Practice Interview

Jenny

What is a hobby of yours?
-running
How long have you been running?
-since Freshman year of college
What made you decide to take up running?
-I swam in highschool, and when I came to Belmont, they didn't have a swim team so I decided to start running
What does running do for you physically, mentally and emotionally?
-It keeps me in shape, it's a mental challenge and it gives me an endorphin high afterwards. I always think of this quote: "I will never regret getting out of bed, but I will always regret staying in bed".
What are marathons like?
-Well ive only run 2 but they start out good and by the end you are glad its over. The last marathon I ran though, I passed an army guy that they had on the ground doing CPR and he ended up dying, so that was sad. You never know with marathons. They are strenuous.

My Map

This map is of the Maryland Farms YMCA in Brentwood Tennessee. I frequently go to this YMCA to work out. There are about two levels of the "Y" with a couple of half levels.

Here, I have shown the upstairs on the bottom and the downstairs at the top. I believe this map shows the different options that this specific "Y" has to offer. They have strategically placed the rooms upstairs and downstairs for a reason. I believe they put the main workout area upstairs to attract customers that can see the huge space through the windows outside. This "Y" also contains a Subway restaurant inside at the front so that when people leave, they can get a healthy meal. There is also a man that shines shoes at the bottom of the stairs for when businessmen go to workout, they can get their shoes shined in the process. I hope by observing the YMCA interior, I can get a better understanding of why the YMCA is so appealing to many American families.

YMCA Lists 2

Looking at different lists that help define a culture will give us a little insight into what that culture is like. My semester-long project involves the YMCA. An example of some lists that define the culture of the YMCA are music playlists, group fitness schedules, duffel bag list of items, workout list. By examining different person's ipod playlists, it will help me to better understand the different kinds of music people like to workout to. My guess is that most will be upbeat rap and rock like songs, but I would be interested to find out if I am right.
Another option is group fitness schedule list. If I can look at the attendance to each one of those classes, I will be able to tell which classes are preferred over others and if men or women attend classes more. If I can look inside the duffel bags that people carry to and from work while working out, it will give me some insight into the necessities to carry in the transition of working out and work. Finally, if I can observe the workout list of some people, such as athletes, it might help me to understand why the YMCA is preferred over other places to work out. They might have more areas to work out, more machines that will help get better results, etc.

Lists for the YMCA

1. Playlists for ipods
2. Packing list for clothes to bring to the gym to and from work
3. Group Fitness list
4. Movie lists for the movie room
5. List of Hours of Operation

YMCA Artifacts

A person’s outfit while working out says a lot about their personality, attitude or character. [A person’s outfit can say a lot about their personality, attitude or character.] Some people purposefully go out and buy a workout outfit that is cute and comfy just to show that they are a regular. Some [A few] people at the “Y” wear clothes that even I would be embarrassed to walk around my house in, while others wear normal clothes such as shorts and a T-shirt.

When referring to [When observing] women, those who are regulars at the YMCA are the ones who seem to have the cutest outfits. They are fit and healthy [They are healthy and fit] and are proud of what they look like. Their outfits are spandex, bright and tight [Their outfits are bright and tight spandex].

Then there are women like me who do not make working out their first priority, but still attend the “Y” on a pretty regular basis. I have noticed that these women aren’t extremely fit but aren’t obese either. These types of women [Many of these women] wear the standard Addidas shorts from Dick’s Sporting Goods and a T-shirt. They are comfortable in their skin, but not comfortable enough to show off their love handles in tight spandex.

Finally, you have the obese people that occasionally have the courage to step foot in a YMCA. These people seem to use the cardio machines the most. Obese people are obviously going to be more self-conscious and these types of women usually wear an oversized T-shirt and pants.

As for the men that attend the YMCA, there are also about three different types of styles. First, there are those macho men whose heads seem to take up the whole room (figuratively speaking). These guys are almost always in the weight area wearing a cutoff T-shirt to show off their massive muscles. They wear gloves to help while lifting and sometimes have a partner to assist. Then there are those men who are the standard athlete just trying to stay if good physical shape and usually just wear basketball shorts and a T-shirt. Finally, the heavier men who occasionally visit the YMCA, these men where oversized T-shirt and shorts [Finally, the heavier men who seem to only visit the YMCA on occasion wear oversized T-shirts and shorts.

What people wear when working out seems to say a lot about how they feel about themselves. It will be interesting in my research to discover if those people actually feel the way the look.

Field Notes Exercise

I observed the workout gym upstairs in the Beaman Student Life Center.

1. what surprised me?

When I observed the workout gym yesterday, it was interesting to watch every single person in the workout room at once. Usually I'll observe people while I am working out but I don't get to see EVERY person. It was surprised at how many people were doing cardio as opposed to weights. Also, it was funny to see the different people that were doing exercises wrong because they didn't know the right form.

2. What intrigued me?

My field working project for the semester is to observe the YMCA. This exercise is similar to what I will be doing later on and I was intrigued by the different kinds of people. I like observing people's attitudes, dress, actions and their different workout regimes. It is interesting to analyze them and see the differences. I hope to take this and try to answer my question of what makes the YMCA so appealing to Americans.

3. What disturbed me?

I did not find anything too disturbing with this exercise. The workout gym is not somewhere that I feel I will find many things I don't like. Most people are working on keeping themselves in shape, getting healthy and keeping to themselves so there is not much to say about this question.

The YMCA Semester Project

This semester I would like to do my project on the YMCA. Apparently the gym is a fascinating place and has become one that millions of people visit on a daily basis, particularly the Young Men’s Christian Association or YMCA for short. I want know what makes the YMCA so appealing that Americans feel that they have to become a “Y” member, pay a large fee every month and fight the enormous crowds just to get that hour-long workout in each day.

As a member of the YMCA myself, I know what I like about the organization but I am interested if my opinions are similar to others. I want to explore the idea of locker rooms, group fitness classes, and the different people that you observe at a YMCA. I plan to enter the YMCA every few days like I normally do, but instead of working out and listening to music, I am going to try and take notes while I do my 30 minutes on the treadmill. I am constantly analyzing people’s dress and mannerisms, but now I just have to take notes on it. I also plan to interview employees at the “Y” including group fitness instructors. If I am lucky, I hope to get to interview those various types of people and see how each person’s opinion of the YMCA and the reason for using it differs.
There seems to be many humorous standards that come with being a member at this place and I am interested to go in depth to further explore those standards. I would also like to see the statistics of the past few years to see if the “Y” is still the fan favorite gym to attend. My hopes are that I get answers to all of my questions, prepare and good fieldwork investigation and learn more about the YMCA in the process.