Collaboration Project - Assignment Example

I can still remember our conversations very late at night when we were supposed to be sleeping and our mom coming in to scold us for still being awake. We shared secrets that we swore we would never tell anyone and to this day as far as I know we have kept this promise. As we grew older I graduated from high school and started college while she was still in high school. We still remained close since my school was near to our neighborhood where I could commute. However, both of us became increasingly busy and we found ourselves spending less time communicating and interacting with each other.

Before long, I was married and got my firstborn ten months after wedding date. My sister was still unmarried and living the single life going out after work whenever she wished. In retrospect, I think I was a little jealous of her carefree lifestyle because I faced responsibilities of taking care of my family. I quit my job in order to stay home and take care of my baby and my husband whom I love dearly. I would not have had it any other way, but I had a hard time adjusting to being at home every day.

At this point in time we only saw each other about once every two to three weeks because although my family visited my mother with whom my sister still lived, she was hardly ever home when we were there. This is how it was for about fourteen years until she met and got married to her husband. She too, had a child within a year. Now that she was married and had a daughter that she stayed home to raise, she wanted us to spend time together but by then I was the one who was busy. I was working part-time and running all over town with my boys driving them to games or picking them up from after school activities.

We talked through the phone but I always had to cut the conversation short to do something. My sister could not understand why I could shorten our conversation. According to her, now that she was at home, she could like us to spend time more time together but as for me, I had other more activities to attend. She grew resentful and it reached a point where she accused me of not being welcoming especially to her husband. Her accusation haunted very much and this made me angry and totally changed my attitude towards her.

The unveiling events started to strain my relationship with my sister and we kept distance for a couple of years. I commenced this project in order to improve my relationship with my sister and try to restore the closeness we once had. I knew things would not change unless I put forth the effort to reconnect with my sister. I needed to let go of the past and let bygones be bygones. I needed to spend time listening to what she had to say as well as to spend quality time with her and her family.

I found it necessary to start expressing myself clearly in order to eliminate and misunderstandings not only with my sister, but others with whom I interact. I also wanted to become less critical and more accepting of other people’s viewpoints and opinions. I intended to self-monitor to be certain that I was heading in the right direction toward achieving these goals. The hardest part of this project was getting started by reaching out to my sister. I didn’t want her to know she was part of a research project for grad school and I didn’t want her to become suspicious either.

So, I initiated contact by emailing her and including a recipe I thought she might like to try. Goals and objectives Before the end of this collaboration, I had some objectives to