Just can't say no

All I wanted to do in my last class way to lay low. It's a self-directed senior project class. Each student must be the leader for two out of the eight weeks. Because of class size, there are multiple leaders each week. During the first week, we were asked to list the weeks we would like to lead as first choice, second choice, etc. I chose week 1, week 2, week 3 as my first, second, and third choices thinking I would get this over with and be done so I can coast the rest of the way through. The professor had other ideas. I was chosen to lead during week 1 and 4. After a review of her choices the system she used became obvious, you were assigned either 1 and 4, 2 and 5, or 3 and 6. Although this is an eight week class I didn't give much thought to what happens in weeks 7 and 8.

The premise of the senior project is do analyze a fictitional company. Each week covers a specific topic like planning, marketing, ethics, etc. The assignments are determined by the leaders who design a set of deliverables specifically related to the week's topic and take a group of the students and assign them work to do on that deliverable. So the leaders divvied up the class int groups of 4 students who would each work on one deliverable from the set. Sounds simple enough. NOT! The leaders cannot even come to terms on what the deliverables should be not to mention choosing which students will work on which deliverable within the set. Mass chaos and confusion is common. We are now at the end of week 5 where tempers are short and inappropriate comments are surfacing beneath larger hostilities. I continue to lay low and stay out of any disagreements. I just want this class to be over.

This class is made up of a few people like me, intelligent, driven, and all-knowing. But I digress. Most are clueless, uninspiring, unmotivated, unable to think and will never become leaders in any field. I know it sounds harsh, but it's reality. We have to do peer reviews in this class. I am not always kind. I do not fudge my observations. I keep them on a professional level even if they are negative. On the other hand, I do not read what others write about me, I just don't care about anything they have to say. This is part of my plan to keep my apathetic attitude in tact and just get through by laying low. Yesterday the professor dropped a bomb that changed everything.

I wasn't going to check my e-mail. I was tired from a long day of work followed by some intense power shopping at the mall. At the last minute I detoured from my path to the bedroom and checked my e-mail. Hmmm, the professor, what could she want? I decided to take a half- interested peek and double-clicked the message which read: I have chosen you to be the team leader for the final project of this class. Wait....let me read that again. OK, now I'm more than half-interested. After less than 10 minutes of serious deliberation (also known as letting it all go directly to my big fat head) I accepted the position.