Thursday, October 26, 2006

Oct. 25, 2006

Today I went to normal west community high school to observe Jill during her lunch, homeroom, and algrbra class. When I arrived at the HS, Jill's father was expecting me (He is an officer at the school). He directed me to Jill who was waiting in the atrium for me, smiling, wearing white socks with nike flip flops, jeans, and a grey fleece zip-up hoodie. Her tshirt underneath had a religious saying, something like "Got Jesus?" (I think).

I followed Jill into the lunch room full of students. We sat down down at a table of girls. They seemed a little intimidated or unsure of how to react to my being there. Im not sure if Jill told them beforehand that I was coming, but she did not introduce me. We were only seated for a few minutes when Jill asked the girl across from her if she was ready to leave. She girl nodded and we got up. Jill turned and said goodbye to the other girls, walked down the aisle over backpacks. As she passed her brother she said hi and playfully pushed him. Jill threw out her garbage and went back out to the atrium. She explained that the students have to wait there until the bell rings. Jill and her friend kept saying that they were really early.

I asked Jill if they usually come out this early or if they wait at the table. She said no, they were just really early today, and she didnt feel like talking to those people today. I asked her why, and before she could respond, her friend said, "Because Ben's not here." (Ben is Jill's boyfriend). Jill laughed then made a sad face. Hurridly she said, "He makes fun of everyone! Thats all he does, and its so funny." She said he was at the doctor for most of the day, and would probably be back right after I left. I asked her if he walked her to every class, and she smiled and said, "Yeaaaah." Her friend made a comment and Jill responded with "You know its cute."

Jill then kept saying she was hyper. "I'm never this hyper. Never this hyper." Her friend said, "No, youre usually not." Jill had Mountain Dew in the morning, which is unusual for her. As we waited, Jill explained the layout of the school to me-- which hallway was for each class, etc.

The bell rang and I followed Jill to her locker. As we walked down the hall, she said hi to a few people. We stopped at her locker to get her books then headed for homeroom. Once we got to homeroom, Jill introduced me to the teacher and I took a seat. I realized that it wasnt JILL's homeroom, rather she was somewhat of a leader for the freshman. Jill, along with 2 other older students, led the class in a discussion. She was very confident, and although the class was roudy, she was able to ask questions and get them involved. She took on a similar attitude that she had when I observed her at work. Jill wants to be an elementary school teacher, and watching her interact with this group of freshman helped me see her characteristics that would make her a great teacher.

Next we headed to algebra. I got to sit right behind Jill in this class. Several times she turned around and mouthed to me how much she hates this teacher. She later explained that she is a really good student and used to like math a lot, but she is getting an 85% in this class and it is only getting harder. Most of the class was spent going over the previous night's homework and taking notes. Jill did not take notes on the homework, which led me to believe that she understood it fairly well. She tried to pay attention, but I could see her staring off and flipping through her binder. During the lesson, Jill did take notes, but looked bored. At the end of the lesson, the class was given time to start the hw. Jill turned around and talked to me about the class and the teacher. She did a little bit of the homework, then decided to finish it at home. At the end of class, Jill walked me back to the office. She was in good spirits and was happy that I came to school that day. I told her I would email her and let her know the next time we could meet up. She smiled and went off to her next class.

Oct. 21, 2006

Today I got a surprise call from Jill. Somewhat apprehensively, she told me that her sister was out of town for the weekend and her mom was the only person helping with her hair for the dance that night. She was wondering if I could come over to help her out. I said sure, since I had nothing to do all day. We decided that I would go over around 3:30PM. Jill was so excited that I was able to come over on such short notice.

When I arrived at the house, her mom (as usual) was waiting by the door. Her and Jill were staring at each other, not saying anything. Jill's mom seemed to feel somewhat left out since Jill asked me to help. Jill told her that she could still come upstairs and help out, but her mom just smiled and said it was fine. Jill was trying to brush her freshly blown out hair from her face. She raced upstairs and I followed. She had 2 culring irons and a straighten plugged in. I asked her what she had in mind, and she told me she wanted big curls. She grabbed a chair, and I got to work.

While I was curling Jill's hair, we had a chance to talk a bit more. I told her stories about my roommates and living in a sorority house. We also talked more about cheerleading. She said she missed it a lot, but would still not rejoin because of the girls and the coach.

I was also confused about her family situation, and she explained that her older sister had a different father than her and her brother.

