The Quest for High School Mathletic Glory

Chapter 1: An interdisciplinary project goes wrong

"Here's the interdisciplinary project for the semester; you will have multiple areas to cover, with the due date being three weeks before the final exam. You certainly know that the interdisciplinary project I'm talking about here counts for several of your basic courses, but that I am responsible for this project. As for my course, it counts for 20% of the final grade. It will be done with three people; the schedule of presentations will be determined one week before the due date. The great theme of this project: professions. You must cover the history of a profession, major techniques of the profession of your choice, access to it, work conditions and finally the taxation of a typical early career professional. Also, you have until the end of the period to form your teams and agree on a topic" the French teacher announces them at the beginning of the lecture.

Ouch... free-loaders are quite common on interdisciplinary group projects and these free-loaders must often rely on their social status to get what they want. And so, a student's popularity, without necessarily being a key ingredient of its academic performance, might help. Especially when peer evaluations are part of the work. I know Dylan fairly well; he tries to benefit from his popularity as a star tight end to stay afloat academically in group projects, but people seem to tolerate his propensity to take advantage of his teammates, Geneviève thinks, while Dylan searches the classroom for a team with which to perform the work. In the meantime, she already has a teammate lined up.

"May I team up with you two for this?" Dylan asks.

"Let me make that clear, Dylan: if you want to team up with us, you will need to pull your weight. Maybe you could have gotten by with Marcia in the past, but with other teammates than I" Gen warns him.

"And we're not simply talking about an introduction or a conclusion: last time I teamed up with you, you were assigned these parts, but Geneviève hasn't been very clear about her expectations. She would like you to contribute to the main body so make your choice" Marcia issues an additional warning.

"This is unlike you, Marcia! Your usual friends didn't act like this!" Dylan protests, realizing something is amiss.

It is true that so many people at this level tend to simply divide the parts according to the strengths and weaknesses of each student. It might seem logical to some at first glance, but still...

But what is it that could push Dylan to take an Advanced Placement French course? Is it for reasons related to his friend circle or his life as a tight end, in which case he thinks he can play at this position in college? He got away scot-free for the past two and a half years to proceed like this, Geneviève continues to think while Marcia continues quarreling with Dylan, and Gen keeps her distance.

"The other students with whom I get along are already in a team" Dylan adds. "Marcia, you're the only one I trust that's still available!"

"I accept, but her usual friends are in another section. You team up with me, you will need to contribute to every step of the project. We will have regular meetings on it" Gen continues her warning.

"Before you talk about what these meetings will be about, or of when, we will need to agree on the topic, Gen" Marcia turns to Dylan. "I believe we stand a better chance to obtain a good grade for everyone if we talk about a profession whose entry and working conditions are well-documented"

Speaking of topics, the various teams that are constituted have already chosen their respective topics, and unsurprisingly they talk about law, medicine, accounting, engineering, to name only the first four topics in chronological order of selection... these being professions that the two girls would see such and such in the class practice in the long term. Not very original, but, after all, we are talking about students near the top of the school's academic pyramid. Of students that have a realistic shot at practicing these professions.