Group Projects

Every once in a while everyone has to do things that involve other people. Whether its on the job, at home, or in school we all have to cooperate with other people. Team work and cooperation is highly emphasized in the work field and in school. Since being a student is my job, i want to talk about my feelings towards group projects.

I have never been to big on group projects even when i was in elementary school. I have always enjoyed independent work opposed to group projects for numerous reasons, some good and some bad. Ive always seen group projects as a combinations of brains and i usually don't see myself as that bright given certain topics. There have been plenty of times where i would have to do group projects and i wouldn't have no understanding or knowledge on the topic and i would find myself clueless. In addition my group members would easily get annoyed by my lack of participation, but is it honestly my fault? This wasn't always the case. At times i can do extremely well in group work, especially if its a topic or a group of people that I'm comfortable with. I can throw out some really good ideas, and tackle easy writing assignments for my group members easily. Unfortunately i cant always decide who I'm working with or what the focus of the discussion will be. Slowly i have pushed my self to be a better participant in any group activity.

College is that one place where working in groups is completely unavoidable. So far i have done work with other people in all of my classes except for two of them. I must admit, its a lot more fun in college than it is in high school or elementary school because there is so much more to say about the world once you hit college. For my English comp class we have to form groups and try to tackle problems that are on campus. The groups vary from campus safety, the freshman parking lot (fair grounds), wi-fi connection, pedestrian visibility, and the group that I'm in, campus food. I have never had to do anything quite like this in my life and i will admit that i thought it to be a bit far fetched but i was willing to participate. The group that I'm in are all very smart and hard working. Even though some have more to say than others we all pitch in. The one thing that pisses me off is when group members aren't willing to meet outside of class to work on what needs to be done. It only puts more work on those who do show up and then we need to inform those who didn't what it is that they need to do. I know for a fact that as a college student, times can conflict due to classes and it may be a little difficult to squeeze in additional room. As long as a group effort is being shown and every one is pitching in then all is fair and good.

In conclusion i want to say that the number one reason why i hate group projects, is having to rely on others. I cannot say how many times I've worked with others who failed to do their part in the group and put every ones grade in a bonfire. What pisses me off even more is when the teacher decides to give the entire group the same grade instead of what each individual person deserves. For all students out there, DON'T BE THAT GROUP MEMBER, and for the teachers DON'T BE THAT DOUCHE BAG TEACHER THAT DECIDES TO SCREW EVERYONE OVER.