Blog Post #2 Celeste Castillo

My experience working in Group 2 for the Change Makers presentation began very positively and overall became a meaningful learning experience about leadership, responsibility, communication, and teamwork. From the beginning, our group seemed organized and motivated. We selected the 1900s as our assigned time period, and in fact, we were the first group to claim our century. I remember feeling excited because the twentieth century includes so many major historical changes and influential people that helped shape the world we live in today. Choosing our topic early gave us a head start and allowed us to begin organizing before other groups.

As the project began, I naturally stepped into a leadership role once again. Leadership is something that often happens for me in group projects because I prefer staying organized and making sure everyone understands expectations and deadlines. One of the first things I did was begin creating our agenda and organizing responsibilities. I created a chart in Word and added all of our group members’ names so that each person could claim and track their individual tasks. At the same time, one of my teammates created and shared the PowerPoint presentation that we would all contribute to.

Once the PowerPoint had been created, I shifted my focus toward assigning responsibilities and gathering information from each team member. I asked everyone what change maker they wanted to research and what parts they would complete for the presentation. Although this sounds simple, getting participation from everyone took more effort than I originally expected. Some group members were quick to respond and contribute, while others needed reminders and follow-up messages before they finally sent me their assigned tasks for the agenda. At times I had to insist and ask multiple times before receiving responses. While it was frustrating in the moment, eventually everyone contributed enough information for me to complete the agenda. In the end, our agenda turned out very well and was even used as an example for the other groups to model theirs after, which made me feel proud of the effort we put into organizing.

For my individual portion of the project, I chose Henry Ford as my change maker. I selected Henry Ford because of his impact on manufacturing, transportation, and industrial growth during the twentieth century. While he did not invent the automobile, he transformed the way products were manufactured by improving assembly line production and making cars more accessible to everyday people. I found learning more about his contributions interesting because his innovations affected not only transportation but also labor practices and economic development.

I completed my portion of the project fairly quickly, within the first day or two after receiving the assignment. Finishing early allowed me to spend more time checking in with the group and monitoring overall progress. Every day, I reviewed the PowerPoint and reminded group members to complete their sections. Slowly but surely, people began adding their slides and contributing content. Watching the presentation grow over time was rewarding because it showed that the project was coming together.

However, as the due date approached, I started feeling more stressed and frustrated. Around the same time, we also had another assignment due for class the study guide project, which added additional pressure. I discovered that someone had not completed their portion according to our original agreement. Even though I had already completed all of my assigned responsibilities, I ended up spending additional time working on the group presentation because I did not want our final product to suffer.

This became frustrating because I pride myself on staying ahead of deadlines and managing my time well. I had completed my personal assignments for this class with plenty of time remaining, yet I still found myself working intensely on a project the day it was due because parts of the group work remained unfinished. That experience reminded me that group projects require flexibility and that sometimes individual preparation cannot completely prevent last-minute complications.

Then came the day before the Change Makers presentation was due, and suddenly I remembered something that none of us seemed to be thinking about—the brochure component of the assignment. I realized that despite all of our attention being focused on the slides and presentation itself, we had overlooked an entire requirement. When I brought it up, it seemed like nobody else had remembered it either.

    Instead of panicking, I reached out independently to one of my classmates and asked if she would help me complete the brochure. Together, we dedicated approximately three hours each creating it. We divided the work, collaborated on the layout and information, and made sure it matched the overall quality of our presentation. Looking back, I think we did a great job under pressure. I appreciated having someone willing to work alongside me because it made the process less overwhelming and more manageable.

As the evening continued, I realized we had forgotten yet another requirement—the interview component of the project. Once again, the same classmate and I worked together to solve the problem. We searched online for a short but meaningful interview featuring someone relevant to our assigned century. After reviewing different options, we decided to include an interview featuring Neil Armstrong. We felt that Armstrong represented innovation, achievement, and the spirit of progress that characterized much of the twentieth century.

Finally, presentation day arrived. Group 1 presented first and covered the Founding Fathers and the 1800s. The class managers introduced the century and highlighted important accomplishments from that time period, which created a strong introduction for the presentations overall.

Then our group, Group 2, presented the 1900s. Despite the stress and challenges leading up to the presentation, I think we did an excellent job. Our presentation was organized, informative, and visually engaging. I felt proud seeing all of the pieces finally come together after all the preparation, reminders, last-minute fixes, and teamwork.

Lastly, Group 3 presented and covered the 2000s. Their presentation brought the project into the modern era and completed the timeline of historical change.

Overall, I thought the class managers did an excellent job introducing each presentation and helping maintain structure throughout the activity. I also think every group created presentations that were engaging and held everyone’s attention. One thing I especially appreciated was that everyone was present and participated. That made the experience feel more collaborative and rewarding.

This project reminded me that successful group work requires much more than completing your own assignment. It involves communication, organization, accountability, and sometimes stepping into leadership roles when necessary. Although there were moments of frustration, I am proud of the work our group accomplished and the final presentation we delivered.