Lab #4

Fridged temperatures. Sharp blades. Frosty breath. Ice skating is one of the more enjoyable activities one can experience with one's community. During an ice skating endeavor we interviewed strangers and a few friends about their trust in Americans. Most of the interviewees proved to be part of the 70% of Americans who don't find their community members to be trustworthy. Watch to find out exactly what they think!!


Actually, we couldn't attach the interviews. The DVD was shown in class though.

Lab #6

Lab #6 was a lab requiring me to explore social capitol by taking a poll. I decided to ask local teenagers in my community how many close friends they had. I would tally their number under one of these four categories- 1-2 friends, 3-6 friends, 7-10 friends, or 10+ friends. I decided it would be a good idea to define a "good" friend since some teenagers' definitions are drastically different than others. I defined a "good" friend as someone one could sit down at Krankies with on a sunday and talk to, hold an interesting conversation with, and hang out that afternoon without anything being awkward. When i began polling some people were surprised that this was even a serious question..."I have tons of good friends!" they replied. To this response I was surprised. I found that most people I asked had between 3-6 good friends. I expected that. The second largest range was 10+. When I repetitively acquired 10+ answers I began pondering this question: Are the teenagers who have 10+ good friends mostly from UNCSA? If so, (which most ended up being from) is that because the UNCSA students have similar personalities and characteristic which allows them to be more outgoing or persistent or able to manage their time with many different people. By being at UNCSA alone I believe students are forced to adapt to a group of diverse student body and live with others on a daily basis. These aspects of being independent yield UNCSA students the skills required to become friends with a larger group of people on a deeper level.

Lab #8

This lab asks us to build social capital in our own communities through some sort of political action. On December 30th, my friend Ellen and I took the train downtown Chicago (from the suburb where I live) without a plan as to what we would do or where we would go. We were walking around the Bean (famous sculpture in Chicago) when we saw a group of foreigners running around with signs that said "FREE HUGS!" in a number or different languages.The Chicago Bean


They ran to us while asking if we wanted free hugs, and almost before we could answer we were engulfed in the arms of friendly strangers (in a not-creepy way, don't worry). We asked the group why they were standing in 20 degree weather hugging strangers the day before New Year's Eve. The seven strangers each had various answers:
"To spread the love!"
"Because its almost New Year's!"
"Because everyone needs a hug!"
"Just because I want to!"
"Why not?"

Ellen and I were inspired my these people's willingness to stand in the cold and build social capital by hugging strangers and wishing everyone a happy new year. I said to my friend, "This is such a good idea! We should get our friends to do this sometime."
The leader of the group heard my comment. "Join us!" he exclaimed. "We have some extra signs over there."

We could not pass up this oppurtunity to build social capital in a fun and exciting way. So we picked up signs and joined the crew of strangers. After about 45 minutes, they didn't feel like strangers at all. We found out that the group contained two Brazilians, one man from Ireland, one man from Greece, and a woman from Sweden. A man named Jason and his wife served these people as a host family at thier Chicago home.

Ellen and I stayed downtown with our new friends for about two hours, hugging hundreds of strangers and spreading the love and the cheer associated with a new year beginning. We went downtown with0ut a plan, and found ourselves building social capital in two ways: by hugging strangers and becoming friends with a group of poeple that was different from us.

Lab #16

In October 2008, I had the opportunity of registering people to vote right here on campus. Other students and I sat in the Pickle and heckled with people to convince them to register. But because we are on a liberal college campus, most of-age citizens were already registered, while some had just not found the time to do so. I did not think that so many young citizens would have been registered because of past voter turn out.

Although many of our peers were being active individuals in the matters of our country, some were active pain-in-the-butts. Most men felt like testing my knowledge of registration and the political process, perhaps in an attempt to avoid the papers in front of their stubble claimed faces. And the argument of votes really making a difference was a major concern, a concern I quickly addressed.

North Carolina, known for being a red state, was on swing state status and with our 15 electoral votes at stake, it was an important time to vote. Some out-of-state students did not know which state to register in, home or school. I used my own situation to help them come to a decision. My home state of Idaho has a pathetic 4 electoral votes, and it will ALWAYS be a red state, the chance to vote for the first time in a swing state is incredible. For me, it truly made me feel as if my single vote was important to the political race for President.

Although I am not completely sure of just how many students we registered on that day, I know that we performed an important task that benefited ourselves, and our country. On November 4, a day after my 18th birthday, I voted for the first time. The experience was truly unique and special for me. I believe that political participation is important for communities as well as individuals, because it makes you appreciate your right to vote in a way that is indescribable. Participation keeps healthy and active relationships within a community, and is a small service anyone of any age can do.