Group Projects

Group projects: you either love 'em or hate 'em.

If you love 'em it's because...you are a slacker hoping to get a good grade with minimal effort on your part by allowing your group mates to do all the work.

If you hate 'em it's because...you fear being "stuck" with a slacker and having to do all the work on your own lest it jeopardize your grade. You also probably hate the possibility of spending extra time outside of the classroom working on projects and/or the difficulties associated with trying to coordinate a bunch of incompatible schedules to do so.

I have always disliked group projects. Even when I was a "true freshman" I hated them. Back then, I was working crazy hours--sometimes up to forty hours a week. I barely had time for "regular" homework, much less anything extra time consuming. Plus, I felt out of place. All of my group mates didn't have jobs which meant that they had plenty of time on their hands to meet whenever they wanted; I was the only holdup. It was frustrating.

When I started back to school, I still disliked the thought of group projects mostly I because I worried about being paired with kids who could care less about school and don't mind sabotaging my GPA. (I'm clinching my jaws just thinking about it.) I also feared feeling out of place again, but in a different way. Nobody wants the "old folks" to be in their group, right?

I must admit, my back-t0-college experience has been the opposite of what I expected. The traditional-aged students have been welcoming if not downright befriending to me. In one class, my constant partner and I are "PB&J" because we work together so well and totally depend on one another. In another group project, I'm paired with three girls who are probably ten years my junior (I got a reality check when they all admitted to being too young to remember much of the Columbine shootings--I was pregnant with my first child when that happened!), but we have a great time studying together, encouraging one another and laughing...a lot. Plus, I know that I can count on these girls to do their part and they are as concerned about making a good grade as I am.

For me, group projects are no longer a thing to dread because I'm having so much fun doing them! Maybe the key is that my professors let us pick our own groups and that has allowed us to pair up complimentary personalities.