Jill sat fairly still the entire time. Frequently, she brushed her bangs away from her face, but she was not uncomfortable. I told her to let me know if she wanted me to change something or if she didnt like it, and she said everything was great. During my entire time there (about 3 hours) Jill never once mentioned another girl-friend besides her sister. She did talk about her boyfriend. They were planning a romantic dinner for two at the house before the dance. She talked about how she sometimes gets frustrated with her boyfriends mom.

The other thing that stood out to me were the pauses in our conversation. I love to talk so it was no problem to share my life with Jill, but our conversation had pauses where absolutely nothing was said. This happened before with Jill, and instead of me dominating the conversation, I wanted to see how she would react. She seemed comfortable and would often make a comment related to our last topic of conversation. Understandably we cant continuously talk for three hours, and I took these pauses as a sign of comfortablility. We didnt have to talk all the time.

While finishing Jill's hair, she seemed a little nervous as she looked for boby-pins and makeup. After I pinned it back, she smiled widely and was really excited. I put on her makeup and added the finishing touches. She was even more thrilled to see herself so dolled up because she normally doesnt wear any makeup.

She excited put on her dress and the shoes we had bought together last week. She checked herself out in the mirror for a couple of minutes, still smiling. I asked her if she needed me to do anything else and she said everything was great. (That made me happy!)

We cleaned up the bathroom and headed downstairs. Jills mom was waiting for us in the kitchen. She made Jill spin around and show off her dress. We took a couple of pictures, then Jill called her boyfriend to make sure he was still coming over on time. I had to get back to campus, so I said goodbye to Jills mom, gave Jill and hug, told her to have fun and take lots of pictures. She smiled happily and said she would.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Oct. 18, 2006

My second meeting with Jill was a surprise visit at her work. (I had tried to contact her during the week) The student observing her little brother needed a ride to the house, so I offered to go with him. Jill's mother greeted us at the door with a welcoming smile, holding the "demon-dog" so he wouldnt attack us. She informed me and apologized for Jill not being there. She also told me that Jill was at work. I asked if it would be ok to stop by, and her mom said it would be fine.

I left the house and drove down to Jill's work. Jill was tanning when I arrived at her work, so I sat and waited for about 10 mins. When she got out, she didnt notice me there at first. She seemed flustered and was quickly walking around checking up on things. When she noticed me standing at the counter, she relaxed and smiled widely. "Oh, hey!" she said. She was surprised to see me and I explained the situation to her. She had a lot to clean at work, and one of the girls was giving her a hard time. It was interesting to sit back and observe Jill interacting with her coworkers who are all college studnets (Jill is 17). Jill's older sister is the manager of the tanning salon, so Jill has a lot of experience and "power." The girls listen and respect her. Jill asked one girl to clean quickly, and although she did not look happy about it, she complied. Jill commented to me that this particular girl cleaned incredibly slow, but today she was actually going quickly. The other girl working with Jill was very nice and pleasant. Her and Jill seemed to have a great work relationship.

I watched Jill interact with customers; she was very professional and confident. She shows great maturity in the workplace. Although it was a short meeting, I felt like I was able to gain a true sense of Jill at work.

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Scratch that!

The girl i originally wanted to observe at Bent did not have reliable family contacts, so Professor Leavitt gave me another girl to work with. Her name is Jill and she is 17. I am really glad that I have a girl in HS because that is my area of concentration. It is SO hard to schedule times to meet with her because our schedules are so packed. But I finally made a shopping date with her on a Thursday night to buy shoes for her homecoming dance.


Thursday, October 12? 2006


Today was my first meeting with Jill. I drove to her house (she lives in a sub division) only to find that she wasnt home. Her little brother let me in and told me she would be home shortly. I waited for about three minutes when a slim, 5'6" brunette quickly walked up the sidewalk to the door. She came in and immediately smiled, revealing two rows of shiney silver braces. She apologized for being late, and explained that she had to drive her boyfriend to work. She stopped to catch her breath and was somewhat flustered. She continued to complain about her boyfriend's parents and the last minute scurry to get him to work on time. I told her everything was fine. She then asked, smiling/excitedly, if i wanted to see her homecoming dresses. She sprinted up the stairs, me close behind, to her room. She showed me her two options, and hadnt decided which one to wear yet (a black one and a white one). She did say, however, that her boyfriend liked the white one better. I was happily surprised at how comfortable and at ease she was around me.

