KRobinsonLit&Soc+Reflections

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Reflection 1: In this reading, a study was being performed about college life as a freshman and the culture differences found between different generations. Rebekah Nathan was a professor at a state university for several years for anthropology and studied in different countries to analyze villages and their culture. She compared the freshman life, in the dorms, intra-mural activities and even their lingo to a unknown culture as the villagers. The ideas that interested me most was the acceptance of an older woman into the dorm life. In her observations, even though she was initially isolated, her fellow students accepted her almost as one of them. Another thing that interested me was how she described the difference of being a professor at the university compared to a student. She had taught there for many years but when she became a student she could barely find her way around campus. Insights that this reading offers is that lingo spoken by college aged kids changes approximately every 7 years. The issues that are involved in the reading are the disconnection between professors and students on college campuses. There are many things that Nathan did not see as a professor that she now understood living the life as a freshman student. I personally thing this is a great read and learned a lot about the generation gap and misunderstanding the occur even in our own society. I really like that fact that she took her time and effort in learning about the student life and compared it to a foreign village.

Reflection 2: In this reading, it was interesting that the term "community" was defined in numerous ways. Broadly it was defined by AnyU freshman students, but then narrowed down as students form their own individualized communities. Nathan explained that only about 6 people in her hall second semester came to the hall meeting. This disengagement shows the lack of community in the dorms, but may form other communities outside the dorms. The students value their individuality and ability to make their own decisions. I felt as if this is completely true because through personal experience, most of the time I did not attend dorm "community" activities, but at the same time wished there was something to do. The struggle between maintaining a healthy amount of individualism and community is played around with your freshman year as you find out who you really are.

Reflection 3: In this reading I found it interesting that the relationship between Nathan and the international students were easier to form because they were both considered "outsiders" in the Freshman AnyU "community". The perspectives that the international students gave about friendship were a completely opposite point of view then I personal thought. I always thought Americans were considered the most friendly and open with friendships, but the way that we define "friendship" can also be interpreted differently. I felt almost insulted when the international students generalized the American education system about foreign countries and foreign affairs. Being a history major, I realize that not everyone knows as much about other countries and history that I do, but we all have our area of focus and maybe other people don't want to focus on foreign affairs. Also, this reading opened my eyes in generalizing other nations because I don't want them to feel the way this passage made me feel. Back to the friendships though, I can see where foreign students can feel that friendships are superficial because it is common lingo here to say "Hey what's up?" but not actually expect an answer other than "Nothing, good you?". I personally would not find that insulting because it is the norm here, but I can see where it could seem "cold" or uncaring. This reading made me think about how I'm going to treat foreign exchange students in my classroom when I become a teacher.