My first two weeks of college were, what I thought, the worst two of my life. I arrived on campus two weeks prior to the start of classes for soccer pre-season. This meant waking up every morning at 5AM, getting to the field by 5:30, and then warming up for a full day of soccer before the sun was even up. I did not know a single person going into this routine. My roommate quit 3 days into pre-season which made waking up even harder, but I did not mind having the room to myself. Well, somehow I made it through pre-season (I was sure this was not possible) and was excited to start the year with my own room. About a week into school I decided I would push the beds together and make a king size bed for my one person-room. Moments after I made this decision a girl comes in with suitcases and duffle bags. She plops her stuff down on one of the beds, looks around, and tells me I will need to buy a different T.V., and a new microwave as well. She then hangs a curtain up in the middle of the room and explains to me that her boyfriend visits every weekend, and that I will need to be elsewhere during those times.
I had heard bad roommate stories in the past, but never thought that I would encounter such things firsthand. My second year of college I lived in a mostly sophomore dorm, with a roommate that I had known since high school, and my living experience was drastically different than that of my first year. These experiences are what lead me to think about the differences in all college students’ housing situations.
Here at UNC-CH there are numerous residential housing options on campus. Most students choose to live on campus their first year. Living on campus is very convenient, and some students remain on campus their second year. Morrison is a mostly sophomore dorm and also where I lived my sophomore year. I thought it would be interesting to examine the activity levels of freshman versus sophomore dorms. I did not get to experience many of the aspects of living in a freshman dorm because I was gone most weekends for soccer and/or kicked out by my roommate, so I was also interested in the typical activities of freshman dorms. I hypothesized that freshman dorms would have more scheduled activities designed to introduce people to each other than sophomore dorms. I used Hinton-James as my freshman dorm and Morrison as my sophomore dorm.
An analysis of my observations did not lead to substantial proof and/or support of my hypothesis but was definitely a good step in that direction. The pancake dinners held in Hinton-James is a great example of a freshman dorm activity designed to bring people together. My findings as well as other similar findings could help the housing department at UNC-CH. They could design policies which do not only aim to make dorms a safe and comfortable location, but an environment where students can benefit from the huge amount of potential social interactions available in a place where they are living with hundreds of their peers. I know that if I had not played a sport my freshman year, I would have wanted to participate in any activities held by my dorm as I did not know anyone entering the University and did not have the best connection with my randomly placed roommate.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Analysis
UNC-Chapel Hill offers a variety of on-campus housing. Students typically live in dorms their freshman year, and sometimes their sophomore year as well. The purpose of my study was to determine if the amount of activities offered in freshman dorms is higher compared to sophomore dorms. I figure that freshman dorms will have more functions designed to introduce people to each other as it is everyone's first year in college.
As my observations indicated, I found that although my hypothesis does not seem to be supported very significantly, it is still supported. For example, the members of the Hinton James community have pancake dinners every week, whereas the members of Morrison (a mostly sophomore dorm) do not hold such events.
I believe these findings are important for the greater Chapel Hill community because it is important for incoming freshman to know that their housing choice may affect the relationships/friendships formed throughout their college career. A few freshman may choose to live at home if they live close enough. I believe these students will still enjoy their experience at Chapel Hill, but will not experience it in the same way as those students living in a dorm with hundreds of their peers.
As my observations indicated, I found that although my hypothesis does not seem to be supported very significantly, it is still supported. For example, the members of the Hinton James community have pancake dinners every week, whereas the members of Morrison (a mostly sophomore dorm) do not hold such events.
I believe these findings are important for the greater Chapel Hill community because it is important for incoming freshman to know that their housing choice may affect the relationships/friendships formed throughout their college career. A few freshman may choose to live at home if they live close enough. I believe these students will still enjoy their experience at Chapel Hill, but will not experience it in the same way as those students living in a dorm with hundreds of their peers.
Monday, March 2, 2009
2/28 Hinton James
2/28 Hinton James: 7PM
I am sitting in the Hinton James main lobby. Things are pretty quiet around here. A boy and a girl are eating from Styrofoam to-go boxes. Two girls walk downstairs laughing and talking about the night before. A boy comes downstairs with his backpack and sits down and pulls out his laptop. He is listening to his IPOD while on his computer. A girl is standing by the door on her phone either text messaging or playing a game. Two boys walk in talking about the basketball game earlier that day.
