I’ve never been one for study groups. I’ve never been one for working in groups in general. In high school, I was “the smart one” so I usually ended up doing all the work for any group project I was assigned. I still use that memory to justify my resistance to group work because it’s far more palatable than the truth: I hate relinquishing control. I’ve had this problem for as far back as I can remember. I was that bratty kid who assigned roles to everyone when we played at recess and if I couldn’t play my preferred part, I would stalk off in a huff and not play at all. It was always my way or the highway.

These days, I’m not trying to be Storm during any X-Men role playing games, but my control problem manifests itself in other ways. For example, I currently live alone because roommates don’t understand the Absolute Necessity of washing dishes right away rather than leaving them to crust over in their own organic detritus in the sink. (Oh God, I get shivers just thinking about it!)

Anyway, back to study groups. In late September, I met with a few people to prepare for the Legal Methods final one time, but I wouldn’t really call that a study group. We went over the materials and outlined on our own and only finally congregated to discuss the cases in an informal setting. The goal was only to make sure we each felt secure in our understanding of the cases. Very low pressure.

So being naturally prejudiced against group work, I have not sought out any study groups in any of my classes, but when Kara approached me about joining one she was trying to put together, I agreed. I like her and I wanted to get to know other law students better. I also figured that finals are coming up and nothing gets me motivated more than accountability to my peers. (Read: I don’t want them to think I’m stupid so I’ll probably work harder knowing they’re going to receive my work product.)

So as far as I knew, there were four members of the study group: Kara, Elliot (someone I knew of but didn’t know much beyond his name and the fact that he comments a lot in class), Kristin (a girl I’m friendly with, she’s really sweet), and me. We were looking for more to make the work division less of a burden. We had scheduled to meet after class in Lenfest Café. Kristin had a prior commitment and so couldn’t make it so I took it upon myself to invite Rachel to join. Little did I realize I had committed a study group faux pas.

All seemed to go well as we discussed our various goals for the group and ideas for division of labor. We adjourned and each of us knew what we were to be responsible for. But the next day we learned that Kristin had decided not to join after all. Thinking she would try to fill the gap, Rachel approached another girl, Kerry, and mentioned our study group. Kerry was enthusiastic and asked to join. Rachel told me Kerry was interested so I thought “Great! Another person!” But when I told Kara we were going to ask to Kerry to join, the reaction was hesitant. Apparently, decisions relating to the admission of new members were supposed to be group decisions. Apparently, there was an alleged outline stealing incident during Legal Methods…

In any event, I never realized that something so seemingly simple as a study group could turn out to be a Thing.

Thoughts? Similar experiences? Yay or nay on study groups?

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