What, So What?, Now What?

The community service event was actually a lot more entertaining than I (and probably most everybody else) had expected it to be. What made it so great was just the energy and passion in the room. Everybody was having a great time getting to know each other and an even better time seeing the kids' faces light up at the sight of their new bikes. That innocent joy is something we often forget exists when we're always clouded by the distractions of everyday problems. It's nice to see the light of pure joy once in a while.

That moment of solace while watching the kids enjoy their bikes was probably the best thing I got out of this event. However, in terms of practical skills, I really learned how to work with a group on a frustrating task. Our group's bike was the last to get finished, and that directly correlated with the amount of problems the bike gave us while we were working on it. To be able to delegate the responsibilities and maintain respect for each other while trying to fix those issues really taught me how to maintain group integrity, even during tough times.

If I could do the group activities again, I would do a lot of things differently. Perhaps the most important change would be getting serious about finishing the task, because starting late on the bike probably helped lead to some of the problems the bike gave us. Procrastination is never a good idea, haha. These lessons also apply quite well to the lab, namely with procrastination (since their isn't much group work in a lab, except for the overall goal of a project, perhaps). Working in a lab offers much independence, and with that comes the responsibility to be on top of your own work. If you relax too much, you'll quickly notice how many mistakes you make while rushing to get your experiments done.