Wearing our cheer sweatshirts and jeans, we said goodbye to her brother and headed out to the car. I offered to drive but she would have to give me good directions since I do not know my way around Bloomington so well. Jill and I drove to the mall and several other locations in search of shoes. Most of our conversations were held in the car, so it was difficult for me to observe her body language or eye contact. I could, however, interpret the tone of her voice and the pauses between words and phrases.

The first topic of coversation was cheerleading, because we both have that in common. Jill, however, quit the team after her sophomore year. She mentioned that she was really happy that I was a cheerleader. Since I knew previously that she had quit the team due to conflict of interests with the other grils, I wanted to ask her about it. I asked Jill for the full reason why she quit something she enjoyed so much. She replied that she just didnt get along with the "preppy" girls because they were all about boys, parties, and drama. She said that this was all that the girls talked about during practice. Those things were not important in her life and she was uncomfortable being around those girls. She also said that her coach contributed to the problems, so she quit. When Jill was telling me this story, she seemed at ease telling the story, but did not reveal any specific incidences. Her tone of voice was consistent, but there were some pauses as she searched for the right words.

There were some points during our car ride that were silent, and I tried to start a conversation. At some points, I didnt say anything, waiting to see if Jill would initiate anything. She did not seem to be uncomfortable in the silence, and would either make another comment regarding our latest topic, or readily start up a new conversation with me.

When we arrived at the mall and started looking for shoes. She was very goal-orientated: she knew she needed shoes and didnt bother looking at anything else. She was aware of how much she wanted to spend and what type of shoes she wanted. She stated: "Im very picky about my shoes." While looking up and down the iles, I could clearly see the searching look in Jill's eyes and the disappointed frown on her face. We moved on to the next store where she intensely looked for the perfect pair. Semi flustered, she finally stumbled upon a perfect pair, but they were the wrong size. She was let-down but I told her to ask the sales woman to call another store. She politely and assertively asked the sales woman to call another store. Jill's face lit up when we discovered that another store nearby had the shoes in her size.

During the next car ride, we mainly talked about Jill's family and boyfriend. She was very open about her relationship with her boyfriend. He is a drummer and guitarist for 3 bands, and they have been dating for almost 2 years. He is also a member of her church youth group (they attend the same church) and attends Normal West HS with her. She said that her parents were fairly strict on her going to see his shows because they do not want her driving too far. I asked her who is more strict: her mom or her dad, and she said definitely her dad. ***She and her brother share a father, but her eldest sister has a different father*** I asked Jill how she and her brother get along considering they are so close in age (he is only about 1 year younger) and she said they get along fine, but sometimes he is "weird." She continued to describe an incident where her brother took some food upstairs that he wasnt supposed to; she told her parents because she was upset, and they didnt seem to mind. She felt that she was being treated unfairly and that her parents were more strict on her than her brother. (Jill was hesitant at first to describe the incident, but then began to talk quickly. )

Jill was pretty open with her thoughts and stories; she has been apart of case studies before. I wondered if she would try to give me information right off the bat, but our interactions were similar to that of an older and little sister. Jill does have an older sister (24) so maybe that is why she feels comfortable with me.

The last stop we made was at her boyfriend's work. Jill tentatively asked me in a hopeful tone if I wanted to stop and show her boyfriend the shoes she bought. I didnt mind so we drove to his work. She brought one white shoe in to show him. When we walked up, Jill was relaxed and happy to see her boyfriend. He was somewhat shy at first. They talked and I jumped in here and there, but Jill did not introduce me, and he didnt ask who I was, causing me to infer that maybe he already knew what I was doing with Jill. Her boyfriend was having a rough time with his parents and work. Jill offered to call his parents for him. She said this in a matter-of-fact tone. Immediately he told her not to call her parents. Again, she nonchalantly said she would call, but he did not want her to. After about 10 minutes, she said goodbye and we walked out of the store. Jill asked me if I had anywhere to be, and I told her that I did have a meeting to go to soon, so we headed home. As we drove home, I asked Jill about attending one of her youth group meetings. She explained that she meets with them once a week on Wednesday for dinner and a meeting. She really likes her youth pastor because he is young and relates well to the teens. She was more than happy to invite me to a meeting. When we arrived at her house, I thanked Jill for allowing me to spend time with her, and told her how much fun I had shopping with her. I also told her that I hope she has fun at her homecoming dance.


***I found it interesting that although Jill was very open with me about her family life and her boyfriend, the only females that she mentioned (Other than family members) were the cheerleaders that she did not get along with. Not once did she mention a "best friend" or a group of girls that she socializes with. I plan on asking Jill and observing her further to determine what other types of friendships she may have.