Group work has never been an activity to steer me away. I became very familiar working with others in high school, as it was a common occurrence. One thing I never thought about doing as group was constructing an essay. Essays were always a task left up to the individual. Thoughts and ideas were welcome to discussion but the actual writing part was for yourself. That’s why it came to a surprise when we were given a group writing assignment. The unfamiliar territory felt unapproachable at this level of my education. As we began working with groups I quickly found how easily your voice can get lost in discussion. It was frustrating to be unable to have control over my own piece. I was accustomed to a way in which I could delete and add ideas as I pleased. However, as we continued I noticed how efficiently we began working. We assigned roles to people in order to get everyones ideas down on paper, we had come up with much better ways of thinking and processing what we were assigned. There was a clear development of skills that I noticed within my group.
It struck me when Gianna while we were working together in a group said “this is a process” referring to the struggle of combining of both groups letters into one. Though not directed in this manner, her comment can be adapted on a larger scale. Development is a process. These skills do not appear over night, they are hard earned and require a lot of work. It was very fascinating to actually witness my group get better as time went on. Working in a group may have came off as almost impossible to me, but I learned the impact that I can have on our writing style from here on out.
Not only does this apply to English but it also can be related to a bigger picture. First semester of college I felt lost, and sometimes lonely. The work level was something I wasn’t adjusted to and I struggled. This semester I have a much bigger group of friends, I learned to manage my time efficiently, I developed skills I didn’t know I was capable of and I learned so much about myself. This is a process, nothing comes easy and nothing comes fast but the end result is worth it.