The Sum

So in week 2, I missed a post for a variety of reasons. For one, I had to go home for a family matter, but the other was really why I didn't post. It was because I was without a group. I was like a lost little boy. Call me Oliver or Stuart Little. Either way you look at it, I was groupless. And yes, I did just make up a word.

But by the end of the week, I was placed with another group, and I had no idea what to expect. First there was Matt. A loud, talkative kid from New York who really epitomized what the term "coastie" means. It is funny because I hate kids who give people like me, people from the "coast", a bad name but all I really needed was a little time to understand who Matt was. Next, there was Jake. Jake was not the most talkative person but when he did say something, I knew that what he was saying was important to him. He was exactly what I expected of him.  A humble intelligent kid who was absolutely a positive in the group. And lastly, there was Courtney. Courtney was really the wild card in the group, even though she was one of the founding members of the group. She was the only female of the group and I really worried that she might be a little timid during group discussions. And like many other times, I was dead wrong. Courtney was personable, smart, witty, and my partner in crime when it came time to make fun of Matt. All in all, the group dynamic was great and I knew great things were on the horizon.

I think my favorite moment with the group, and they would probably agree, was when we were first coming up with our ideas for what we wanted our project to be on. While it was not the most coherent or official meeting, we all were springing our creativity, for better or worse that is. Our project idea started off as us playing drinking games on camera in order to teach kids how to have fun in college. Looking back on that idea now, its a miracle that it even came across our minds because Christine shot it down like Kobe on a buzzer beater. So we go even more creative. We put all jokes aside...kinda, and got down to business. After a few revisions, we finally landed on our idea of responsible drinking and the rest was history.

Our sessions together in library, although long, were really enjoyable, and it seemed like none of us ever wanted to go home. Now that may be because Matt lives in the dorms and Courtney lived a little far away, but I like to think it was because of how much we enjoyed each others company on both a social and work level. We had fun and were also effective. We joked around, but when it was time, we got down to work and it was really remarkable when we came up with our idea to do radio ads as our group project. The best part about the idea was that nobody can take full credit for the idea, because everyone came up with it. We thought about how we should take advantage of new media forms and believe it or not, the radio is the most watched/listen to media on the planet behind TV. From there, we all took our different writing and vocal skills and recorded it, all with the support of one another. No matter what grade we receive, I know I speak for everyone when I say that we are proud of what we handed in.

I think the only sad part is that we may never see each other again. This is a school of 40,000 people, and one of our group members is leaving. I will be senior and graduate, and then eventually Jake will graduate, and then it will be left to Matt. As depressing as it sounds, I prefer to have enjoyed and lost, then to have never had at all. This group gave me great memories, great learning tools, and great friends, regardless of if we ever see each other again. I hope that like me, everyone else in the group thinks about this, and at some point in their life, draws on a memory from a cohort meeting to accomplish something great in their life.