Box 19

Observations- bracelet with heart shaped beads, little designs on the inside of hearts (significance?) where did it come from, why is it significant, does she wear it all the time or just sometimes, black and tan, how long has she had it

Personal notes- bracelet has personal significance and a story behind her obtaining it, likes to wear jewelry, reminds me of happiness, a free spirit?

Questions: How long have you worn that bracelet? Christmas

When/ where did you get it? Christmas/ Boyfriend's grandparents house

Is the bracelet of sentimental value? Yes/ no, (no)Buys her stuff all the time, simple stuff, (yes) first bracelet

Do you where it everyday or do you wake up and some days decide to put it on? Wear it everyday

Who gave it to you or did you buy it for yourself? Boyfriend

 

Write: The artifact that I chose was Adrian's bracelet. The bracelet is black and tan beads. The tan beads are formed into the shape of hearts. The bracelet was a gift given to her by her boyfriend at his grandparents house on Christmas of 2008. She wears it everyday and does not take it off. The sentimental value of the gift is what keeps it on her wrist. Although her boyfriend buys her simple items all the time that she will enjoy, this is the first bracelet that he has ever given her. Adrian's bracelet holds an importance in her life and thus, contributed to our interview.  

Week 7

My fieldwork has not only benefitted the community, but myself as well. By contributing my time with these athletes, I have opened my eyes to a diverse community of people. These people have taught me to have a light heart. Also, they have shown me the true meaning of having a kind heart. The most valuable offering I believe that one can give to the Special Olympics is there time and an open heart. The athletes look forward to playing sports with their typically developing peers. Spending time in the given field site allows them to make friends with people who do not have disabilities. It also creates friendships that allow them to have a social connection with the outside world. Some athletes do not have this interaction with society on a daily basis because of the confines of their disability.
Through my mini-ethnography, I would like to shed light on a subculture that few people are involved with in America. Those with disabilities are typically avoided and sometimes looked down upon. Because this will one day be posted on the internet, I would like everyone who comes across it to have a deeper understanding of the culture. I want to teach people that there is nothing to fear. Discomfort may be typical but discomfort is not a reason to shy away from a new experience and meeting new people.
My contribution to my community is the attempt to treat all people equally and with fairness. Although I understand that no one can be completely removed from a situation, I would like to show my community that one person can create a better community just by having a good heart and living a respectable and honest life. I would also like to show the people I encounter that everything is going to be okay in the end. To quote my all-time favorite John Mayer song, "I know the heart of life is good." This is the impact that I would like to leave on the world.

Survey

http://FreeOnlineSurveys.com/rendersurvey.asp?sid=rw9o2b37kwde8fi550026

Groundwork Activity

My observations from the place I have been researching have bombarded my senses. The very first thing I noticed about the St. Lawrence gymnasium was that it was cool. There was no relief stepping from the frigid cold outside into the gym. As soon as I was inside, I noticed how small everything was. The school is designed for elementary students, so all the posters, signs and equipment were at their eye level. The noise level in the gym once the athletes began to filter in grew louder and louder. The gym was run down, with old wooden bleachers that looked like they hadn't been restored since around the 1950's. Why did the coaches choose this location? Did they have any other choice? Does the Special Olympics pay for these facilities? How do the coaches get involved?

To the athletes though, the cool temperature, size, noise level and old facilities didn't seem to make much of a difference. I honestly cannot say whether they even noticed their surroundings. To this group of athletes, appearance doesn't seem to matter as much to them as it does to the rest of society. 

When I first volunteered at the Special Olympics, before I was an insider, I felt very apprehensive. I was extremely nervous, fearing that I wouldn't know the right things to do or say, or that I would be uncomfortable. I went into this place with the mindset that it was a one time volunteering experience. It it didn't work out, I didn't think I would be heartbroken. After my first experience there, I fell in love with it and couldn't imagine not going back. The people there were so friendly and made me laugh so much. I now feel much more comfortable in my space there, as if I am going each week to hang out with some old friends. 

