<center><h2>Second chances can change a person.</h2></center>
<h3>I've seen it happen in group projects at school.</h3>
<p>In one of my classes a few semesters back, we were required to team up and create a project that bridged frontend web design with backend database manipulation.</p>
<p>It was pretty complicated to begin with, and we had 6 people to coordinate, well 5. One group-mate ghosted us for the ENTIRE semester.</p>
<p>By the time the semester had been nearing its end, we'd all essentially assumed the classmate just quit and never told us. (We went through our angry period as well, of course.)</p>
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<p>But it wasn't until the last week of the semester, as the due date loomed, the group-mate resurfaced. He apologized profusely. However, followed it up with many generic reasons as to why he was non-existent from our universe.</p>
<p>This sort of re-ignited the frustration of the group. We openly informed him of what his lack of participation had caused the rest of us, who were as well, dealing with "a lot of stuff".</p>
<p>The professor was aware of the situation by now, and we had been given the green light to end the partnership if needed.</p>
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<p>I firmly believed, and fortunately I wasn't the only one in the group, that firmly believed in letting them stay. It would be too easy to let him go based on spite.</p>
<p>I remember thinking, "what had we to lose if we let him stay?" He would either continue to not contribute, and get a grade he didn't deserve...or he would do something.</p>
<p>So we let him live...</p>
<p>And wouldn't you know it, in the final few days he contributed more to the project than 2 of the others that had been there the entire semester!</p>
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<center><img src="../assets/img/groupProject.png" alt="Group Project"></center>
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<p>Sometimes we eat ourselves up inside way more than others ever could(or should). For all I know, he had to spend a month working up the courage to come back, and apologize...</p>
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<center><img src="../assets/img/posts/redeem.gif" alt="Redeem"></center>
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<p>I believe in honesty, sincerity, respect, and most importantly vulnerability. Never spiteful, or reactionary, or impulsive. I believe that if everyone could allow themselves to show a small amount more vulnerability in this world, we could all understand one another just a little bit better...</p>
<p>Put yourself in their shoes, let them back up the apology(or sometimes not) with actions. They may surprise you!</p>
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<p>Thank you for taking the time to read this!<br>-Josh ✌</p>
