Community Literacies - George Peck & Dan Roy

George:

Community Literacy is very important to all of us. It is our means of understanding the world around us. It is the means of communicating and connecting with those people we converse with every day. It is what enables us to continually learn more and more about a person, or a subject. The only way to become an "expert" in a subject area is to dive right in to the community literacy.
George:

One community literacy I am a part of is the tennis community. I am a tennis player, an avid fan, and I have worked at tennis clubs over the past couple of summers. One outsider perceptions is that tennis isn't a "real" sport. In reality, tennis is a very physical game. Tennis has become an extremely physical game. With new technology players can hit the ball with ridiculous velocity, smacking serves up into the 130 mph range. Tennis players must have tremendous athletic ability and endurance to last an entire match.


Another community of which I am a part is the community of my dorm. Living in Jefferson Hall (an all-freshman dorm), I have met a lot of new people throughout the year. I did not really know what to expect moving into the dorms in September. It has not been quite the same experience as living in my house back home, but it's been a great experience. I have met a lot of cool people, and learned their individual discourses. I've picked up some new words I use in my vocabulary now such as dingus. I'll never forget the dorm-life experience.


Dan:

My most favorite community literacy that I belong to is the aviation world. After I started flying, my local airport soon became my favorite place to be. The atmosphere is always warm and bright even on a day that wouldn't allow visual flight. People are always willing to help each other: weather to have another pilot on a flight to Florida for the week, or to build a home built aircraft. We all talk about normal things: Politics, the economy, and even sports. The trait that keeps us together, though, is our undying love for flight, the respect we all have for each other because only we can do it.

The hockey community literacy was one of the first community's I belonged too. It was more a world for me when I was younger. I gained most my morals and values through hockey. Friends, teamwork, the ability to problem solve, and handle high pressure situations all came from this sport. The friends I made are still with me today and so are the values it instilled in me.

Every community literacy that we are a part of has a powerful impact into what makes us a human being and how we participate in society. I look forward to seeing what new community I gain through out my life and to the impact the early ones have on my older life.