I feel as though I am deeply an insider in the Special Olympics community. However, there are small differences that could keep me from fully understanding the environment. I am an individual with no severe learning disability. This keeps me from fully understanding or sometimes even comprehending the way that some of the athletes think and feel. Many of the other volunteers have parents, siblings or other relatives that participate in the Special Olympics. In that case, I cannot understand what it is like to live with and care for a person with a disability every day. A small portion of the volunteers come from Ball State and are special education majors. As a group, we are probably the most "outsider-like" of all the people there. 

Week 6

"Long Time Coming." Sports Illustrated. December 8, 2008. Academic Search Premier.  EBSCO. 10 February 2009. ttp://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=4&hid=106&sid=b7a7e42c-3d34-4712-ba00-bfa71fd04473%40sessionmgr107&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=35549414>.

The article begins by comparing the athletes who participate in the Special Olympics to those who participated in the Bejing 2008 Olympics. The main focus of Long Time Coming is recognizing and awarding Eunice Shriver for her lifetime dedication to the Special Olympics. When the writer attended the banquet to honor Shriver, he encountered several other significant figures who support the Special Olympics. During his discussions with them, he discovered the relationships that these people had formed with the Special Olympics and why the organization is so important to them. The article was written from a personal experience with some past biases. 

I intend on using this source for information about the Special Olympics' past and origin. Through finding this source, it gives me several significant people in the formation of the organization. I will be able to then use them as other areas to research within the Special Olympics to see what contributions they have made. Also, it gives me a chance to view an outsider's position on the Special Olympics, without being colored by my own personal feelings. He is knowledgeable about sports, but also only slightly familiar with the games. I hope to use this source as a launching board and also use some of its information in my mini-ethnography.

"Small Steps, Great Strides." Sports Illustrated. December 8, 2008. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. 10 February 2009. http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=4&hid=104&sid=f4249f96-0544-4c2b-803f-7517c6a70547%40sessionmgr108&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db =aph&AN=35553187>.

Small Steps, Great Strides is about the origin and impact of the Special Olympics worldwide. The Special Olympics was founded through a Shriver-Kennedy commitment. The founder, Eunice Shriver, had a sister who was intellectually impaired. She was then motivated to "make some noise" and become an activist for those with disabilities. The organization grew through a series of camps and sporting events. Eventually, it reached across the oceans and into foreign lands that claimed they had no citizens with disabilities. Through the work of the Special Olympics, information and knowledge has been spread to far lands and growth has taken place. Developments of the rights of those with disabilities and in the medical field have transpired because of the Special Olympics. The organization has reached out to bring people of all different backgrounds and lifestyles together.

This source was a very interesting and helpful read. I intend on using it as proof of the many different ways in which the Special Olympics has impacted modern culture and the way our society thinks. Before reading this article, I was unaware of how many countries participated in the Special Olympics worldwide. The article also detailed the various sports that the athletes participate in. This could be helpful to know because the athletes at my field site do not participate in all of the athletic events. Reading the article has helped me create some interview questions and given me a better understanding of my field site. 

Box 18

The focal point that I have observed in the Special Olympics is the gymnasium where they practice. A focal point is a place where the people of a particular culture gather and spend their time. This however, is just the meeting place of the season. In the fall, they typically will meet at a local football field or track. In the winter, it is in a bowling alley. For the spring and summer, the sports vary from indoor and outdoor activities, but most take place in a gym similar or the same as the gym that my fieldwork takes place in. My perspective is that this is an ordinary gym, similar to one found in any school in America. However, the participants of the Special Olympics may view it differently. I have recently found out that until the 1970's, children with special needs could be excluded from a public school education. For the older participants (and those do exist; some are in their late sixties), this gym may be a haven to them. Because some of them may have been denied a public education, they may have also been excluded from playing in a gym like is typical for any child in the American school system now. This focal point may be exciting and a place that they feel included in after being excluded for so long. This gymnasium may be a place where they can speak and hear their voices being heard loud and clear, in the echo of the room. People who are generally seen as so fragile have a chance to prove that they can play just as hard or as long as typically developing athletes. They have the opportunity to have an experience that most others take for granted. So from my vantage point, this gym is just a gym. But to the Special Olympic athletes, it may be more than that. It may be one more chance at "normalcy." 

In-Class Writing, Feb. 12

I recently went back to New York. While it does not seem like this trip would incur culture shock, it truly did. I was raised in New York until I was around ten years old. After that, I moved to Arizona briefly and then spent the remainder of my time in Indiana. While I had little memory of what New York was like, I often thought of it a lot like how I had grown up in Indiana. 

