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.