B ALANCING S OCIAL L IFE AND A CADEMICS Erica Anderson Literature and Society Dr. Sherry 10/10/11

S TUDY OR S OCIAL L IFE ?? Many students go to college to get an education, while some mainly focus on their social lives. For those students who succeed at both, how do they find the balance between school work and their social lives?

R ESPONSE Take a look at the college study by Rebekah Nathan (2005) My Freshman Year: What a Professor Learned by Becoming a Student Looking back on ethnographic data Take a peek at our own university, Bloomsburg University.

M Y F RESHMAN Y EAR Who: Rebekah Nathan What: Enrolled herself as a student at the University she had currently taught at to take a look at the life of a college freshman in classes and living in the dorms.

M Y F RESHMAN Y EAR C ONT … Why: To see college students interact with each other and experience college culture first hand. Where: The study took place at “AnyU”. When: Nathan performed this study in Rebekah Nathan 

M Y F RESHMAN Y EAR F INDINGS Nathan found that students today study and socialize less than they did when she went to college. This could show that more students may have more jobs and travel home more often to see family. Student’s social networks are their way of life. Many student’s meet new people during their first year of college and they tend to stick with the majority of those friends throughout college. How do they balance socializing and class? Many student’s multitask, such as listening to music while doing homework.

W HAT DO YOU DO AT B LOOM ? Are students at Bloomsburg more concerned with the “Boozeburg” side of Bloomsburg or their classes and achievement? Where is the balance? Are Bloomsburg students any different than students from AnyU students?

R EFLECTING ON E THNOGRAPHIC DATA : These following methods gave me an insight to different students lives here on campus; like their study habits, hobbies, and social lives. Visiting different dorm rooms A “normal” day here at Bloom Public Hangouts Personal interviews with people “unlike” you

W HAT ’ S H IDING IN A R OOM ? Looking at what is in a person’s room we could see what the person’s interests are, neat or messy, whether they study or not, and other interesting things. This first picture is quite messy. This room could be considered messy because the bed is not made, there is a towel on the chair, and there are clothes on the floor. This could suggest that this student is busy and does not have time to constantly clean. This student being busy could be either academics, social life, or a combination of the two. This picture also shows some pictures, which shows that this person likes to be reminded of family and friends. By looking at the pictures of family and friends shows that this person is social while home and that they may interact with them frequently while up at school.

W HAT ’ S H IDING IN A R OOM ? We can also look at this second picture and analyze what is in it. We can see in the corner a comfy chair, which shows that this student likes to be comfortable when spending time in their room. Another thing to take notice to is the amount of pictures, magazine pictures, and sports teams that are hanging up. Taking into consideration the amount of effort put into decorating this room indicates that they spend more time and probably study more in their room. This shows that this student values her family and friends a lot, along with expressing herself with the magazine pictures and the sports stuff. The pictures that are above the desk are facing the student. This shows that the pictures are up for the student.

W HY SEARCHING A DORM IS IMPORTANT … Dorm Rooms When looking at a room if it is very empty one can assume that that individual is rarely in there. Same if there is a lot of items the individual is probably in there frequently. Just like the tidiness. If a room is messy the person my come and go; while throwing things around the room to empty their bag to just fill it up with something else. However, when it’s neat it could imply that the person is in there and does not like to see their room messy

W HERE DOES THE TIME GO ? Creating a time diary I found how several students spend their days here at Bloomsburg and how they balance socializing and academics. Student 1: The first student clearly values physical health because in one day they spent 5 hours doing Zumba. Clearly this student has a lot on their plate because they spend almost as much time on homework as they do for sleep. Student 2: Does not value physical health as much due to the fact they only spent 1 hour at the gym. The second student also values their sleep much more than anything else. ActivityTime Spent Zumba5 hours Sleep5 hours Class2.5 hours Homework4 hours Eating1 hour ActivityTime Spent Gym1 hour Sleep10 hours Lunch30 minutes TV1 hour Friends4 hours Student 1: Student 2:

W HY TIME DIARIES ARE IMPORTANT ? Time Diaries Taking a look at the time diaries show the different priorities from one student to another. Student 1 seems to value their education because they spend 4 hours studying. While Student 2 spends the same amount of time with friends. This shows that each student is different and handles the balance, time wise, differently.

O, THE PLACES YOU SEE PEOPLE. Sitting in a public place and “people watching” you can see several trends and see which students focus more on academics or socializing. I observed people coming and going in and out of Starbucks. The majority of the students came in with friends, placed their orders, and either left or headed towards the library. Many people were talking with friends while enjoying a coffee or a quick snack. I also noticed that many people stayed with other individuals of the same ethnicity.

W HY “ PEOPLE WATCHING ” IS IMPORTANT … Observing a public place… Like Starbucks, shows even if it is a little bit of time some students make time to see their friends. Brings out trends. Such as people of the same ethnic group hanging out together. People of the same ethnicity may travel or spend more time together because that was how they were brought up. College students do not like to be seen alone. They like to be around someone all the time.

A RE WE REALLY THAT DIFFERENT ? When interviewing people “unlike you” I ended up finding two people that I had several things in common with. Both of these students seemed to be either anti-social or just studying all the time. Later, I discovered the reason why they were so studious during the week was so that they could have a social life on weekends and week nights. Student 1: The way I balance my school work and social life is by getting assignments done when assigned so I can go out or go home when I want or need to. Student 2: My favorite thing about college is meeting new and different people but also having freedom and the responsibility that comes with it. Both of these student’s answers show that they have figured out a way to have both a social life and an academic one as well.

T YING IT ALL TOGETHER Here at Bloomsburg, our culture contains both a social life and academic life. Most students say both are important to a true college education. Academics help you earn your degree and start a life for yourself. While a social life helps to create friendships and learn how to react to certain situations when thrown into them. Nathan’s study agrees that social life and academics are both equally important to a students development. There are students who must focus more on academics because of a job. While some students are not involved with anything outside of school so they focus on their social lives. Finally, there are many students that are quiet good at multitasking and can keep a good balance between school and social life.

S TILL TYING UP LOOSE ENDS … Some students attend school just for the social life, some for the academics, but I feel the true winners are those that come for both. At college you are not only learning in your classes but also about life in general and yourself.

R EFERENCES Nathan, R. (2005). My Freshman Year: What a Professor Learned by Becoming a Student. New York: Penguin Group, Ltd.