When considering the different groups that I have been involved in, I would say that the group that I had the hardest time saying goodbye to was the church building committee. Although I still saw the group of people that I served with on the committee, the fact that “we” did not complete the project that we had set before us left me with a feeling of failure. It was hard to have worked so diligently on this project with this great group of people and not get to see what we had worked so hard for happen under our watch.
Another group that I would like to share is the cohort that I was a part of at Tusculum. During our forming stage – where we met each other for the first time, we were able to get to know each other and figure out which group we fit more closely with. (Where and who we would sit with.) We were to get into groups of six and the group that I ended up with made for a great team. We communicated well with each other and each of the members had something that they could bring to the table. We were very fortunate to have a “tech savvy” man in our group that really brought things to life. He was usually the leader on our group. We all worked so well together and each took our part in the group very seriously. When it was time to say goodbye, it was truly a hard thing to do. I spent 20 months, and countless hours with this group and we had become so close. Most of us still keep in touch with each other today. The adjourning phase for us in this situation was a success. Over the course of those 20 months, we produced some great projects and each of us worked together to make it a great success.
I think that the adjourning phase is kind of like the icing on the cake. It is done and you feel that sense of accomplishment. The fact that we did not make it to this phase while on the church building committee left me feeling like we failed. I think that seeing your hard work completed leaves you with a feeling of accomplishment and we did not get that.
Adjourning from this online cohort will be different from the adjourning phase I experienced with the cohort where we attended class together, because although we are in groups, we don’t really get to know each other on a real personal level. I do feel that upon completion of this degree, even though we do not know each other on a personal level, we have provided each other with some great feedback and ideas that we can each take with us.
Amy,
ReplyDeleteI am so glad to hear that you had such a positive group experience while at Tusculum and that you all still keep in touch with each other. I am so sorry about what you experienced on the church building committee. Its unfortunate that the committee had to be fully dissolved instead of being able to find a way to move forward considering all the hard work that went into it. I understand the sense of failure you may be feeling. Did the committee members at any point re-group to figure out what could have been done differently? I know from experience that sometimes working on church activities is not an easy task especially when there are members of the congregation with very differing opinions. On the bright side, it sounds like the overall goal of the committee was achieved successfully.
Hi Amy,
ReplyDeleteI like how you compared the adjourning phase to putting icing on a cake. I am sorry that your group did not make it to this phase. So many times this is the case. Thanks for sharing.
Amy
Amy,
ReplyDeleteI completed the final two years of my undergraduate studies online and did not form friendships and therefore, didnt reach the adjournment stage. I don't expect to experience it this time either simply because we haven't met one another to develop a closer bond. I do hope that many of us will keep in touch to support one another.
Crystal
It seems as though that everyone has a challenge with adjourning. I wonder why? I think that we all can relate to this specific topic of conversation.
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