The day has come in the semester when your professor thinks they are going to have you engage in a fun activity that allows you to connect with your peers. Spoiler: they thought wrong. You’re counted off by numbers or randomly broken up into groups of 3-5 so you can all start working on a group project. You all sit there acting like you couldn’t cut the tension with a knife for about five minutes until the first person speaks, the project pilot.
The Pilot
You didn’t realize it five minutes ago, but this will be the person to lead your project. They make all of the major decisions, assign tasks and they essentially become the backbone of the project. You all find yourselves going along with whatever they say, partly because it seems easiest and partly because you’re scared to find out what will happen if you don’t.
They plan out when everything should be finished by and make sure it’s all done by the due date. They try their best to maintain order within the group and make sure everyone’s focused. If there’s a presentation involved, it’s likely they will be the first to speak and be the main voice. They make sure the group is perceived with confidence and prestige to assure the A.
The Echo
The Echo is an organized and dependable personality in the group. Often, the things they say are just a reverb of what the Pilot said, but they have good intentions. They are a little bit of a perfectionist, so they’re constantly texting in the group chat, making sure everyone’s on track. They’ll check the slides and make edits, checking for consistency and proper formatting.
During presentations, they’ll always bounce off of what the Pilot says, supporting all of their points. The project likely wouldn’t have turned out as well as it did if they weren’t so nitpicky, so you’re always lucky to have them.
The Wildcard
The only thing the Wildcard is consistent at is being inconsistent. They often show up late (or not at all) but when they do contribute to the project, they have the most brilliant ideas. Their work is usually done at the last minute, but it never needs critiquing. It’s always perfectly written, formatted and creative.
You might not see them much, and some days you may forget their name, but their contribution to the project is flawless. They bring a kind of element of surprise to the group that you didn’t know it needed, which always keeps everyone entertained.
The Ghost
Somehow, they were in class when you were all assigned to a group, but you haven’t seen them since. They didn’t do much talking that day and somehow got away with not being assigned anything to do. They don’t contribute much to the project, especially since they were never given a task to complete.
When presentation day finally comes, though, there they are. They are standing at the front of the room with the rest of the group, with their name placed perfectly on the slides. They participate just enough to get their name on the slides, but they disappear right after.
What project personality fits you best? Or which ones did we miss? Let us know on our Instagram @VALLEYmag!