The sounds of New York was what struck me first. Someone was always rushing somewhere, twenty-four hours a day. The businesses stayed open longer, lest they inconvenience a customer. All the people I spoke with talked faster, laughed louder (mostly at the "cute" accent I had acquired), a walked with a brisker pace. I remember that the town was much larger than I had thought, holding many more people than I remembered and taking more than five minutes to drive through (unlike the town I had grown up in in Indiana). The culture seemed more rich. There were more people outside playing, the park was occupied with small children and parents, instead of teens smoking or adults playing in their adult leagues. You could walk anywhere, to a local grocery store, the park, the school, down to the Mohawk River, just like one could in Indiana, although here it may not be safe. I remember constantly feeling on edge, as though being here was much less safe and comfortable than where I had spent the remainder of my childhood. Here in New York, you didn't walk down the street and run into at least five other people you knew, were neighbors with or went to school with. You could be completely anonymous if that was what one wanted. It was a completely different style of life here. 

Week 5

I intend to finish this assignment by spending more time in my field site. In the near future I plan to interview two peers of mine who also volunteer at the Special Olympics. I am currently working on my list of questions to better prepare for when I talk to them. I wonder if this is a good format, or if I should perhaps ask more open-ended questions and just let them talk, to see what they feel is important. However, I feel as though the area I will need more experience in is observation and participation in the activities. I also need to catalogue what I have read in my sources and put them together to see if I have any repetitive information. 

On upcoming assignments, I have a couple questions. First, will you explain how to format an annotated bibliography more in depth? I haven't had any experience with them and I have a difficult time picturing what I am supposed to be doing. Also, will all of these "mini-assignments" flow into writing our mini-ethnography, or are they unrelated? They seem to be related to me. Is the intent behind that to sort of break down how to write an ethnography so in the future we will understand the steps behind writing a solid piece of work? 

Edited Box 15

A breeze sweeps through the lush, green vegetation. In the summer, when the heat is beating down and cool beads of sweat roll over the curve in your lower back, the breeze is welcomed. However, in the dull briskness of winter, the breeze feels like a slap across the face, a reminder of how crazy you are to be outside. The sun gives life to beautiful shadows that dance around the base of the tree, playing in harmony with each other. The warmth is baking my calves, cooking me from the outside in. My feet sink in the soft mud that has been created by a day of rain. 

 

Underneath the bridge, there is a cool, steady stream of water that trickles across the rocks. Ducks swim across the divide to tease the geese and birds on the other side. They nip at each others feet, splashing in the water, chasing after each other in a manner that only the birds understand. 

Box 15

I spend time here people watching. The breeze through the trees is typically welcome, although in the winter it makes it almost bitter here. The sun shines through the trees and casts beautiful shadows that play on the ground. I stand on the bridge as I listen to the calm, rushing water. Birds, geese and ducks are calling to each other, nipping at the others ankles, and splashing in the water. The feeling of serenity, peace and comfort washes over me as I can hear the water lapping against the rocks at the bottom of the river. I can feel the sun baking my calves, although I am wrapped up in a sweatshirt. My feet sink into the soft mud that has been created from day of rain. I come here to think, to feel and to talk. 

The impression this place leaves me with is confidence. This place is where people create memories, make their lives and share intimate secrets. You come here for fun, when you are sad, when you are skipping school. This place reminds me of when you were a child and all you wanted was to be here. I guess that really doesn't change though.

This place doesn't remind me of one specific person, although maybe it should. It reminds me of myself. It reminds me of children and their laughs, carefree and young. It reminds me of teenagers, young, in love for the first time, sneaking out and rebelling. It reminds me of adults, having their own children and creating their memories and sculpting their lives. It reminds me of old couples, who come here to remember when they were younger and to see how far they've come.

Dogtown and Z-Boys: The Birth of Extreme

Notes

Z-Boys had their own subculture within skateboarding. 12 boys from a part of L.A. known as Dogtown (S0uth Santa Monica, Venice, and Ocean Park). More run down and less economically sound. Know for outcast behavior. Created a new identity for surfing, and surf equipment and design. Warned away outsiders. The shop presented a home-like situation for people who typically only had one parent. Described themselves as similar to the Mofia. All wanted recognition. Demanding group of people. Everyone had to bring something to the table. Jeff and Skip were the leaders. Skating was the "after-surfing" activity. Skateboarding crashed in 1965. 

I feel that this documentary is both a work of entertainment and an ethnographic study. It is an ethnographic study because it details the lives of this crew, what they represent, their insider language, etc. but is also entertaining for someone who is only looking at it for the entertainment value. 

The interview subjects are the members of Zephyr and some of their followers. They are important because they best know how to describe the subculture. The interviews give the language and how different events and feelings are portrayed by different members of the subcultures. They are exactly what they say, word for word, and you can see it coming out of their own mouths. You can also view their mannerisms, facial expression and body language to give the interviews more meaning. They help keep the story interesting by feeding into each other and keeping it moving. 

The attitudes of the subculture is very, "this is who I am and if you don't like it you can go screw yourself." They have a strong sense of loyalty and family with each other and they highly value "trash" (i.e. old swimming pools, the innovative ways in which they made their own skateboards, surf boards, etc.). They had a ritual of surfing every day until around 10, and then skating the rest of the day away. They also had individual jobs at the shop that they each had to do in order to keep it running. Artifacts could include surf boards, skate boards, their clothing and head band things.

The structure of the piece is very laid back. It is organized chronologically. It helps me understand how the subculture began and evolved throughout the course of time.

I believed that most skateboarders had similar attitudes to the "this is me, take it or leave it" attitude portrayed in the documentary. This stereotype was reinforced in the video. I believe that it holds true, because they bluntly said that this was how they feel and how they interact with others. 

This did not really appeal to my pathos. However, it seemed to me that the person making the documentary was a fan of or at least interested in skateboarding. I feel as if it is credible, because it did not make any statements that were not believable. The piece appealed to logos because it stated beliefs and opinions that weren't farfetched. The people reporting on the subculture were really there and therefore they would be able to report on the subculture most accurately. 

Week 4

The general conclusions that I can draw about the Special Olympics have to do with the organization. I feel as though no matter where one would go in the United States, a Special Olympics meeting would be conducted in a similar way. I feel as though the insider language would be the same. However, I feel like the dynamics of the group of people will vary. Different groups will have differing interests and interactions with each other. I believe the rituals and behaviors would be the same in that all the athletes would play sports for a designated period of time. However, the treatment of athletes by their superiors would probably vary from region to region. One other factor that could change the whole feel of the Special Olympics would be the socioeconomic statuses of the members. This could alter the quality or equipment available. I don't feel as though political positions, demographics, religious positions and geography play a huge impact on the participants of the Special Olympics. I feel as though perhaps I cannot yet see the ways in which these factors would vary my experiences, although I am open to doing more fieldwork to try to see the differences.

Box 12

My privileges are: having a college education that is already paid for, being born into an upper-middle class family, being American, being white, having moved around a lot when I was younger and got to see many different lifestyles and types of people, being healthy, educational scholarships, achievements and awards I received for ballet, the right to freedom of speech, freedom of religion, support from my dad and other close family members, a stable relationship, having a well-paying job since the age of seventeen, went to school through the twelfth grade and could continue without hardship, the right to have a family and/or children

My privileges will effect my research in many ways. I feel as though I will have more privileges than those that I will be working with. Many of the adults are middle aged, and the laws we have to protect them now did not exists even thirty years ago. Until 1975, all people with a disability could be sterilized without consent. One of my greatest privileges is being able to choose not only who I want to be with, but also to whether or not to have children. Also, children with disabilities did not have to be provided with an education until around thirty to forty years ago. Some of the athletes may not have had a high school education that was conducive to their learning available to them as I have. Few or none of the athletes pursued college as a choice and went straight into a work environment, with or without fair working options. Since the age of seventeen, I have had a relatively easy job working for the Indiana Army National Guard with outstanding pay. Through understanding and admitting to the privileges that I have had that many of the people at my fieldsite have not, I will be able to understand the difficulties and potential hardships that they have faced. It will help me better comprehend the people that I am working with and therefore, make my writing more accurate and fair.