Having two large assignments due on the same day did not worry me very much. Part of it was the fact that one of them was an individual assignment - I could stay behind after my group had finished working on our sharps container and work on my lantern at my own pace. Another part of it was the fact that I could come in to the engineering lab whenever I wanted as long as I brought a buddy with me, so I did not have to worry about rushing over right after class to use the lab while it woulds still be open.
I am used to group projects taking longer than individual projects normally would. It is often very difficult to find a time when everyone in the group can meet, decide on a single way to move forward, and ensure that everyone is working an equal amount. However, I did not expect the individual project to take so long. In high school, the rules were much more explicit: I had to follow the steps given to me in order to achieve the desired result. With this lantern project, though, I did not have any clear ideas of how I was going to start it. I finally figured out what I was doing through a murky-ish path or trial and error and so when the lantern finally worked, I was very excited.
Next time, I will definitely get in the lab and start playing with things to get a sense of what I want to do. I found that when building something, one can only do so much without actually testing out materials and seeing what works, so I will not try and make as many sketches and diagrams as I did for this project without setting aside some time for trial and error. I will also continue to exploit the fact that the lab is (technically) open at all hours so that there will be less pressure to finish things quickly.
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