Individual Decision: Standard Agenda Essay Example

The dilemma I decided to solve with the standard agenda is when I should get a job. I am trying to save money for a mission and college, and it is difficult to do this while having a fun senior year—especially without any income other than chores around the house. In my opinion, it would be smart to get a job, but I am worried about the stress of a job and the course load that I currently have. 

My goal is to decide when it would be a good time to apply for a job while considering how long it will take to save enough money for my future. I have about two years before I could leave on a mission, and during that time I would be able to complete two college semesters at Weber State. I will know that I have reached my goal when I am able to create a balance between school, work, and my social life. 

Some of the problems included in this dilemma are things such as: wanting to have a fun senior year (which often requires money), the heavy course load I have this semester, wanting to save money for my future, and wanting a social and family life. 

A good way for me to know if my solution is correct is by meeting criteria. For example, I will be happy because of this choice—even if it means I miss out on activities this year. I should be able to afford a mission and college with this decision. It will keep my stress low. I will be able to get good grades this school year. And I will be able to spend time with my family and friends. When I rate these criteria from most important to least important, they would look like this:

1. Ability to spend time with loved ones
2. Overall happiness
3. Low stress levels
4. Good grades
5. Able to afford future interests

The solutions I brainstormed are getting a job now, applying for a job next semester, and getting a job after I graduate high school. If I got a job this semester, I would be unable to spend time with my family and friends because of homework, social activities, and work. If I applied for a job next semester, my course load would be less stressful, and though a job would take up time, I would not be required to complete as much homework so I would still be able to have a social life. Waiting until the end of the school year would mean that I could save money for college and a mission, I would not have the constant stress of school and good grades, and I would be able to spend times with friends and family. But this would also mean that I would not get to participate in some social activities. 

According to my criteria, I have decided that applying for a job next semester would be the best option. During the first couple weeks of school, I struggled with being in-person for classes, and in consequence, my grades dipped lower than past years. Since the majority of my classes this semester are college classes, I feel it would be difficult to juggle work, life, and school. Getting a job next semester would mean I would still be able to save money for college and a mission, while also having a fun senior year. 

Group Decision: Consensus

The school parking lot is difficult to get in and out of during school functions. There is a lot of traffic that effects the time and efficiency of coming to and from the parking lot and our communications group was given the task of coming up with possible solutions for it.

To make the parking lot more efficient, our group’s goal was to make it so that students, parents, and teachers could get in and out of the parking lot within five minutes. 

Analyze

After hearing from each member of the group, we agreed that the Syracuse High School parking lot has a lot of congestion. Parents have no specific place to drop off or pick up their kids at school, which makes it so that many people are entering and exiting the lot at the same time. In front of the school, the bus loop takes up a lot of space, some of which could be used for a parent drop off/pick up zone. There are not enough entrances and exits to the parking lot. Students often walk across the parking lot and cause a delay in the time it takes for cars to park.

We had many different perspectives in our discussion. Some students park in the parking lot behind the school, while others park in front of the school. Some group members have parents that drop them off at and pick them up from school. 

Our group agreed that the SHS parking lot needs a separate place for parents to drop off and pick up students at school. Though some group members thought that more entrances and exits to the parking lots would be good, we decided that a parent-zone would clear more space quicker. 

In my opinion, the consensus model took a lot of time and patience. We did most of this assignment in class, and it was difficult to stay on task. You had to be willing to go through every group member and find their ideas and opinions. Then we had to go around and agree on a decision. This model was effective, but it took time. 

Group Decision: Consensus

I decided to use our in-class discussion for my group decision. This discussion was about the “murder mystery”. There was a Baron who went on a trip. Before he left, he told his wife not to leave or she would be punished when he returned. While he was away, the baroness got bored and went to her lover. When she went home, there was a madman who threatened to kill her if she passed. She asked many people for help, but none of them did, so she was murdered by the madman. Our group had to decide who was at fault for her murder. 

At the beginning of our discussion, we agreed that everyone in the story had something to do with the murder, but the madman was the one who truly killed her. We had many ideas of what had transpired, but we did not have enough information to truly blame anyone. 

We decided that because of this, the madman was the one who was truly to blame, and every else played only a small role. We went around the group and made sure that everyone got to share their own ideas or opinions, and then we went around again when we agreeing on a decision. 

During this discussion, it was very easy to agree because of the information we were given. Maybe if some group members had received slightly different information, it would have been more difficult, be we all saw eye to eye (for the most part). I think that in a normal situation, a group is more likely to have differing information, ideas, and opinions, which can also be classified as the field of experience. We did make sure to bring in other opinions or ideas (as part of the devils advocate), but all of them were worked out quickly. One thing that was hard for our group was having a full discussion. We have a few members of our group who are a lot more reserved or quiet, so we had to make an effort to include them and their opinions.