I have had to work in many group projects throughout my time at Longwood. My first exposure to a group project was during BIOL 251. Within this group, we were tasked with designing and executing our own projects to take place over the course of the semester. For more information on the presentation, click here to view it!
One of the main skills I learned through this project was how to contribute to a project efficiently. I also learned that I love to lead team projects! My group members and I met over many occasions outside of class to finish our project. I was able to understand how much work goes into a group project to make it successful and how to work efficiently in a group setting. These skills helped me a lot with my study abroad experience. For this project, we had to work virtually with individuals from the Netherlands to develop a podcast. I do not have access to the podcast, but the skills I acquired in 251 allowed me to work with individuals of diverse backgrounds and learn to manage time taking into consideration the time difference. As group leader for this project, I was in charge of facilitating contributions of my group members and equally distributing all of the work.
Both of these classes and projects helped prepare me for the longest group project of all, PRISM. This project took place over the course of a semester while I was learning all of the lab techniques from the upperclassmen and continued into summer where I was the senior researcher in the lab. For this project, I had to collaborate with my fellow research student as well as lead two high school students. We all managed our time wisely and make efficient contributions to the projects, leading to our final presentation.
Looking forward, all of these skills I acquired for working in group projects will help me in the future. During medical school and residency, I will be working in teams of students to do projects as well as when making rounds on patients to come up with diagnoses and treatments. I will also be using these skills in the future when working with other doctors and nurses to decide the best plans for our patients.
Click here to view my PRISM poster. It is linked at the bottom of the page. This project I worked on with the other undergraduate student and two high school students. Above the poster is my group poster for BIOL 250.
Click here to view my PRISM presentation. It is linked at the bottom of the page. I worked on this with the other undergraduate student.