In Class Writing

She has a blue cover on her laptop. It's kind of clear looking, transparent. It's a mac book.
It might be used to add color or to protect from any kind of damage. I've seen them before, but not all the same color. She may have chosen the color because she likes it, or it may have been given to her. There are different kinds of covers that I have seen people with, some vary in looks. I have a pink laptop, but it isn't a removable cover, the actual laptop itself is pink, so i chose the color when i ordered it.
Why did you choose that particular type of laptop?
Had to get a Mac for Education Program
Did you choose the color?
Chose white because it was cheaper, chose the cover
Where did you get it?
Ball State
Have you seen any other colors that you like more?
Purple
The colored laptop that she has was chosen by her and bought at Ball State. The actual laptop itself is white, but the cover she bought is a clearish teal blue. The reason she got a Mac is because it was required for her Education Major. There are a lot of different kinds and colors of laptop covers for a Mac and overall, she likes the purple ones the best.

Post 7

The benefits I have gotten from visiting my fieldsite is all of the information I have found. I find out firsthand how things work and see interaction between different people. The things that I observe aren't anything that I could find in a book or on the internet. In return, I could give back to them my observations. Telling them what I observe about certain situations could maybe strengthen some of there relationships or maybe open there eyes to something that only an outsider would notice since they are all together a majority of the time. I'm contributing to the community by giving them my outside opinions, if they choose to take it. To the class, when I am finished with all of my research and have everything gathered, I should be able to easily share a lot about my subculture and what it is all about. Everything I have done from looking at sources, observing, and interviewing is teaching me a lot about my subculture, specifically the team, which can be compared to different fieldsites in the future.

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In Class Writing

My first impression of my fieldsite was how much different is was then I was expecting. I grew up in the Lafayette, West Lafayette area so I was pretty used to Purdue's campus. When I went to SIU I was expecting to see about the same thing. Actually, it was very different. Since my subculture is collegiate sports, but mainly softball, I had to see the field. Instead of being surrounded by baseball fields and other sports complexes, it was right in the middle of some dorms and other big buildings. All of the campuses that I had prior been to were never set up like that. So my first real impression was how the softball field was right in the middle of the everything, so you feel like you're always in the action.

I felt a little uncomfortable because it seemed like such a common ground for all the students and players, but for me coming in as an outsider, I kind of felt like I didn't belong just because I had never been there before, let alone wouldn't have even know where it was without direction. Also, during the games I saw some fans that I could assume had been there several times before. Since it was my first time, I really didn't know anyone that was playing except for my sister. I found out that there had been fans there that didn't even have any relation to anyone on the team, they just enjoyed the games.

I know I am an outsider because I'm obviously not on the team. They have there own thing, and the closest I can get to being an insider is my observation, which really doesn't get me much further at all. I don't know all of the players, but over time I have met a lot of them and if I saw them on the street I know them well enough to talk to them. I can watch them bond while they are on there own time and see that they are really close. Since my connection with this subculture is my sister, she always finds a way to include me in conversation.

Post 6

National Collegiate Athletic Association. 8 Aug. 2008. CBS College Sports. 18 Feb. 2009
.

The website I cited is the NCAA site that has all of the college web links and tells information about the different sports. It has categories such as schools, statistics, rankings, championships, and blogs. An overview of all kinds of sports is found on this page.

I'm going to be using this site in my mini- ethnography because it can give me information of the essentials to being on a college team. Also, I will use some facts that I find to help further some eligibility concerns.


Southern Illinois University Carbondale. 18 Feb. 2009. Southern Illinois University.
18 Feb. 2009 .

This website is specifically based on Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois. It has everything about the school on it and more importantly, the athletics. The page dedicated to sports has all of the different teams and information that goes along with them. Statistics, roster, and schedules are all included.

I'm going to use this site because my mini- ethnography is mainly pointed towards my sister and the team that she plays on. She plays on the softball team at SIU, therefore I will be using the site to look at results from there games, pictures from there players, and any extra given facts. I am hoping to see if there is a connection between the interaction between the team off of the field and on field.

Box #18

My subculture is College Athletics, but my main focus is the SIU Softball Team. Obviously, the focal point is the team. I have observed some players during socialization and just when they are doing there own thing. The players that I saw, are always with another person from the team. So, there is always some tie to each other. I'm looking forward to seeing how the others interact with each other, and if they always get along or if there are some of the girls that don't get along. Also, I'm going to observe while the team is actually playing. Hopefully, I will see some differnt changes in attitude. I think my own perspectives of how the athletes get extra attention might influence my thoughts. It might take a lot of supporting and dominant facts to persuade me to the other side.

