The Current Bane of My Existence

Bane: a person or thing that ruins or spoils.

Group projects.  Don't they ruin everything?

Allow me to vent for a moment.  Just a moment, and then I'll stop.  This might be a lengthy moment, but if it were short, I'd actually have to start working on homework soon.

Soooooooooo...I have this group project.  It started the first week of the semester.  Basically, this group project is the entire class.  In a nutshell, we have to design a health promotion program.  This includes assessing our target population to make sure there's a need for a program, finding more data and research to back up the need, creating a program, putting together a marketing plan, a budget, goals and objectives, etc.  The only thing we don't do is actually implement the program. 

As I said, we've been working on it since week one.  The way the class is designed though makes it so that you feel like you're right on track for the first month and a half and then the last three weeks are just crazy.  The project is due on Monday and it definitely is CRAZY.  Especially when you're in a group of four people and only two of you are doing most of the work.  And now we're to the point where I don't even want the other girls to do anything because they have no idea what's going on AND the assignments they've had so far have either a) not gotten done in a timely manner or b) been done halfway or are just plain sloppy.  Uggg.  I'm so grateful at least one other person in my group is putting time into this!!

Here are my biggest issues with the two weak links (rude, but true).  

1) Most of our classes are "lab days" which just means that you have that time to work in your groups.  There have been other days though that are lecture where the professor explains how part of a project needs to be done.  The two rarely come to those lecture days which leaves the other girl and I to take notes, understand what's going on, and then take our group time trying to explain it to the ones who were missing.  This would be another reason their work isn't any good, they weren't in class to see what he wants!  What's worse is that I'll talk to them the day before and they'll say "see you tomorrow!" which would lead me to assume that they mean they'll be in class the next day since I've never just seen them around randomly.  But apparently, there's some hidden meaning in this phrase because they don't come to class and I don't "see them tomorrow."

2) They never volunteer to do anything.  Arielle and I will start saying "oh, I'll do that" or "I've already got that started so I'll just finish it" or "I already did that" and they'll just sit there....waiting for us to tell them what to do.  Both of us have just done things so that they'll be done and neither of them have put forth any effort to do something unless it was asked of them.  And we've both redone their stuff a few times because it wasn't professional or complete (one girl told me today she'd make sure her part looked cute.  I said "no, we need it to look professional.  You need to put it in Cambria font, size 12 like the rest of the project).  Today, we went to the professor to ask him some questions and get feedback on what we have done and they just sat in their desks, checking their phones, not really caring I guess.  

3) How do they think this stuff is getting done?!  Are they totally oblivious to the fact that some of the things we've done have taken HOURS to put together.  I've contacted multiple people to set up interviews, taken time to prepare questions and go interview them and spent hours creating marketing posters, a curriculum, calendar and more.  The other girl has typed up PAGES of interventions, goals and objectives as well as put in way too much time doing research for it because the others never did research to give to her. 

I could go on.  

I actually really like this project.  It reminds me of when my siblings and I would play "work" when we were younger.  It could be a fun class and I love our project and what we're doing.  I just wish I only had to do a quarter of it and not half.  If it was my only class, I probably wouldn't mind.  But seeing as I have three other classes, I can't really put all my time into this one.  I know the other girls are busy but WELCOME TO COLLEGE AND SUCK IT UP.  You signed up for this.  Don't think you're any busier than the others.  We all have jobs, we all have classes, we all have social lives and we all have this project that needs to be turned in by 4:00 Monday afternoon.  

Come 4:00, I will be one happy camper.