Personal Narrative: My Long-Term Group Project

When I was in 8th grade, I was extremely shy and quiet. I always tried to avoid conflict and arguments at all costs, even if it meant standing by as an instance of injustice unfolded in front of me. A situation in which I upset someone in my community was a few years ago, when I let an outsider feel unwelcome in a group I was a part of. In hindsight, this conflict was probably normal for girls my age, but it left a lasting impact on me, and shaped how I deal with similar situations now.

I was working on a long-term group project with several classmates. The project was due at the end of the semester, so we worked on it once a week in my basement. Because all of the meetings were taking place at my house, I led the work on the project most of the time. Most of the people in the group were friends, but there was one girl involved who did not know the rest of us. During the first few weeks of the project, my friends and I reached out, and attempted to get to know …show more content…
I was a fairly quiet kid who did not like talking to people I did not know well. Because I was so quiet, confrontation was something I tried to avoid at all costs. When I entered high school, I joined debate and competitive speaking, and it changed my personality forever. Because I transferred to the high school, I only knew a few people there. The new and unfamiliar setting caused me to be even more quiet than usual, and in the first few days of school, most people did not even notice I was there. The one class where I was able to be myself was debate. At first, I was terrified to try the activity because I did not think public speaking would be my forte. Later on, even my teacher admitted that he was skeptical of the level of success I would have in the activity because I was so quiet. By the end of the first week, I had fallen in love with the activity. As my debating skills gradual improved, I began to break out of my