by Tan Boyang (P6 2021)

        “Finally!” Jane exclaimed, unable to contain her excitement. The much-awaited day had eventually arrived when the students had to do a group project as part of their examinations. Jane had always wanted to be the group leader for a group project but it had never happened before, until that fateful day.

       Their teacher, Mrs Tan, was about to assign the students to their groups when Jane suddenly appeared next to the teacher’s table. This made Mrs Tan jump.

       Jane asked, “Can I be the group leader this time? Please?”

       Being the group leader for the group was all she ever wanted.

       “Jane, how many times must I tell you that I am in charge of choosing your groups and that the group leaders would be chosen randomly?” Mrs Tan replied angrily.

       Jane sighed as she walked back to her seat. All she could do was hope that she would be chosen. She waited, until Mrs Tan announced that she would be the group leader! Upon hearing this, her heart was filled with joy.

       At once, Jane delegated the tasks to her teammates. Things went on quite smoothly until one of her teammates, Alan noticed that Jane was not participating like everyone else was.

       He commented, “Jane, you don’t seem to be contributing to our project. Can you please help us?”

       It was true. Jane had been bossing her teammates around while watching them the whole time.

       However, she replied, “What do you mean I am not contributing to the project? I delegated all the tasks to you!” Jane was annoyed.

       They continued arguing until Alan called Mrs Tan to speak to Jane. Mrs Tan told her that teamwork was very important, and it would be much more efficient than working alone.

       Jane’s face turned red.

       “I am truly helping my group! To prove it, I’ll leave my group and work on my own. I bet I can finish the task alone faster and better than them!”

       Feeling overconfident, she started on the project alone.

       However, even when everyone else was almost done, she only made little progress. When it was time to submit the assignment, she had nothing to hand in. Jane realised the importance of teamwork and apologised to Mrs Tan and her teammates. Mrs Tan allowed them to continue working on their project together. By working as a team, they achieved a lot. Even though their project was not the best in the class, they still excelled as their score was also dependent on teamwork.

       Jane had learnt her lesson that day and she never gave instructions without actually helping out again.

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