Interview Revision

Original:

During my interview, I hoped to learn a little about the experiences people had in the classroom at Belmont. I specifically wanted to see the impact that professors had on learning.

Everyone has that one professor that has made a profound influence on their life. That is one of the defining characteristics of the Belmont University experience. This school has some of the best professors. They are available, dedicated to the student (not just academically but also spiritually, professionally, and personally), and they challenge the students to do better work and to reach higher aspirations. "I love the faculty and staff. One of my favorite classes was Integrated Accounting. I like the material, but the professor (Beverly Alleyne) pushed it over the top," said Peter Smith, a junior at Belmont. Students at Belmont can also expect to have a relationship with their professors. "They relate to students really well and invest some time in them," adds Smith.

Revision:

During my interview, I hoped to learn a little about the classroom experiences at Belmont University; specifically the impact that professors had on learning.

Everyone has that one professor that has profoundly influenced his or her life. That effect is a quintessential part of the Belmont University Experience. This school has some of the best professors. Belmont has made the commitment to provide students with professors who are not only academics but they are mentors. They are available, dedicated to the student academically, spiritually and personally (not just academically but also spiritually, professionally, and personally), and they challenge the students to do better work and to reach higher aspirations. "I love the faculty and staff. One of my favorite classes was Integrated Accounting. I like the material, but the professor (Beverly Alleyne) pushed it over the top," said Peter Smith, a junior at Belmont. Belmont students should expect a relationship with their professors. "They relate to students really well and invest some time in them," adds Smith.

Interview Paragraph

During my interview, I hoped to learn a little about the experiences people had in the classroom at Belmont. I specifically wanted to see the impact that professors had on learning.

Everyone has that one professor that has made a profound influence on their life. That is one of the defining characteristics of the Belmont University experience. This school has some of the best professors. They are available, dedicated to the student (not just academically but also spiritually, professionally, and personally), and they challenge the students to do better work and to reach higher aspirations. "I love the faculty and staff. One of my favorite classes was Integrated Accounting. I like the material, but the professor (Beverly Alleyne) pushed it over the top," said Peter Smith, a junior at Belmont. Students at Belmont can also expect to have a relationship with their professors. "They relate to students really well and invest some time in them," adds Smith.

Women in the Legislature

My project revolves specifically about the role of women in the state legislature. As I began to think about possible maps that I could show, I couldn't think of a way that the physical space of the capital building would impact how women are treated. So I started to look for a map of the trends of female representation in the legislature. This map illustrate the percentage of the legislature that consist of women. I fully expected to the south to be a place where the percentage was low, mainly because of the stereotypical roles that women in the south have historically played. However I quickly noticed that the demographics aren't specific to region and, for the most part, it seems to be pretty evenly scattered (with the exception of the northeast, there is a variety everywhere). I think it would be interesting to see why authors think that certain states and certain regions have a different percentage of women representing their populations.

Lists and Knowledge at my site

Today's world is overwhelmed with lists. They are part of every day life. At my site, the Tennessee state legislature, there are many lists that organize the law makers purposes and understanding of information. There are lists of constituents. Each representative has a contact list of organizations and businesses in their district. There are lists of legislation and each of those lists has supplemental materials, bills. There are also voting lists and records.
These lists are imperative to legislators ability to do their job. Their job description is to vote on legislation on behalf of the people who live in their districts. They need to use their contact list to stay connected to their constituents. They must be aware of their voting records for their elections. They need to understand the list of bills going through the chamber as well as everything within the bill so that they can make an informed decision.

Walk a Mile in my Shoes: 2nd edition

I scanned my room, searching for an object that would describe my culture. My attention was immediately drawn to the floor of my closet, specifically to my shoes. Shoes can tell a lot about the social, economic, geographic status of an individual. If you were to look at the floor of my closet (please excuse the mess) you would immediately know several things. The heels, riding boots and pink tennis shoes would reveal me to be a girl. You can tell that I don't live in a tropical or arctic climate. There aren't many flip flops or sandals in my floor this time of year and my boots are bairly equiped to handle the snow that we have. If you look a little closer you would see glimpses of my socio-economic sphere. You would see that I am definitely not a laborer, but follow a more academic/professional path. Looking in my closet, you will notice three pairs of practical shoes: my snow boots, my purple and brown plaid rain shoes, and my pink tennis shoes. These sensible shoes are swimming in a sea of sparkled heals, black healed boots and pumps. None of my other shoes would be helpful in an environment outside of an academic or professional setting. I would hate to hike a mountain or pave a road or plow a field in a pair of black pumps. My shoes go the same places I do: class, internship, running, church, out with friends. You can tell a lot about what I do, and a lot about the students at Belmont, by the shoes in our closets.

Walk a Mile in my Shoes: 1st Edition

As I looked around my room looking for an object that would describe my culture, I very quickly honed in on my closet, specifically my shoes. I think that shoes, or the lack there of, tell a person a lot about the social, economic, geographic status of an individual. If you were to look at the floor of the closet (please excuse the mess) you would immediately understand that I am a girl. The heels, riding boots and pink tennis shoes would very quickly reveal me. You can tell that I don't live in a tropical area, there aren't many flip flops or sandals in my floor this time of year, and I don't live in an artic climate, my boots are bairly equiped to romp around in the snow that we have. If you look a little closer you might get an understanding of my socio-economic status. You would see that I am definitely not a laborer. As I reflect on my closet, I notice that I have three pairs of practical shoes, my snow boots (which are pretty and have a fur lining), my galoshes (which aren't really "necessary" but you would have to pay a lot of money to get me to give them up when I am giving a tour of campus on a rainy day), and my tennis shoes. None of my other shoes would be helpful in an environment outside of an academic or professional setting. I would hate to hike a mountain or pave a road or plow a field in a pair of black pumps. I wouldn't consider myself a materialistic person, however my shoes go the same places I do: class, internship, running, church, out with friends. You can tell a lot about what I do, and I would dare say a lot about what the students at Belmont do, by the shoes in our closets.

Field Work Notes

First...I am very sorry that these are backwards. I have lost the cord to my camera and my scanner is messed up.

I sat in the Beaman during the lunch hour. I wasn't quite sure what I was going to see but I very quickly honed in on the eating habits of the students who were there.

1) Was I surprised?

I was actually incredibly surprised. We hear all the time about the youth of today being the fattest generation, that we don't eat well and that we are going to be the first generation to have a shorter life expectancy than that of our parents. I was expecting to see a lot of WOW, sugary sodas and fried rice. What I saw were a lot of diet cokes, water bottles, salads and diet green teas. There was the occasional exception, however for the most part I was pretty impressed with the healthy choices that the student made.

2) What intrigued me?

As I noticed the healthy choices, I began to watch for students who were incredibly overweight. I surprisingly didn't find very many. According to a 2007 survey done by NBC, nearly 50% of college males and 30% of college females were overweight. As I watched the people in the Beaman I noticed only about 7-9% of students were overweight. I would like to know if this is something that is present all over campus.

3) What disturbed me?

I recognize several problems with my observations. First I was seated right outside of the gyms. Many of the students who walked by were on there way to work out so that is something to be considered. I also didn't go to several different places around campus to observe other eating habits. Maybe in the caf, where it is all you can eat, it would be a different story. I also didn't observe the Curb, which is where some of the most unhealthy food on campus is served.