Sample Essay On Collaborating With Others

Working with other people can both be a positive and negative experience for an individual, depending on how one looks at the collaborative experience. When one is open to the idea of working with other people towards a shared goal, then the results tend to become optimistic and encouraging, while resisting the idea of cooperating with others and becoming a team often results to negative consequences. Collaboration offers positive experiences through knowledge sharing, learning, and working as a team.
A couple of years ago, I joined a youth group in our community in creating awareness about the effects of drugs in the lives of the young. It was an interesting group composed of teenagers coming from diverse backgrounds and cultures. I often felt superior of other nationalities, believing that I was better than them, more knowledgeable, and more compassionate. Thus, I resented other teenagers’ efforts of becoming friendly towards me if I knew they were from another country.
However, as days went by, I realized that my knowledge about teenage drug issues was so little as compared with them. I saw how they interacted with other teenagers and our mentors. I observed how they spent their time wisely by doing research and interviewing mentors on the various causes of teen drug addiction, while I spent mine talking with other non-serious members of the group. Soon, we were brought to a juvenile detention center where we had a first-hand interaction with drug-dependent teenagers and I saw how unafraid and confident my teammates were, unlike me, who had to duck behind every time a volunteer is needed. Right there and then, I saw how foolish I have been in thinking that I was superior to them when in reality, it was I who needed the knowledge and experience in dealing with the addicts.
Since then, I changed my demeanor towards them and became more cooperative and collaborative by helping our group identify each others’ strengths and weaknesses in order to maximize our productivity. I realized that there must be balance of power within our group, as we give opportunities for other members to shine. Most importantly, I have learned to share myself and my ideas instead of feeling threatened by their own strengths. By collaborating with others, I was able to achieve my personal goals and apply my learnings on teamwork in other aspects of my life.