Blog Post 3

Group assignments. Even the casual mentioning of them make my fingers clench in apprehension. It just seems that so often group projects never seem to work out- you either get a group where everyone is incredibly headstrong and not willing to compromise or you get stuck doing all the work. Neither situation is a fun one and a lot of times all it does is lead to me being more mad about school and projects in general. However, when a group is just right it can be a great experience!
While I was reading the folk tales one story that I felt particularly taken to was "The Magic Brocade: A Tale of China". Despite the magical qualities to it, I felt some similarities to me and the main character Chen, which can be translated into traits I have in groups. Chen was incredibly devoted to his mother, and went through horrible conditions for her without complaint in order to return her brocade she worked so hard on so that she wouldn't die from the loss of it. Similarly, when I'm in a group I am always super invested into the fate of the group and try to keep it from, for lack of a better word, dying. I also always try to help out the group and even though I share my opinions I also try to incorporate other's into what I'm trying to say, and so a lot of times my ideas are squashed out, and a lot of times I handle that without complaint- making me the elaborator/clarifier of the group.
I also connected a lot with Princess Savitri. I found her wit endearing and found similarities in the way we think. She is a problem solver and determined- which are two ways I like to describe myself. She uses her wit in order to achieve what she wants from Yama and gets away with it. This is something I do from time to time- which probably isn't the best thing, but hey, it works when you absolutely need it. Savirtri is an initiator- she proposes a witty solution to her problem and it works. I'm an initiator as well and in a group setting I propose many ideas and I also like bring back old ideas others have said and incorporate them with mine.