Blog Post #1 - Celeste Castillo

My Experience in Group 2 Celeste Castillo

At first, I was honestly dreading working in groups. My mind immediately went back to the typical group projects I experienced in middle and high school, where one person usually ended up doing most of the work while everyone else just went along with it. I expected the same kind of situation this time, and I was already preparing myself for the stress that usually comes with group assignments. However, once we split into our first breakout room, I quickly realized that this experience might be different. There was an awkward silence at first because no one really knew how to begin, so I decided to break the ice and get the conversation started. Without officially planning it, I naturally stepped into the role of the “group lead.”

One of the first things I did was organize a group chat on WhatsApp so everyone could communicate more easily outside of class. I also volunteered to create the PowerPoint presentation so we would have one organized place to combine everyone’s work. At first, I thought everything was running smoothly, but we eventually discovered a technical issue because I had originally created the presentation using my personal account. Some group members could not access or edit the slides properly. Even though it was frustrating in the moment, it became one of the first challenges we had to solve together as a team. Once we realized the issue, I quickly created a new presentation using my school email, and luckily everyone was finally able to access it without any problems. Looking back, that situation taught me how important communication and flexibility are during collaborative work because even small technical mistakes can affect the entire group if they are not addressed quickly.

After fixing the issue, we reviewed the entire chapter together and discussed how to divide the work fairly. I appreciated that everyone participated in deciding which sections belonged to who because it made the process feel more collaborative instead of one person assigning tasks to everyone else. Once we agreed on our sections, we all began preparing our individual parts of the presentation. Even though we worked well together overall, I think one of the biggest challenges we faced was time. We simply did not have much time to fully prepare and polish the final presentation, and unfortunately, that became noticeable once everything was combined together.

Content-wise, I truly believe our group did a great job. We covered the chapter thoroughly and made sure the important information was included. However, while we successfully divided the responsibilities, we did not spend enough time discussing the overall style, structure, and design of the presentation before combining all the slides together. Because of this, the final presentation lacked cohesiveness. Some slides had different writing styles, different layouts, and different amounts of information. Certain slides were more detailed than others, while some used completely different formatting choices. Even though the information itself was accurate and informative, the presentation sometimes felt more like separate projects put together instead of one unified presentation created by a single team.

                               Here you can see our slides were not the most cohesive but still 

                                                    filled with information.

This ended up becoming one of the biggest learning experiences for me throughout the assignment. I realized that successful group work is not just about splitting up responsibilities and completing the work individually. Communication about the overall vision of the project is just as important. Things like agreeing on a design theme, formatting expectations, slide organization, and presentation flow can make a huge difference in how polished and professional the final project looks. Moving forward, I know that in future group assignments I will prioritize discussing those details much earlier in the process instead of waiting until the end.

When presentation day finally arrived, I was nervous but also excited to see how all the groups would present their topics. Watching the first group present really impressed me because they managed to make their chapter easy to understand while also keeping the slides visually appealing and organized. Their presentation flowed smoothly from one topic to the next, and it was clear they had spent time making sure everything looked cohesive. Seeing their work motivated me because it showed how strong communication and preparation can improve the overall quality of a project.

When it was finally our group’s turn to present, things actually started off very smoothly. We had already decided that one person would share their screen while the rest of us presented our individual sections. As we moved through the slides one by one, I felt like everything was going pretty well. Everyone seemed prepared, and the presentation was flowing naturally. However, midway through the presentation, I noticed that one of our group members was covering significantly more slides than the rest of us. At first, I was confused, but then I realized we had unexpectedly lost a group member and I had not noticed beforehand.

What happened next honestly stood out to me the most during the entire experience. Without complaining or drawing attention to herself, one of our teammates stepped up immediately and presented not only her own section but also the missing section as well. She handled the situation so calmly and professionally that the audience probably did not even realize anything had gone wrong. In that moment, I felt incredibly grateful to have someone like that on our team. At the same time, I also felt bad because I wished she had told us earlier that someone was missing so we could have worked together to divide the extra section more fairly. Still, the way she stepped up under pressure showed me what true teamwork really looks like. Instead of panicking or allowing the presentation to fall apart, she simply adapted to the situation and helped the group succeed.

Another part of this experience that I genuinely enjoyed was watching the other groups present their projects. Many of their presentations were very organized, visually cohesive, and easy to follow. It was obvious that they had spent time preparing together and discussing how they wanted the final project to look. Their presentations flowed naturally, and each speaker connected smoothly to the next. Watching them helped me reflect on what my own group could improve in the future. Rather than feeling discouraged by comparing our presentation to theirs, I actually felt motivated. It showed me that improvement is possible when communication and preparation are stronger from the beginning.

One thing I absolutely cannot fail to mention is Tyler. Throughout the class, Tyler has truly brought so much positive energy into the environment. Whether it was through his singing abilities, his personality, or simply the way he kept everyone entertained and relaxed, he helped make the class feel less stressful and more enjoyable. During moments when assignments and presentations started becoming overwhelming, his humor and energy helped keep everyone grounded. I genuinely appreciate the effort he put into making the class atmosphere feel welcoming and supportive.

I also want to mention Zebadiah, who stepped up after we lost a class manager. Taking on additional responsibilities is never easy, especially in the middle of a course, but she handled it in a way that really helped the class continue moving forward smoothly. Having people willing to step up and support others when needed makes a huge difference throughout the semester.

Overall, this entire presentation experience taught me much more than just the material from the chapter. It taught me valuable lessons about leadership, communication, flexibility, teamwork, and preparation. It also changed the way I think about group work. While I originally expected another stressful and unbalanced project experience, I ended up learning that group projects can actually be rewarding when people communicate, support one another, and work toward the same goal. Even though our presentation was not perfect, I believe the challenges we faced ultimately helped me grow more than if everything had gone smoothly from the beginning.