I couldn’t be happier about the comments that I’ve received from my peers. It’s really great to get peer comments because they were able to give some of the most insightful and meaningful feedback I’ve had at UMASS, so far. This goes to show that more power should be put into students hands when it comes to their own education. Through our thorough examination of our peers, and of group dynamics I feel like we’ve all gained insight into the different ways in which people can perceive you. The most common word within the feedback was the word “helped”, I was happy to see that I was able to help so many people throughout this semester, and realized that we really became a solid group because we became reliant on one another. None of the feedback I got was negative, but the most helpful one was one suggesting that I give the class a new perspective on what’s being talked about, I realize that that is such an achievement for me because I feel as if this class was really hard and at times I was very confused but I was still able to maintain that perception. I’ve worked hard to keep a balance of not being too opinionated and also being respectful during my time here. I’m a pretty passionate person, so I know that I need to be cautious of not being too overpowering, my goal has always been to express my views but make sure that everyone else feels comfortable expressing their own views. When I received my comments I realized that many of my peers did in fact think of me as being that “type” of group member: “ Aly is a good mediator and has the group in mind, not herself. She wants everyone’s opinions to be heard and takes in what everyone says. Even the people who disagree- very open-minded”. This perception, and other things written by my peers, makes me realize that I am putting out what I need to be putting out in order to achieve success. It’s really important to be involved and also to be a good listener in my opinion, so I am happy that those types of things are associated with my role within the group.
