Group Projects. Need I say more? Professors know how much we loathe these, yet they persist on assigning them. It always seems like the other groups in the class are getting along swimmingly while you on the other hand get stuck with the oddballs of the class. Here are the five people everyone experiences in a group project:
Control-Freak:
This person must get 100% on this project. We all understand that it’s a great goal to get 100%, but let’s be honest; group projects are not made for that. This person has to assign everyone a job (when in reality they’re going to re-do everyone’s work anyways). They’re easy to spot with the twenty emails they’ll send every day. It’s like having your parents constantly down your back all over again.
Mystery Group Member:
No one really knows what this person looks like. You met them on the first week of class, when you found out who your group was, but that’s it. This person might send an email or two so you’ll give them a few points on the peer evaluation sheet, but they won’t contribute at all to the project. This person relies on the control freak to take the reign and carry them along the way.
The Clown
This person spends most of the time in your group meetings looking up funny videos on YouTube or sharing their friends’ embarrassing snap chats. They’re just trying to make everyone laugh and distract themselves from the pain of group projects. This can be helpful when you get close to the deadline and everyone’s stressed, but don’t forget it’s schoolwork- not happy hour.
The Mouse
This person is usually very quiet during your group meetings. They show up every time but they don’t usually say what’s on their mind and what they think should be done. You can rely on this person to get the work done, but only if you tell them what to do.
The Procrastinator
You can always count on having a procrastinator in every group! If your project is due at midnight, this person will be sending you about ten emails at 11:30pm to make sure everything is done from the rubric and to give their last changes. They aren’t just going to suggest a few word changes. That would be too easy. No, this person will want to completely redo the section that took you the longest to do. It won’t be clear enough for them or it won’t cover enough. Everyone bothering to read their emails will all be thinking, “what were you doing this whole semester?”
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