There’s a quote I’m rather fond of. I’m not sure who came up with it, if any one person did, but it’s fantastic nonetheless. – “I want my group members to put my casket in the ground when I die, so they can let me down one last time.”

I don’t agree with that sentiment entirely, but there have been some definite issues with group work I’ve received in high school. For one, the projects were short. Very short. A week or two, maybe almost a month at most, and they would almost usually end with little to no collaboration, and one person just shouldering most of the effort themselves. I think short projects are doomed to fail, especially when the people within said group are strangers. To get comfortable and work at an acceptable and optimal level it is necessary to know and be secure with the people around you. They don’t have to be your friends, but you should know them well enough to not worry about the social dynamics too much. In a group where everyone is foreign to each-other, people are far less likely to share their ideas openly.

Another factor that makes or breaks the group experience is the composition of the group itself. This is where things get a little dicey, because ideal groups with ideal people rarely exist, and when they do, it’s usually not for very long. But what is an ideal composition? An ensemble of friends is almost as doomed to fail as it is with strangers. While there are strong social connections, there is often a lack of work ethic and professionalism. I wouldn’t say that this is always the case, especially as we get older and learn to fool around less, but it happens often enough that I would generally advise against it. You should be able to relate to, understand, and feel comfortable around your group members, but they shouldn’t be close friends or complete strangers.

So it’s with some despair that I share my personal experience; I’ve been a part of very few good groups, and have been a part of a multitude of horrific ones. I’m hoping that college will change that, as the people I’ve met so far here at Stony are considerably more cooperative and level headed than the average person I knew in high school. So far I’ve been rather pleased with the groups I’m in this class and in my hall council for Drieser. I’m hoping this trend continues rather than regresses, and that I can revoke the statements made earlier in this paragraph and in this essay. I think that hard working, productive groups are a long shot, but they can and do happen, and when that intermingling of chance and creativity occurs, the results are wonderful.