Dear College of Business,
We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole semester in Cluster for whatever it was that we decided to major in, but we think you're crazy to make us write deliverables showing you who we are as students. You see us as you want to see us in the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions. You see us as a filled seat in your class, an email address, a PID, a check on your attendance list and a project you have to grade. Correct? That's the way we saw each other at 2 p.m. in August. We were brainwashed.
During the fall semester, I was enrolled in a group of classes known as the Integrated Business Cluster here at (The) Ohio University. Go Bobcats. These classes are taken in order to help you with two group projects that are each approximately seven weeks in duration. I was able to get a spot in the P.M. 007 Cohort last fall and had my Cluster from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
At the start of Project One, it seemed like the professors were less than helpful. They did not fully explain what was expected of us and our entire cohort was completely lost. Their response to this was along the lines of “Read the Charge. We are not going to spoon feed you.” This lead to panic within the teams.
We were all scrambling to get our deliverables started while also trying to navigate the various databases that we were suppose to use for our research. The professors tried to answer the questions that came up, but several times they said conflicting things like, “You guys really nailed it” from one professor but hear, “You really missed the mark on this and I’m kind of disappointed” from another. When they weren’t sure about something in the Charge, material they were supposed to know and understand as the people who were teaching and grading it, they would tell us to ask another professor who would tell us to ask another professor. It felt like we were back in seventh grade asking our parents if we could go out with our friends and they would say, “Go ask your mother” and “I don’t know, go ask your father”, except it was twice as frustrating and for a grade. This continued throughout the first project and into the second.
After the close of Project One, our teams were dispersed and we were regrouped for the launch of the second project. With new teams and a new Charge, we were thrown into the ring for round two. Between balancing the assignments of the Charge, the pointless and distracting busy work that we received in our classes and the confusing and conflicting requests and requirements of the professors, the teams were constantly together. If you weren’t at work or sleeping, you were most likely working with your group. As the semester continued, the teams worked smarter, not harder. We divided and conquered, but came together to create one voice for our final deliverables and presentations.
If I learned anything from Cluster, it wasn’t the difference between high and low business casual or how to create a professional document or how to deliver a captivating presentation. It was how mutual suffering brings people together to work as a team and allocate their skills in order to fake it ‘til they make it.
What we found out is that each one of us is a good student, an entrepreneur, a colleague, a teammate and a friend. Does that answer your question?
Sincerely yours, The Cluster Club
P.S. A huge thank you to the members of my Cluster groups: Nick, Mas, Jacob (P1), Liam, Carli, Jake and Robert (P2). Y’all were amazing.
Jada Sonnenberg is a sophomore studying marketing at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Do you agree? Let Jada know by tweeting her at @jadachanelle.
