Ah yes, group projects, the student's version of living hell. While some professors may believe they are saving you and your grade by thrusting an arts and crafts horror onto you and three other unwilling participants. In reality, all a group project does it test the patience you don't have and give you even less faith in humanity than you already had. So below I've illustrated what I believe is the cycle of hell also known as the stages of a group project. Enjoy!

Stage 1: Denial

AKA false hope. This is fine. This won't be too bad. Our group is gonna rock. These are all thoughts your brain is feeding you so you don't have a complete meltdown... yet. The very fact that you have to convince a full group of other people to care about this project and your grade as much as you do, is something you just stick in the back of your mind. You are super convinced that everything is all good, there won't be any problems arising later. You have successfully convinced yourself that this won't be a complete sh*tshow and that y'all will bond over project notes and Applebees. Uh, yeah, OK, let's go with that.

Stage 2: Epiphany

And suddenly it hits you at 3:00 am in the morning, you're gonna be the one to do all of the work because you're the only one in the group who cares enough. You cannot hide it, so you try to bargain with yourself, like hey maybe it won't be so bad. You can do it, you're a capable person, you just gotta organized. Just gotta do ten questions as well as a presentation, create a speech, submit a thesis and an essay... Uh huh.

Stage 3: Acceptance

This is a complete sh*t show, it sucks. But the project is due in two days and you've run out of sh*ts to give. People (especially those in your group) are the sh**tiest you mentally tell yourself as the deadline approaches. You're just scrambling to get all the pieces together, remember C's get degrees but B's are better!

Stage 4: Panic

Oh crap, the project is due in 24 hours, and it sucks because you had to do it all yourself. You're running on 4 hours of sleep (one and a half of those hours were spent crying), and a mixture of coffee, espresso, mountain dew, Redbull, and a tiny bit of vodka. Your bedroom floor is covered in papers and the library staff is slightly concerned for your well-being. Get it done, has become your mantra. Don't worry you're almost done. Three hours to go!

Stage 5: Presentation

F*ck it all. It's the day of the presentation. You present it (like you need any freaking practice) without even looking at the screen while your group shuffles their feet as they read off the projector. As the ending credits roll, it's all dedicated to you and all the work you did. The professor laughs, your teammates' jaws drop and you walk out the room with your middle finger raised at them all. Well done, you did it.