#2 Resolving Interpersonal Conflict

Conflicts arise when people start taking matters into their own hands. This is largely due to the lack of communication. When people do not communicate their ideas or intentions clearly, there are bound to be instances where they get misunderstood. Unfortunately, I was caught in a situation before and I told myself I will never let history repeat again.

The incident took place during my secondary school days. I vividly remember that it was around the period when I was about to be elected as the vice-president of the students’ council. It all started out when I decided to run for that position. Firstly, I joined the students’ council because I liked the activities they were involved in. Secondly, it was a place where I can make friends from different classes and co-curriculum activities group. We hit off quite well at the start as everyone get to know more about each other. As such, I decided to run for the executive committee so that I can better contribute to the team. However, as time passed, people start showing their true colours and conflicts started to pour in.

Before the actual election, part of my assessment required me to facilitate a secondary 3 level camp as the logistics head. I was basically the logistic man in charge of ration and materials needed for stations. Alice, the operation head, was in charge of all the manpower and was holding all the keys to the rooms. One room required for a station was locked but Alice was very engage trying to sort of the manpower. I then offered to help since I had nothing to do. After opening the door, I placed the keys back on her table.

Hours later, Alice came over and asked me to return the keys. I thought she was joking with me. I told her it was not funny and I have to get back to work. She then raised her voice and demanded me to hand over the keys. She told me I was being irresponsible and destructive to her work. I was shocked as to why she has such accusation of me when I clearly return the keys and did nothing else. I brought her back to table and found the keys lying underneath a stack of paper. She was not remorseful at all after the key was found even though she knew that it was clearly her fault. This incident strained our friendship. A close friend of mine then told me she started spreading rumors about how irresponsible I am. People in the committee started to doubt my ability and my capability of being a vice-president. I was devastated and demoralized  I did not know what to do at the point in time. I wanted to give up. I asked myself what I have done to receive such treatment. 

However, after much thought, I decided to confront the problem. I had a personal chat with Alice and I was shocked as to what I have found out from her. I realized that some people who were jealous of me told Alice that I was irresponsible, thus she jumped straight into the conclusion that I did not return the keys after not seeing them on her table. I explained to her the whole incident and how I felt about the false accusations. She apologized for jumping into conclusion and spreading those false rumors.

Eventually, the air was cleared and those who were spreading rumors about me being irresponsible were removed from the council. I went on to assume my position and was well-liked by my peers. Whenever I looked back at this incident, I always ask myself what if I were to just walked away and leave the council. What if you were me, what would you have done?  
I guessed everyone has their own way to handle such situation, for me, I chose to confront the conflict. It all boils down to communication. If I have told Alice and signaled to her that I have already returned the keys, the incident would not have happened. Different people have different interpretation of stuff around them. They just have to communicate in order to prevent misunderstanding.