In Class Writing

The only place that I have visited recently was my friend's hometown of Kouts. It is a tiny place with only one stop light and a Burger King. There literally was nothing but open land and houses. I grew up in a nice sized town, so there was a pretty big difference. The closest place to entertainment for them is the city of Valparaiso. Literally, everyone in her neighborhood was friends. It was just like you would see on TV. All the mothers would talk on the phone and walk over to each others houses and gossip about everything that had been going on. I got the sense that everyone knew everything about everyone. The high school my friend went to was K-12, so they only had about 40 students in there graduating class. As I proceeded to meet her friends, it was almost like I wasn't welcomed because they had been friends forever. In comparison to my high school, I don't even talk to most of the people I was friends with, but they are still best friends and still want to be in high school. It was just weird to see how coming from a college town to a small town how drastic of a change there is.

Post 5

Since I have observed my fieldsite, I need to ask some questions now. After getting a feel for the way that the team I am studying acts, now I want to get a look at them while they are actually in action. I hope be able to see them during a game. More information that I may need will mainly come from my sister's answers. I don't really have much to find or look up on the internet. The only real site I will use is the team's actual web page. Hopefully, I can get some more inside information and observations that will help answer my initial questions and bring the whole piece together.

Box #15

When I think of my childhood the most dominant memory that comes to me is my princess tent. I had a pink tent that had all of the Disney Princess' on it. My sister and I would always play in it and act like we were camping, when we were really in our basement. Everyday when we got home from school we would hurry downstairs to set it up. I remember the way that we acted like the brown carpet was dirt, and if my cat would rub against the outside of the tent we would act like she was a bear. When we set the tent up we got a huge whiff of a plastic smell. I still think of it when I get a smell of something plastic.
After awhile of playing in our tent we became accustomed to the routine of putting it up, playing, and when our mom came home. Everyday before we could eat dinner we had to put the tent away and then wash our hands. Since this happened almost everyday, the sound of the door opening had the same effect on us as dad telling us it was time to eat. We automatically put the tent away, washed our hands, and went upstairs for dinner.
I can only think of a few places that really stood out to me from my younger years, but I always remember playing in the tent with my sister and the way that the carpet was dark brown, the tent smelled like plastic, my cat was a "bear", and dinner was ready when I heard the sound of the door opening.

In Class Writing

I feel this is an ethnographic study more than a work of entertainment because there was a core group of people that controlled everything and didn't care about what everyone else said, they did it for themselves. The subjects of the interview were the actual finders of the surfing and skateboarding culture. They started a shop and made there own surfboards and skateboards. They are important because it is there story and they made everything happen the way it did. All of them were really trustworthy of each other but not of other people. Basically, they were a clique of kids that all worked toward a common goal and didn't let anything or anyone stop them from there dream. They were a subculture because they kind of expanded on surfing and skateboarding to make it there own. The interview was organized be asking the question and then listening to what everyone had to say and see how they all felt about it and get there opinions which gave you a good sense of how everything happened. Some stereotypes of skaters is that they are kind of punk and do what they want, basically they are troublemakers. I think that the reason that they have this label is because they have there own style and they don't care what everyone else says or things except for each other. They are kind of like "bad boys" and who doesn't want to be a bad ass? I trust what the documentary said because it wasn't based on what one person said, it was on everyone that was there at the time. It was really interesting and made me feel like I knew how they felt in some situations. The whole documentary was held together with interesting facts, interviews, and music.

Post 4

As of right now I can't make any conclusions because most of the things I am looking into are stereotypes. My subculture will be about the same no matter where I go. Since I am looking at a college team, I think that standards will nearly be the same. Obviously not everyone is going to be exactly the same and if everyone had different beliefs and religions, it really wouldn't have much to do with the treatment the team gets on and off of the field. When I get a further look, I might come across something that isn't so universe for every school.

Box #12

Privileges
-Age : I am in the same age group as the participants that I am observing
-Gender: The field site I am studying will be mainly girls
-Family: My sister is my main observant
-Environment: I am able to go to the site whenever I need to
-Freedom: I can ask anything and they in return can say anything
-Education Level: I have the knowledge needed to interpret information and compare

The privileges I have obtained were all given to me from birth. My age group and education level go hand in hand for relating to my participants. We are all in college so we are about the same age. Since I am a girl and the subculture I chose is dealing with a softball team, I will be surrounded by other girls which will ease any awkwardness or tension dealing with the environment in which I will be observing. My sister is my main observant so it seems like I have a lot of room to move with the subject, meaning that we are close enough to ask and answer any questions.