Journal #1 (11/13/09)

The information that surprised us the most is that she got caught drinking already in the first chapter. The reason this was surprising is because she is of age and is allowed to drink outside of the dorm. Also with her being the age she is, you would think that she would know and follow the rules of the place she is residing in. It is also shocking because you don’t hear of people with doctorates getting in trouble and having disciplinary measures taken upon them. Another thing that surprised us is that she participated in athletic events provided by the university. The most shocking thing about this is that she was actually good for her age, and despite her age, she found a way to connect with other college students.

Some information that has been left out so far is how this experience has affected her in her transition to living in the dorms. If she does have a family, we wonder how they are handling living without her and if she visits her home often. We also would like to know if she went to any college parties, or if anyone invited her because of her age. We wonder if she was accepted and seen as an equal in the classroom by both students and her professors.

The ideal audience for this book is college students, preferably freshmen, because they can relate to it better. The book may help them deal with the new situations they are being thrown into; also may bring humor to what they go through and the struggles they face. Professors may also be a good audience, because it may help them understand his or her students better. It may also answer the questions for people wondering if the typical college student has changed throughout time. Changes that are due to the influence of culture, and what is accepted in these groups of young adults.

Journal #2 (11/20/09)

The third and fourth chapters discussed diversity and community on any college campus. Nathan describes how college students group together and the reasons for a decreased participation in dorm activities. She argues that it is not that they do not want to participate in large group activities, but that they genuinely forget or do not have enough time for activities like that. Many people believe that college students are spending more time socializing and less time studying, but Nathan proves through the samples she collects that students living in the dorms on average only spend about three hours a day engaging in social activities; the rest of the day is usually spent studying, going to class, and eating.
Diversity is also a major topic in these chapters. The author explores the types of friends students generally make by observing who they eat with and who they generally associate with. She discovered that the majority of people tend to have closer friends that are the same race or ethnicity as them, and that many minorities tend to be the only one of their ethnicity at the dinner table.
Chapter Four goes along the same theme of diversity, only instead of focusing on how American students choose their friends, it focuses on how international students fit in and perceive American college life. As a professor from the same university, she is still somewhat accustomed to college life. International students, however, are entering a completely different culture from what they have been used to all their life. By looking at their experience of finding friends and adjusting to the social aspect of this country and of college, the true culture shock of becoming a freshman in college can be captured. After interviewing several international students from countries such as Japan, United Arab Emirates, and Mexico, she finds that they perceive American college students as very individualized and independent from their family. Also, many of them perceive the friendships and relationships as different from what they know back home. The difference in culture is described as being distant and not genuine. Many international students discussed that when talking to American students, they felt as if they were not interested in what they had to say.

Journal #3 (11/30/09)

This book coincides with a discussion we recently had in class about who has the most power. This discussion was based off an activity we did in class about socioeconomics and moving from one class to another. We related this back to our book by comparing how a professor, who would be viewed as a higher socioeconomic class, became a freshman in college, which would be considered the lowest socioeconomic class, and what she learned. The author determined that even though freshman in college were considered the lowest class, the fact that they were students gave them the most power. This power would be the individuals’ choices that affect their future. She also discusses that independence and individualism are the basis for community at a public state university. With such power of independence a student has the willingness to pursue college as a building block for the future career or the dreams and aspirations. Some students, however, do not reflect this characteristic because they are the ones who are content with staying in the “lower socioeconomic class”. This may be reflected in their choice not continuing with college or not attending an institute at all.

Throughout the book Rebekah Nathan uses personal interviews that she conducted while at school. Each interview aided in the unbiased effect of each section of the book. These interviews also helped her understand things that she couldn’t experience due to her age and/or ethnicity. An example of this would be in the section where she talks about international students and their experiences on campus. Since she isn’t an international student these interviews help her grasp the complete idea of what student life was like for them. Another technique she uses throughout the book is observation. During her days at school she walks around through the dorms, listening into peoples’ conversations, or monitor the lunch for anything that can be helpful for her writing. Although this may seem creepy, it does work for the tone of the book and helps it become more relatable for the reader.

Journal #4 (12/7/09)

The last few chapters of the book discusses what Rebekah Nathan learned by becoming a student and how she applies what she learned to her future lesson plan. While reading these chapters us a readers learned something about Rebekah a well and about how students progress throughout their days at school. Which leads to the most important thing that we learned as a readers, which is the effect of time management. Time management plays a big role in a students life and helps a student manage his or her stress as well. We also found it interesting that she found that the daily planner didn't play a big role in time management; that it was a students schedule, the taming of the professor, and limiting the workload.

Another thing that was thought was interesting is that she didn't add the comments from her piers and from her students till the very end about what they thought of her field work. We found that this could have been essential information to know at the beginning of the book because it would have given more personal background about herself. We wonder if she questioned it because it would direct the book on her experience before or get the reader in the wrong mindset prior to reading the book.

Since some of our questions weren't asked during the book we turned to outside sources which helped us answer our questions. Books like Binge and Generation X aided to our better understanding of what people found college to be like. We found it easier to relate to those books as well because they are more of what college is like. They went in depth about parties and sexual stereotypes that matched more with the college atmosphere that we are affiliated with.