a.k.a the GDP.
We knew of its existence all along and we could only hope that it wouldn’t be as bad as the Individual Project in 3rd year.
We tried to think of only happy thoughts over the summer break and nothing about it. However, the inevitable has arrived.
The GDP, which stands for Group Design Project, is undertaken by 4th year students and just like the title of this post (which took me some time to come up with), starts off with a big vision and then seems to slowly fade from sight.
Just to let you know, it has only been one month into the academic year.
There are several posts on this blog by my lovely seniors about the GDP and their experience working in their groups, which are a great read if you have not seen them yet, and this will be my take on how I work in group projects.
As someone with more of a passive personality, I tend to feel out the situation first and wait for everyone to make their moves before I do, unless it involves something I’m passionate aboutĀ like eating but that’s out of context here. I try to fill in the gaps in the team wherever and whenever they should appear.
If there are members that lead, I will follow. If there are members that clash in opinions, I will mediate. If no one takes action, I will initiate.
For my GDP group, there isĀ surprisingly a mix of them all. At times, everyone seems to have a lot to say and other times, nobody wants to do anything. I feel that I have become my group’s hype woman. Stealthily throwing subtle jokes here and there in the group messenger chat without overdoing it is a specialty of mine.
Something interesting about projects like the GDP is that you could be assigned to a project that requires skills and/or knowledge on areas you know nothing of and you can only hope one of your teammates do.Ā And then you find out that no one does and someone has got to start learning quick.
My highly self-praised passive personality has somehow got me in charge of ‘plumbing’ in my group’s goal of building an off-grid, sun-tracking solar desalinator.
Nice.
Despite the lack of positivity throughout this blog post and its title, the GDP has been keeping us on our toes and what better way to get some adrenaline flowing through our blood than something that can actually teach us so much along the way. My hands are itching to progress onto the next stage of my GDP and finally start with the designing and building.
Random snapshots to share: