Do you have that one kid in class that doesn’t do any work? You just know that they have no interest in what’s being said in class, they just want to get out of there as soon as possible. I have someone like that in my classes. Now, I didn’t want to judge them in the beginning because you never know what someone is going through. Just because someone has a lack of interest in class doesn’t mean they’re lazy, they might just have something going on in their personal life. I kept this in mind at the beginning of the semester until they started asking for assignments. One day while we were studying, I gave this person my notes and my assignment in hopes that they would learn from what I gave them instead of just cheating. This of course didn’t happen, and they just stole my assignment.
This person is also in another one of my classes. At the beginning of the semester I signed up to be in a group with them because I knew then and recognized the name. This proved to be a big mistake. Since then I have found myself doing all the work or at least having to make up for them and other people not pulling their weight. I know that this concept is not strange to most people, but this is the first time that I actually did something about it. I talked with my professor about how I was feeling, and he let me know that I could change groups if I found one that hadn’t reached the maximum amount of people. Earlier this week I talked with the group I wanted to join, and they welcomed me with open arms. I do felt kind of bad about not communicating with my old group about leaving, but I saw an opportunity and I took it.
I encourage everyone to take the steps necessary to help yourself in these types of situations. I feel like we get into the habit of just taking it and dealing with people like this, but we don’t have to anymore. There are more and more professors who understand what we go through and will help us when we get treated unfairly. I’m very lucky that my professor was able to help as well as finding a new group that was so welcoming. Hopefully, you can find supportive people in your classes like I was.