Community. Literature & Language Coursework. Assignment

Community
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Community
My first year on campus was a defining moment for me. It helped me to appreciate the essence of community, especially the fact that people with a common purpose could come together and complete a task, albeit with some challenges. To begin with, we were from different ethnic groups, students united by the desire to complete a course. We had a project to complete as is always the norm at every end of the semester. It was the spring of 2019, and my team was tasked with introducing a rare virus. The group comprised students taking a biology-related course. We were five of us initially. It was not an easy task and we had to be committed to the end if we had to get good grades. Although we had numerous false starts and unexpected eventualities, finally we completed the project on time thanks to the dedication of the team members.
The instructor first assigned us the task when the semester was commencing in late September. We were convinced that we had all the time we needed. Three months was enough time to piece it together, we reckoned. Our first step was to form a group to discuss the details of the project. It proved challenging, mainly because we were from different cultural backgrounds. However, we overcame the language barrier in no time, and one day we met in the school library to strategize on how we would complete the project. Since no one was willing to be the group leader, we often had no one to direct us or make follow-ups. Perhaps the lack of leadership would prove costly to us in the later stages of the project.
I suggested that perhaps we should begin by conducting extensive research on the virus. Initially we thought the library was a good starting point, but we were wrong. We did not find sufficient information to guide us through. As a team, we then agreed to draw a timeline that would help us complete various aspects of the project by a given date. We then resorted to searching for information online, but this too provided little help. Only a few websites mentioned something about the virus. They were superficial to say the least, hence unreliable. The magnitude of the problem became apparent to us when we met three weeks later at the library. Some members were already showing signs of slackening; of wanting to quit. Two members even suggested that we talk with the instructor and ask him to give us a more straightforward assignment. Being a great listener, I let everyone speak and express their views. Finally I said, “Folks, we have come a long way with this project to give up now. We must be resilient. Hopefully, we will find a way through it.” The others nodded in agreement, although I could sense some had their reservations.
Although we had earlier formulated a timeline, we never realized that each one of us needed to complete a specific area of the project. That must have been our main unbecoming. Time was fast approaching and we were losing it. I ...