I am sitting in the Hinton James main lobby. Things are pretty quiet around here. A boy and a girl are eating from Styrofoam to-go boxes. Two girls walk downstairs laughing and talking about the night before. A boy comes downstairs with his backpack and sits down and pulls out his laptop. He is listening to his IPOD while on his computer. A girl is standing by the door on her phone either text messaging or playing a game. Two boys walk in talking about the basketball game earlier that day.
2/26 Hinton James Lobby
2/26 Hinton James 9:45PM
I am now sitting in the Hinton James main lobby. A group of 5 girls is dressed nicely and walks to the door talking about getting on the P2P and their plans for the night. A small group of boys & girls is talking quietly about plans for their next pancake (?) or waffle dinner. They seem to have these often. There are paper plates stacked high in a trashcan from one earlier that night, or maybe the previous night.
I am now sitting in the Hinton James main lobby. A group of 5 girls is dressed nicely and walks to the door talking about getting on the P2P and their plans for the night. A small group of boys & girls is talking quietly about plans for their next pancake (?) or waffle dinner. They seem to have these often. There are paper plates stacked high in a trashcan from one earlier that night, or maybe the previous night.
2/27 Morrison Dorm 7PM
2/27 Morrison Dorm 7PM
I am sitting in the lobby of the main floor of Morrison. It is a Friday night and it is quieter than it was last night. There is only one boy that is sitting down here on his computer. A girl is waiting by the door with a suitcase. A B-Ski’s delivery man walks in the door. A group of about 6 girls comes out of the elevators with cocktail dresses on. One boy comes down with a laundry basket. There is a girl sitting in a chair listening to her IPOD.
I am sitting in the lobby of the main floor of Morrison. It is a Friday night and it is quieter than it was last night. There is only one boy that is sitting down here on his computer. A girl is waiting by the door with a suitcase. A B-Ski’s delivery man walks in the door. A group of about 6 girls comes out of the elevators with cocktail dresses on. One boy comes down with a laundry basket. There is a girl sitting in a chair listening to her IPOD.
2/26: Morrison Dorm, 9PM
2/26: Morrison Dorm 9PM
I am sitting in the lobby of the main floor of Morrison. There are a few people sitting quietly, doing work. They are very absorbed in what they are doing and don’t seem to notice all the people walking in and out or the noise of people getting in and out of the elevators. A group of girls discusses their plans for later that night as they wait for the elevator. A couple people come downstairs to use the printers and then go right back up. I have seen 3 or 4 people come downstairs with laundry baskets. A group of guys comes inside laughing loudly about something. A group of about 8 girls is meeting in the corner of the lobby. It seems like they are part of a Bible study or something like that.
I am sitting in the lobby of the main floor of Morrison. There are a few people sitting quietly, doing work. They are very absorbed in what they are doing and don’t seem to notice all the people walking in and out or the noise of people getting in and out of the elevators. A group of girls discusses their plans for later that night as they wait for the elevator. A couple people come downstairs to use the printers and then go right back up. I have seen 3 or 4 people come downstairs with laundry baskets. A group of guys comes inside laughing loudly about something. A group of about 8 girls is meeting in the corner of the lobby. It seems like they are part of a Bible study or something like that.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
In Class writing
The strategies most useful for my particular observation would probably be figuring out the norms of the Morrisson dorm community as well as those of the freshman dorms. In doing this I would want to look out for any new additions while observing. Since I changed my hypothesis to say that there is sort of 'less' going on in Morrisson as opposed to freshman dorms, my next place to observe would be one of the freshman dorms. This will help me confirm that there is in fact a difference in freshman dorms vs. Morrisson (a mostly sophomore residence).
Monday, February 23, 2009
Topic Proposal
I plan to observe the members of the current Morrisson dorm community. Morrisson is a dorm on south campus that houses mostly sophomores and a few lucky freshmen. I think it is really helpful for freshmen/sophomores to live in a dorm their first two years of college because you meet a wide variety of people. Morrisson seems different than other south campus housing buildings in that it does house mostly sophomores, most of whom have already made friends their freshman year. I believe this causes Morrisson to be slightly more ‘closed off’ than the mostly freshmen dorms. I lived in Morrisson last year and found this to be the case for my suitemates and me. We had met each other prior to living in Morrisson, and therefore did not make much of an effort to meet other people on our floor. I actually did not know the names of most of the people on our floor until the end of the year. I believe the main lobby area of Morrisson will be mainly students studying rather than students meeting for clubs and other activities at nighttime. This may be of interest to the larger UNC community because we learn how important living situations are in forming social networks.
Friday, February 20, 2009
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