Whenever I am assigned a group project, I am excited because I am a visual learner who flourishes in group settings, but I am also partially disappointed because group projects never live up to my expectations. 

For me, all group projects start the same. I’m excited to meet my team, make new connections, and work together to produce something. However, I am soon filled with disappointment because most of the time, especially in college, many students have a disinterest in the topic of research or lack the motivation and drive.

Due to these factors, most of the time I am the one to take the lead, which I like. What is frustrating, however, is when I am the only one with the motivation and drive that others lack. Things soon spin out of control when our group must decide on a time to meet outside of class, which most of the time turns out to be nonproductive and more so a conversation about anything but our project. 

After our yap session, we are closer as a group, but have no work done and a deadline approaching. Most of the time when I am in these bittersweet situations, I or someone else in the group will make the suggestion to do the work separately on our own, which always ends badly because it’s a group project, and instead of working together, we are working alone. This causes a lot of mess-ups and miscommunications. 

When we finally have our project finished, I am relieved because for the entire week leading up to it, I am often staring at an empty Canva slide deck with no work in it besides my own. I myself am a procrastinator, and I get that everyone is busy and will eventually get their work done, or at least that’s all I can hope for.

That said, with a group project, there must be cohesion, and when there’s cohesion, it’s satisfying. But you can’t have cohesion if no one communicates and gets the entire assignment done right before we as a group have to present. 

The cycle repeats itself over and over again. 

Group projects are meant to be fun, and often they are meant to be, at least in my opinion, a lighter project. If you aren’t used to them or hate working in group settings, they can be tricky or uncomfortable, but they can also allow you to hear your other classmates’ thoughts and ideas, allowing you to further your thought process and understanding of a class as a whole. 

I have done quite a few group projects within my time here at Rowan, and while many fall into the routine I mentioned above, there have been some instances where I even found myself in the position of not being able to get the work done until the last minute. 

I believe that for me, this is because a group project may have left me working alone anyway, and then I’m unable to receive group feedback. There’s no one holding me accountable. 

Still, I believe that group projects are important and can be fun if done right. In order to be done right, there must be cohesion, communication, and accountability. Without these factors, that is where we can run into conflicts with group projects and where we might find ourselves scrambling at the last minute to finish our work or even the work of others.