Many of us remember our high school and college days having to write either book reports or thousand word essays focusing on an interesting historical figure. I remember having to do extensive research during my junior year in high school on “The Catcher in the Rye”. It was difficult enough to answer the questions posed by my English teacher within the assignment she provided us. Having to write a thousand word essay on subtle points of the book was nearly impossible. This was during the days before the Internet, so it wasn’t uncommon to spend many long nights reading and rereading the book to provide clarity.
Sadly, I don’t remember what grade I received on my paper. I’m sure it was sufficient enough to eventually pass the class and graduate on time.
Fast forward to my college days. I fondly remember taking night classes while pursuing my bachelor’s degree. I was part of the Business Administration program where myself and about ten other students were taking consecutive classes together. I got to know several of these particular classmates during our time together. For our weekly assignments our instructor would have the class of about 25 students break up into groups of five. The assignment was broken down into five questions that needed to be answered in between 250 and 300 words. In short, each group was responsible for crafting a 1,500 word essay. The topic was dependent on which class we were taking. It could have been American Government. It could have been Marketing. In any event, each group member selected which question they wanted to answer, and they were responsible for answering their assigned question in at least 250 words.
It was a challenge to some students. Some of my group mates admitted with certain subjects they had a little trouble efficiently expressing their thoughts in great depth. In addition, one person was responsible for editing everyone’s answers to maintain the essay’s cohesion. It was a task that few wanted to take. I was willing to take on the responsibility. It wasn’t easy, as we all had outside responsibilities (work, family, or prior commitments) to tend to.
We all know that life happens. What I did was discussed a timeline that we all could agree on regarding everyone’s submission of their part of the essay. We all exchanged phone numbers and email addresses to establish good communication. If anyone had any questions or concerns they could submit them to everyone in the group. We would discuss them and come to a conclusion that was reasonable for everyone. It was like a negotiation, with the end goal being that we wanted to earn a good grade on the assignment.
Each member would submit their portion of the assignment to me. I would offer constructive feedback and discuss ideas with each member if needed. Thankfully, most of our group members were grateful that I was constructing the assignment, as it was a big responsibility. I made changes if necessary or left everything alone if it fulfilled the requirements of the assignment. Afterwards, I would submit a final draft to each team member for their review and welcomed their feedback if changes needed to be made. If everyone was satisfied with the final draft, I would submit it to the instructor. If not, they would offer constructive feedback, and I would make changes. More often than not, we would earn an A plus for the assignment. The moral of this writing is maintaining a clear channel of communication founded on respect can go a long way towards realizing our collective goals.