End of one chapter

This afternoon I had my soutenance du projet tuteuré. My group defended our group project before three professors, who then graded us (but we won't know the actual grade till September).

I feel really ambivalent towards the whole project. On the one hand, I chose the subject (the Alumni association) because I felt like I could really help by bringing my experience of an American alumni association to the project. I was in charge of our Excel spreadsheet of contact information (among other things) for more than 500 alumns (it's just for the Master, not the entire university), and I really think I was the most suited to dealing with it. I'm very detail oriented and rigourous with things like spreadsheets and I'm always asking myself 'If someone else came and looked at this spreadsheet, would they figure it out?'.

But the project wasn't without its hurdles. There were 6 of us in the group, but no "chef" like there would be in a business, so making a decision meant coming to a consensus, which could take really long sometimes.

Towards the end there were some hairy moments. One girl in the group has always had the attitude "Oh I don't get it...You do it." Is it necessary to mention she's blond and uses her looks to get out of figuring something out? I really wonder what she's going to do in the professional world. Damsel in distress is not usually a positive personality aspect when you're working on deadline.

Then there was the Belge who's story was always changing. The night after a party she mysteriously had a stomach bug and couldn't come to our really important group meeting. And the information she took forever to send me was surely sent before and I must have been the one to lose it. And the document we absolutely had to turn in Monday was actually okay Tuesday when I mention working hours and hours on it but still not being done.

There were 5 women in the group and one guy and I was upset that things got a bit cliché with cliques within the group. I hate it when anyone says that working in a feminine environment is bad/difficult because women are always insulting each other behind their backs or getting in cat fights. I tell them I went to a women's college for 3 years and there was never a negative, competitive environment. Sure, I didn't get along with everyone I met or worked with, but it was a great experience, and not overly-emotional or melodramatic like most people think. Except that this group project turned into talk behind their backs, melodramatic, smile through your teeth, fake your way through.

Anyway, it's over now. We turned in the 80 page report we wrote detailing everything we did over 8 months and there's nothing more we're required to do (although I'll probably be answering emails sent to the alum association during the summer). I won't have any more group meetings until 10:30pm or have to work with blond-girl "I don't get it...." ever again.

B and I are going out to dinner to celebrate. Now on to my mini-thesis for my internship and sending out job applications.