Before interviewing, I hand selected three people of different backgrounds. My first interview was with Gabrielle: a Lebanese girl born in Columbus, Ohio who is majoring in Business/Finance. Mike was in my second interview. He is a white male with an undecided major who was raised in the farm suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio and has background of the Appalachia culture. My final interview was conducted with Jeff, an African-American male who was raised in the populated city of Youngstown, Ohio and is majoring in Political Science. All of my interviewees asked to keep their last name confidential. After asking them many questions about the Appalachia Culture, this is what they responded with:
1) In what ways does the Appalachian culture influence life at OU?
Gabrielle - "I LOVE the community around here! There's so many small food businesses around here that encourage late night hunger. So to me? Appalachian culture influences a fun time at OU."
Mike - "One thing I've noticed about this town is that we can basically do whatever we want as long as chaos doesn't take place and our community remains clean and proper."
Jeff - "In all honesty I see the Appalachian Culture grind! They'll do whatever it takes to make a dollar, whether its picking up beer cans or playing their violin on Court Street or even operating a food buggy. I believe OU students recognize this effort to success and apply it to their own selves when it comes to school."
2) What is the value of becoming more aware of Appalachian Culture?
Gabrielle - "I just like knowing how people live outside of the city culture. It was definitely an eye-opener seeing what the Appalachian Culture has to offer."
Mike - "Coming from a town that is somewhat Appalachian, I thought I knew everything about them. Now that I've seen how the Appalachian Culture really is, I value it and plan on talking about it back to my town."
Jeff - "I agree with Mike, the value of becoming more aware of this culture is the ability to spread it to areas that are less Appalachian. Not convert them to Appalachia, but tell people how others live."
3) How do you interpret "Appalachia"? Why?Gabrielle - "Appalachia is surrounding yourself with nature and living in small towns."
Mike - "(Appalachia) is living small. What I mean by that is that everything around you is small. Small business. Small communities. Small populations."
Jeff - "I agree with Mike again, although I will say that people out here are more family-oriented and stick to their traditions."
4) Do you consider yourself to be Appalachian?
Gabrielle - "No, although I am aware that I am living in an Appalachian community, I consider myself a city girl since that's where I was born and raised."
Mike - "Somewhat, I mean yeah I live in somewhat Appalachian community back at home, but I like to be a city kid and surround myself with what's new."
Jeff - "Not at all. I was born and raised in the city. Although I will say that by the time I graduate here, I can see myself taking the Appalachian Culture with me back home."
5) How can OU encourage better communication with the surrounding area?Gabrielle - "One thing I've noticed is that the campus and outside of campus don't really interact that much as they do in the city. What should they do better? I'd say encourage more off-campus events."
Mike - "I like what OU has going for them now. I always see townees on our campus and I sometimes see students stop to interact with them. But to better it they have to make off-campus more attractive in terms of what it has to offer."
Jeff - "I'd say just encourage more off-campus events that gets both the townees of the Appalachian culture and the students of OU to interact more."
No comments:
Post a Comment