answer 5 questions (total 300 words)

Building Intellectual Character

Last semester I took a Speech class online. During this course we were given an assignment that required group work but getting everyone in the group to participate proved to be difficult. The assignment was simple enough. We were asked to present a strong case for both sides of a topic. The final presentation had to be a five-minute video uploaded to our class’ channel on YouTube. During this assignment it was important for us to use some of the eight intellectual character traits. For one, fairmindedness was important because we had to be fair in the division of labor during the project. We had to decide who would do the research, where we would meet to practice, and how we would present the information. I had to decide what was best for the group, not just me. This project was particularly difficult for me because I don’t enjoy group work.

You see we were having a hard time getting ahold of one of our team members and everyone was resolved to move on without her and pick up the slack (which is why I don’t like group work). A couple of days into the assignment we received an email from the missing team member. She was incredibly apologetic and explained that she was working nights, going to school and had two young children. Of course we all empathized with her (Intellectual Empathy) and understood why it would be difficult for her to perform on the time schedule we had planned. I tried to imagine how difficult it would be to be a college student with so many responsibilities. In the end, all she needed was flexibility. She still ended up doing her end of the work and although the assignment wasn’t finished early like we had planned, we turned it in just in time and made a good grade.