The Grasshopper or the Ant?

With final exams approaching and group project deadlines approaching, everyone seems to be under extreme stress as they make that one final push of the semester.  Watching everyone panic and cram as the days count down made me think about the moral of hard work and preparation.  As students, we are all here at the University of Michigan to learn and expand our knowledge.  This is what we should be doing every day we’re here throughout our time at college.  This is what we’re paying the big bucks for—especially us out-of-state students.  Yet, it seems that so many students feel a sense of hopelessness and unpreparedness at this time of the year.  The other day, I began to think of this in more depth and realized that so many of these phenomena relate directly to “The Grasshopper and the Ant,” which refers to the well-known Aesop’s fable that moralizes the value of work and preparation.  In short, the grasshopper enjoys himself and plays games all summer long instead of helping the ant, which works all summer to store up food for the upcoming winter.  When winter comes and the grasshopper asks for food, the ant says no leading to the grasshopper’s death.   This story is not only about hard work and preparation but also relates to karma and giving back.  The fable would have a much different ending if the grasshopper had helped the ant prepare.  However, is the ant’s decision justified by the fact that the grasshopper decided to enjoy himself instead of work?  Should the ant still have saved the grasshopper’s life?  What if the grasshopper worked hard and prepared all of the next summer, allowing the ant to have fun to return the favor?

The hard working and well prepared student (ant).
Image found here.

All of these dilemmas and questions relate to group projects and final exams.  In any group, there are going to be some people that put forth more work than others, even if the group manages to divvy up the work and responsibility—it’s just inevitable.  But let’s say, for the sake of example, that there’s a group of two people.  The project has two graded components: a paper and a presentation.  The paper receives one grade, so both students will receive the same grade regardless of who put in more effort or did more work.  On the other hand, each student receives a separate grade on the presentation based on their apparent knowledge of the material and how well they present.  Now, let’s say that one student is much more motivated and puts in virtually all the work on the paper, while the other student slacks off and doesn’t put in an effort to help out.  The student who did all the work completes the paper—does a very good job—and turns it in a few days early.  With the presentation approaching, the student who didn’t help out with the paper panics when he realizes that he doesn’t have any idea what was said in the paper or what to say in the presentation.  In desperate need of help, that student contacts the student who did all the work and asks for help in preparing for the presentation.  Now let’s take a break and think about whether the student who did all the work should help the slacker.  Is it fair for the hard worker, who sacrificed fun and free time, to have to help the slacker, who didn’t do any work and just had fun instead?  I think that most of us who have worked on group projects in the past have experienced one or both sides of this situation.  It definitely isn’t a fair scenario; however, whether the hard working student should help or not is a tough decision.  What do you think?  Situations obviously vary, but what have you guys done in the past?

The slacking student who enjoys himself instead (grasshopper).
Image found here.

There are other examples of this dilemma, such as study guides for final exams.  Let’s say there’s a student who spends hours making a study guide for an upcoming final.  Meanwhile, another student is out partying and enjoying himself instead of preparing for the exam.  If the unprepared student asks the student with the study guide, should the student who sacrificed his time to make the guide send it to the slacking student?  I know that I personally have been on both sides of this situation.  There have been times where peers sent me their study guide and hard work, while there have also been numerous occasions where I’ve spent countless hours making a study guide and still sent it to friends.  In my past experiences, students have been fairly generous in sharing study guides to help each other out, but is this fair?

Maslow's hierarchy of needs.
Image found here.

The way I see these dilemmas is that the world is round.  What comes around goes around.  Therefore, if I help someone out, even if they are undeserving of that help in that given situation, hopefully he’ll return the favor and help me out when I’m in need however undeserving of that help I may be at that time.  However, if the other person isn’t a friend of yours, you have no idea whether that guy will help you out in the future.  In fact given the size of this school, you don’t know if you’ll ever see him or her again, nonetheless have a class with that person again.  So, should you still help that person?  Is the incentive of helping that person the selfish idea that you have a future favor in your pocket or is it the sheer satisfaction of helping someone out?  Additionally, throughout this post, I’ve put it so you can only be the grasshopper or only be the ant.  I personally believe that people should be part-Grasshopper, part-Ant, just as the description of the blog says we should be when posting.  People in general should learn to be diligent, hard working, and prepared, but that doesn’t mean that they should sacrifice all of their fun and happiness.  It is finding that perfect balance that people want to reach that perfect level of self-actualization.