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 In the game, I was able to get the highest average amount of coins when I cooperated with Serendip.  When I tried to compete with it, it would compete with me, and we would both lose the potential to gain the most coins possible.  I believe that it makes sense for the computer to keep cooperating with me if I keep cooperating with it, but does this type of cooperation really happen in real life?  Looking at the overall picture, it makes sense to cooperate with people.  But what if people are used to always competing rather than working together?  For example, if an actual prisoner and his partner were held in different interrogation rooms and told that the first person who gives the other one up will get no jail time.  Then they were told if the other person chose first, they would get thrown into jail for many years.  If they both told on each other, however, they would only get a few years in jail.  It would make sense to cooperate so both of you get the same amount of time, but are these prisoners really going to care what happens to their accomplace?  Cooperation does not matter to criminals at all.

            Bryn Mawrters, however, are no criminals, and the group of women that I learn with are all very willing to cooperate.  We all realize that if we do our part of the work and attempt to contribute an equal share to discussions, we get the most out of our learning.  Everyone is willing to create a win-win situation.  This cooperation also plays a part in the grading scale.  We as students are able to play a large role in the grade we think we deserve.  If we know we have worked very hard and can convey that to the professors, I am sure we will be satisfied with our grades. 

            Equal cooperation will be especially important in the group papers that we will be writing.  If we don’t already see how equal cooperation can benefit both parties, we will experience this through writing with others.  When both people put in the same effort, a better relationship sprouts between the writers, making it easier to talk about ideas and write an actually interesting paper.  So even though people in our future work places may not see the value of cooperation, I have found that Bryn Mawr's community thrives with cooperation between one-another.