This week in class we were assigned teams for a big project we were given. As I walked in, we were instructed to find our group, I instantly felt my heart sink. The thought of having to work with others in a group has always been stress inducing. The reason I dislike working in groups has to do with the fact that I like to take complete control in all of my projects, but I haven’t yet honed my leadership skills to the level where I feel comfortable enough to take charge of a group of people. Applying information that I learned during last session of what type of leader I am, this seems pretty typical. As a closer, I tend to stay in the back analyzing and thinking of the best possible way to attack a situation, not really taking the lead. As I sat down I began to look around and pick personalities I would want on my team. I knew that because I lack in vocalizing my thoughts and opinions, I would want someone who does not mind speaking up in a large room full of people. I also wanted someone who was quick and creative, someone who thinks outside of the box when it comes to figuring out solutions.

Slowly but surely my team started to form. As I began to analyze the people in my group, it became very apparent that we each one of had our distinct strengths and weaknesses. Some seemed to be more vocal, while others seemed to stay quiet and contribute once in a while, the latter being myself. I ended up being very happy with the people in my group. I believe that the mixture of personalities is a strong asset that will help our group excel in it endeavors.

We were asked by our peers to choose one of the six possible project. After a quick consensus from my group, we decided to tackle on the issue of stereotype threat under Mariah’s guidance. We had a couple minutes at the end of class to consult Mariah on the intricacies of the actual project. During this discussion, I discovered that the goal of this project was to bring awareness to the issue of stereotype threat. In this discussion, I also learned what stereotype threat is, that is: the self-confirming belief that one may be evaluated based on negative stereotype. Though the final goal of this project was clear, I felt there weren’t any clear instructions as to what the execution plan was to accomplishing this goal. I left class in a panic, the thought of having absolutely no idea of how to do this project is very unsettling. My group decided to meet sometime within the week to come up with strategies to accomplish our goal.