When one can't change the environment, one can only change one's response to it...

Some say that university days are some of the best days of their life and yet others likened them to a honeymoon. However, this is one thing which I beg to differ, at least for the first semester of my life in NUS. My first semester in university had been quite a torture, as it really felt like school was nothing but studying, studying and more studying, a far cry from being enjoyable to me. Hence, after a month of rest and reflection during the December holidays on my less than ideal grades and school life, I embarked on the second semester of my university life with renewed hope and optimism for the modules I would be taking, including an English module (ES1531, formerly EG1413) that was compulsory for all engineering students.

As English Language had always been one of my favourite subjects since primary school and writing is a hobby of mine whenever I had time, I looked forward to taking this module, as it served as something different from my other modules, and gives me the opportunity to take my mind off calculations while exploring the creative side of my brain. The first few lessons were interesting, as we learnt about critical thinking and writing as well as how to analyse other people’s writing. Things were looking up until the time came for everyone’s “favourite” part of any module, group project. (Though this depends on several factors too..)

Apart from various individual assignments, another major graded component of this module was a group project, in which we had to form groups of 2-3 to work on a topic related to Social Media. My group consisted of 3 members, a Year 1 Chemical Engineering student named Dan, a Year 3 Electrical Engineering student, Zac (not their real names) and myself.

The initial phases of working with them went on quite well in terms of timeliness of completing mini tasks we set for ourselves along the project duration, though we had difficulties settling on a topic. Alas, after several changes, we finally settled on the topic, “Social Media and Recruitment in the Healthcare Industry”.

However, overtime as we worked on the project, tension started arising among our group. From my interactions with Dan and Zac, I found that Dan was more understanding and tactful while Zac tends to be too straightforward at times. Dan, who is a Singaporean, could identify with me sometimes but we kept it to ourselves. Initially, I had thought that this could be due to different working styles as well as differences in command of English Language, since Zac was from another country, and just took some of his less tactful comments with a pinch of salt. However, on several occasions, some of the things he said during project meetings made me feel useless and thoughtless, which discouraged me and made me averse towards this module. Still, things had to move on and to stop myself from being too affected by this, I told myself that perhaps I was wrong and that as a senior, he may know better. Thankfully, towards the end of the project, Zac was more tactful and we all made it through our project with a satisfactory grade.

Someone once said, the intentions of a speaker may not necessarily be in tune with what his listeners interpret. Though this had not been a fully enjoyable experience for me, I am indeed thankful for being able to experience it as it made me stronger and more aware of how I communicate with others in a group work, as well as how to adjust my thinking and way of doing things when things do not occur as expected. What would you do if your project mates are less sensitive when communicating with others, although they may not be aware of it?  

Here's a little quote to end off my first blog post. Have a great week ahead! :D