“Group Project.” The two words that every college student fears the most. We all hate doing group projects. Our professors insist that they better our learning because in the “Real World” we will have to work in groups.
It’s not even like the assignment itself is that bad, it’s the fact that you have to work with a group of people that makes it so tough. You wish you could just do all the work yourself because it would save everyone a lot of trouble. Well here are all the different types of group members there are, and they are ranked from best to worst
1.YouObviously you’re the best group member. You always know exactly what you are thinking. You can always plan a time to meet, and you like your ideas best.
2.The FriendYou lucked out! You have a friend in your class and when your professor started talking about a group project you instantly made the “we’re going to be in the same group” eyes at each other. You are on the same wavelength when it comes to ideas. You already hang out together so getting the project done should be fine. And not to mention you can trash talk your other group members together.
3.The Silent WorkhorseThey don’t talk much, or really contribute any ideas, but they always agree with you and don’t cause any trouble. They never bail last minute on a meeting and they do exactly what you asked of them – nothing more and nothing less.
4.The Disappearing ActThat one guy who was there the first day and you’re not sure if he’s still in the class. And no one has his number and you also don’t know his name. But you’re pretty sure he had brown hair. So you keep doing the project like he isn’t in the class anymore and then the day before the presentations he shows up and expects to get credit for all the work he didn’t do.
5.The Self-Appointed Group DictatorThis girl rolled up into the first group meeting and just took charge. She just decided that it was her lifelong calling to be in charge of this little group project for your 300 level major requirement. At first it was nice because you didn’t have to be in charge for once but then you realized she is relentless. Someone needs to tell this girl to take a chill pill (but not you because she terrifies you).
6.The Excuse MakerThis group member seemed chill at first, but now it’s getting down to crunch time and they never seem to have their share of the work done. You try to schedule a group meeting and they always have something else they have to do. Work, a sorority obligation, an internship – you name it and they have used it as an excuse. Every time you do get together, they don’t have the article they said they’d print and still haven’t done those annotated bibs they said they would finish. What’s worse is that the excuses are lame and not even a little creative. Dog ate it? Get some new material please!
7.The FlakeThis group member is THE WORST! They never show up to your agreed upon meeting time even though they suggested it in the first place. They have to mysteriously leave the meetings early when they do show because they have a “thing.” They probably weren’t in class in the first place and that’s how they wound up in your group. They never know what’s going on and it wouldn’t matter if they did because they probably won’t show on presentation day.
Group projects are indeed the worst, but thank God for Google Docs and group evaluations am I right???