’t throw him in jail.  Instead, they put them in a rehabilitative program.  In essence, they are treating addicts as people who have a problem, not as criminals.”

As for the Grande Project in comparison to a traditional project he thought that it was quite different. 

“I'm almost a third party in this whole affair,” said Sprock. “But I do think it's, it's interesting .” 

Even though Sprock feels less connected personally he still thinks that the things he has learned are valuable. 

“This project is a chance to learn about an entire community as a whole and not just a subset of the population,” said Sprock. “Even though it is not as personal, it shines in the fact that it makes you see the bigger picture.  By making it more general, it helps you find your place in your community and helps you figure out how you can be a more proactive member of society.”