Looking back, this won't be one of your fondest memories during your first year. It wasn't your first time passing out, even if you were embarrassed for days. It would be working with your coursemates instead. You didn't have prior experience, even passed up the opportunity to volunteer for a cause. In such setting, you would likely deal with different people. You haven't heard first-hand account from people you knew, but you sensed there would be differences. Someone might be stepped on, even kicked off. And then there was the issue on division of labor. You loathed freeloaders, but such kind of individual would exist in any group. It happened that you were an achiever, the type of person who who do it right away.
Your tutor asked you the same question. Did working as a group help you learn? You ended up enumerating the pros and cons, which helped you decide once and for all. Here are the pros:
You were always motivated. Not that you don't want to be outshone by your group members, but most of them would encourage you. As for the reasons behind your lack of motivation, you rather not reveal them. (You would cite Parkinson's law of triviality.) Besides, you wanted them to recognize your efforts. Nothing beats compliment.
Social interaction would lead to better performance. You have been an introvert, but you enjoyed working with your coursemates. You overlooked their quirks, as you were eager to make new friends. And it became less of a burden. (You didn't mind the lack of sleep on a few occasions. You weren't the only one.) There was one instance when you had to resort to procrastination, but group effort made it less stressful.
You don't mind having more friends. It was hard to tell if your coursemates would seek your company, but you had faith in them. As a matter of fact, you don't believe there was a misanthrope (in the English Department). But you never knew. Perhaps someone was familiar with Tom Ripley.
Here are the cons:
If you don't see your effort noticed, then there was no need to make further contribution. It happened once, when you noticed a couple of your coursemates hardly doing anything. And you tried to suppress your annoyance when they kept on making suggestions. You preferred action, but you didn't pay attention to what they said. You were agitated.
You were right, but your coursemates still deemed it wrong. It was your first time to witness informational influence, which you hated it. You blamed yourself for your lack of persuasive skill. You charged it to experience.
Parkinson's law of triviality. There were two instances when you fell behind the schedule, and it was due to trivial matters. It wouldn't happen in your case, as you tend to be impatient at times. You wanted it done right away.
You were an introvert, so you concluded that working with your coursemates didn't help you much. But your tutor said something. You were startled, even worried about it. And you weren't looking forward to it. This was part of the module, though.
