The 2nd time is also the charm.
After a seriously disappointing weekend I can say today is off to a somewhat better start. On Saturday I had planned to pay a visit to University City down in West Philadelphia (to visit the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University). I wanted to go in the morning but thanks to a variety of chores and some procrastination on my part, I didn't get there until the late afternoon. I had wanted to capitalize on the fact that the weather was fairly mild, so I wanted to talk to people on the street. Unfortunately after my long train ride and walk to find student life on the campuses it was nearing dusk. People were in a hurry and those who did stop didn't want to talk. By that time it was late and I lost the will to want to talk to anyone, so I wandered around campus for a while.
By the time I decided to take shelter from the cold weather in Penn's student center, my mother insisted over the phone that I come home. So I left University City without getting anything done. In fact, I'd only managed to do my readings for Sacred Space on the train ride to and from West Philadelphia (when I wasn't being called on my cellphone). So I decided to move on to plan B, drive to Lasalle University in the Olney section of the city and talk to students there on Monday. I knew the weather would be freezing, so I planned to hit the student center first.
After staying up late and doing homework and getting nothing but broken sleep, I managed make it to Lasalle around 11:30. I drove around campus until I found a small side street to park on. I then walked back to the main campus looking for a student center where anyone could freely come and go. The task wasn't easy thanks to the below freezing weather (a with a constant wind chill of 6F) but after twenty minutes I found the Student Union Center. Like Penn, I wasn't sure what students would think with someone from another campus so easily walking around. So after a trip to the bathroom, I began to look for people to interview. My first attempt was a no go as two students playing pool told me they had zero interest or knowledge of the presidential campaign, they didn't even know who was running or what the issues were. But they apologized for not being able to be more helpful and I told them that it was alright.
Next I moved on and managed to find about seven people to talk to before it was time for me to leave. The people that I talked to were fairly open and pretty welcoming and none of them minded that I was a student from another university. The last two people I talked to were polar opposites but were interesting. One was an older woman who had a heavy interesting politics (even going as far as to volunteer) at polling places. She lamented about the issues that she wished were being addressed, in addition to wanting people to read and educate themselves more. The other person I talked to was younger than myself and didn't vote at all. He didn't trust any of the politicians and felt that they all pretty much said the same things despite party affiliation. He also felt that the United States, like great powers of the past is in a downward spiral and headed towards a major downfall. He also said he'd vote if someone brought something radical to the table. Everyone else also had interesting opinions and I wish I had more time on this assignment so I could have talked to more people. Not just more people at Lasalle, but CCP (Community College of Philadelphia), and even Penn or Drexel for a wider variety of opinions. Either way, I'm extremely grateful to those who took the time out to talk to me.
Now I should focus on preparing for my exam in Sacred Space on Thursday, my test in Women's Personal Defense tomorrow and on transcribing these conversations for my article. Though on a final note, as geofflb pointed out, this assignment would have made more sense if it was closer to the state's April 22nd Primaries.
By the time I decided to take shelter from the cold weather in Penn's student center, my mother insisted over the phone that I come home. So I left University City without getting anything done. In fact, I'd only managed to do my readings for Sacred Space on the train ride to and from West Philadelphia (when I wasn't being called on my cellphone). So I decided to move on to plan B, drive to Lasalle University in the Olney section of the city and talk to students there on Monday. I knew the weather would be freezing, so I planned to hit the student center first.
After staying up late and doing homework and getting nothing but broken sleep, I managed make it to Lasalle around 11:30. I drove around campus until I found a small side street to park on. I then walked back to the main campus looking for a student center where anyone could freely come and go. The task wasn't easy thanks to the below freezing weather (a with a constant wind chill of 6F) but after twenty minutes I found the Student Union Center. Like Penn, I wasn't sure what students would think with someone from another campus so easily walking around. So after a trip to the bathroom, I began to look for people to interview. My first attempt was a no go as two students playing pool told me they had zero interest or knowledge of the presidential campaign, they didn't even know who was running or what the issues were. But they apologized for not being able to be more helpful and I told them that it was alright.
Next I moved on and managed to find about seven people to talk to before it was time for me to leave. The people that I talked to were fairly open and pretty welcoming and none of them minded that I was a student from another university. The last two people I talked to were polar opposites but were interesting. One was an older woman who had a heavy interesting politics (even going as far as to volunteer) at polling places. She lamented about the issues that she wished were being addressed, in addition to wanting people to read and educate themselves more. The other person I talked to was younger than myself and didn't vote at all. He didn't trust any of the politicians and felt that they all pretty much said the same things despite party affiliation. He also felt that the United States, like great powers of the past is in a downward spiral and headed towards a major downfall. He also said he'd vote if someone brought something radical to the table. Everyone else also had interesting opinions and I wish I had more time on this assignment so I could have talked to more people. Not just more people at Lasalle, but CCP (Community College of Philadelphia), and even Penn or Drexel for a wider variety of opinions. Either way, I'm extremely grateful to those who took the time out to talk to me.
Now I should focus on preparing for my exam in Sacred Space on Thursday, my test in Women's Personal Defense tomorrow and on transcribing these conversations for my article. Though on a final note, as geofflb pointed out, this assignment would have made more sense if it was closer to the state's April 22nd Primaries.