Student Personal Reflection (Essay Sample)

Personal Reflection
Your Name
Institution
Date of Submission
Introduction
An individual reflection is one of the most efficient methods of self-evaluation. It gives people a chance to look back and account for what they have been learning. Woolley et al (2011) explains that students who engage in this activity regularly are likely to be very successful in their studies. Such learners are always aware of their strengths and weaknesses. As discussed Beti et al (2014) this kind of personal awareness helps them to build on their strengths, and work on their weak areas too. This is a personal reflection of my team’s project. It covers my entire experience during the project, without forgetting to talk about the challenges that came up.
Summary of Project
My team’s project was to design and develop an online booking system for school’s sports centers. This system is essential in today’s life. Digitalization is the current trend in the computer world. People no longer want to waste time in long queues to make bookings. It is also expensive and time-consuming to travel to a physical sports center to make a booking. This is why my team decided to set up an online booking center. Our project was five months long. It could not have been made shorter because we were aiming at establishing a world class system. Enough time was hence required to conduct proper research, plan, come up with a good design, and start working on the final system. My group consisted of eight members.
My Role and Contributions
The primary essence of teamwork is to learn from each other, and assist one another in completing the project ahead (Rebecca, Neil, & Moran, 2013). I was tasked with the responsibility of calculating different costs of operation and profitability projections of our idea. I came up with comprehensive calculations of the costs that would be incurred. It was also necessary to evaluate the viability of the project by working out key profitability ratios like the Net Present Value (NPV) and the Payback Periods (PB). This was not an easy task. I had to take time to study and understand these calculations before undertaking them. It was a little strenuous at first, but after understanding it, I enjoyed working on this part. My main challenge in this part was that some of my target respondents took long to respond to my emails. This was a derailing factor as it slowed me down. The sponsor also took considerably long to reply to my emails because he was busy. He was, however, actively involved in everything that we were doing and also gave us constructive advice.
Reflection on the Curriculum, in Relation to the Project
This curriculum offers a unique and fascinating learning experience. I have always enjoyed my private study time, but teamwork has turned out to be more interesting. Working with diverse minds and a pool of powerful brains made everything so comfortable. I was apprehensive in the beginning; I have never had a chance to handle such a project on my own. I realized that many hands make work easier. Each member had a particular area of specialty in the project. We decided to specialize by assigning specific tasks to different individuals, based on their abilities. I figured out that if I were alone, I would have to go through the pain of studying hard to understand all those tasks before undertaking them. Throughout the entire process, I sharpened my project management skills.
I got a good grasp of how different tasks of a project should be handled. If you have a passion for something and ensure that you take time to practice, you will emerge successfully. During the five months of this project, I acquired useful skills for designing a project. One of them is how to set a precise and realistic goal that will guide you through. I also enhanced my research and report writing finesse. My group members and I are very excited to finish this project. We are now set to handle any projects that could come in the future. We believe that this experience is what we needed to polish up our skills. We have now laid a firm foundation.
Experience with My Team Members
Varied members of my group had different opinions and suggestions about the issues that were handling. Since we were working on a common goal, we always had to come to a point of compromise. It was important to ensure that we are all in sync before moving to the next step. This was necessary to reduce chances of doubting our final research, after months of hard work. Group work presented me with an excellent opportunity to study different personalities. As discussed by Rod (2012) human beings have unique methods of handling pressure, excitement, and anger (p. 31). Our group leader was highly skilled and fit for the task. He started us off by taking us through a personality test; it was an interesting part. This was necessary to help us appreciate our differences and learn to handle varied characters. While some people were so easy to work with, we had others who were annoying.
Working with these diverse personalities for five months helped me to train my emotions. I can confidently boast of great patience, endurance, and interpersonal skills as a result of being an active member of my team. My group was made up of mixed races. This was another great opportunity for cultural exchange, and to even learn a few foreign words. Working in a team is delightful. I concluded that all teams have the potential to present an excellent report. However, the success and failure of any team just depends on how the carry out their activities. A cooperative and lively group is much more likely to succeed, as compared to one whose members show lack of interest and disunity.
Challenges Encountered
Absenteeism
Beti et al (2014, p. 17) explains that absenteeism is one of the major challenges of teamwork. Some people may be willing to attend all meeting, but end up getting involved in other commitments. Others just decide to stay away from some meetings, maybe because they are in a bad mood, or for their personal reasons. We started our meetings on a low note. There were moments when only 20% of us could meet up, and the rest would not show up. This was not only boring, but demoralizing and annoying too. Groups can only become productive when every member is committed. We managed to solve this problem, and, even though, the rate of attendance was not always 100%; we started seeing more team members attend our meetings.
Uncooperative Members
As Woolley (2011, p. 474) points out, being in a group with uncooperative members is as good as doing your work privately. While some people would make an effort to attend our meetings, they did not take them seriously. There was a habit that used to irritate me so much. Whenever we were deliberating on pertinent issues, some members would simply spend the entire time looking at their phones. A question would be raised, and people would remain silent. Not even an attempt to give the answer would be seen from such people. ...