Final Sense of Place

       Sense of place is differently for every individual but according to social scientist there are five definitions from five different fields. One is Anthropology which is when people share emotional effective meanings to a particular place.The second is Environmental psychology where a person feels a particular experience like feeling excited and happy. The third is Geography is when the person loves a certain aspect of the place. The fourth is Landscape Architecture/History is the result of habit and custom. Lastly is Sociology according to David Hummon "personal orientation toward place, in which ones’ understanding of place and one’s feelings about place become fused in the context of environmental meaning". Overall I decided to show the difference types of ways people might feel why a certain place is their sense of place. It can either be because of history of the place, the way it makes you feel, the particular aspect that are beautiful about the place, the environment or the meaning the place.

          In the town of Salem my sense of place will be the environment. For example I loved the parks that I went to it was very beautiful and relaxing. That is what is more important to me when talking about sense of place. Being in a tranquility environment and being able to enjoy every second of it is great and that is how I feel about Salem especially the parks. Also another sense of place will be the interacting with people and events. For example the farmers market there was many people there and it was all good vibes everyone seemed like they were having a good time and for me having a place will people get along is good for a sense of place.

This is one of my nature drawing for when I went to a park in Salem.

 

This is the farmers market

         At SSU campus a sense of place I felt towards it was that it was very welcomed and helpful. I live on campus so I was very nervous living somewhere else but once the campus started doing activities I was feeling better because you get to meet new people. Also I got a job in campus so I also met new people who are nice. It was also helpful in a way that they have many places like first year office, academic excellence or writing center, advisers, mentors who really help students and it is very good. Many college students especially students who are first generation to go to college who barely know anything about college can get any type of help for them to have a good experience in college and have everything set.

                                        


        When I started college in September I was very nervous being the first of my generation and being an undeclared student. But after talking to friends, family and teachers they help me notice that it is okay to not have a major because I have a chance to explore around and then after decide what I want to do. Those type of advises really help me stay motivated and focus on my classes. Right now I am finishing up my first fall semester and very determine about what I want to do in the future. After going to activities in campus, having a job and exploring around, really helped me as a student to decide what to do in the future. In the future I hope to be a nurse and will be living in a sense of place that I picture as a relax place where is very welcome to diverse people and where the community does many activities for the people to interact etc.
                                                  
   






                                                                           Cite
    By Jennifer E. Cross What is sense of place
http://western.edu/sites/default/files/documents/cross_headwatersXII.pdf

Reflection on college wide event

     The event that I went to was called hair politics and it was not one of the events that I thought I would go to from the begging of the course. It was a very fun event a lot of people came and there was food and a panel of professors or other women talking about their hair, their history, the way the style it and also things like how society played a role. I believe this event contributed to my sense of place because we were all together interacting having a group discussion and talking about where we are from and our culture and hair and I think it is important to have a diverse community. At the end we also had a raffle and students got to win hair products. The only reason I learned about this event was because since I work at the diversity and multicultural affairs center I knew more about it and I also help set up the place before students came.

        

Thanksgiving

     For this thanksgiving break I went back home to Lawrence and I was very excited because not only did I see my family but also I get to go eat at my favorite restaurant Jaqueline's. I am a Latina so I love to eat pastelitos which you can see it in the picture above the chicken. I love the food here it is very delicious and every weekend when I go home I make sure I at least get to it some chicken and french fries before I go back to my dorm. Also everything I eat there just reminds me of where I am from it is something I always look forward to every time. But it is not just a restaurant it also a store where people can buy anything from chips to dishwasher soap etc. Also it is near my house which is awesome I can just walk over there. Overall I had so a good time back home. 

The other park trip

The trip on Monday to a second park was not my favorite but the view was pretty. I felt like the other park was better but I did still like the park because the view was great and also because walking as a group to the park the weather was nice and also the bike path looked amazing in the fall.

 But it did brought a sense of place to me. By having a view and the type of peace and quite that the park offer contributes to my sense of place in Salem as well as other places meaning that any place with a nice view and peace contributes to a sense of place for me
We where at a park but it was not like a park with swings it was a park to walk your dog and have a nice view as well. But when we got there and had to do a project using an iPad I did not like it because the iPad camera was not great so we used a cell phone to take pictures and videos. But overall this experience was great and fun. Not only did we do our project but we also communicated with each other and had good conversation.

Salem Diner

 For the triad project me and my partner went to the Salem diner because we both have not been there before and it was a place where it is very close to campus which made it easier for both of us to go over there. We chose this place because personally I think it also represents Salem since it is a very old building and it has been around for a while.
 In order to go to the diner together we set up to meet each other on Wednesday in front of Meir hall. Before going to the diner I called the diner to see if we can interview a waiter or waitress and they told us we had to get permission from Chartwells first.
  The questions me and my partner came up with where:
How do you like working here?
- I really like it my coworkers are nice and the customers as well. 
2. How long have you been working here?
- I have been working here for about two years.
3. Who comes more often to the diner?
- Mostly SSU students come here but sometimes you see other people.
4. When was it first opened?
- It was first opened in 1941.
5. What is your favorite thing to do here?
- My favorite thing to do here is interact with the customers and have a conversation with them. 
6. When did Salem State University bought it?
- It got reopened in January 2014. 
7. How do you like here living in Salem?
- I like it especially when it comes to Halloween you get to see many people around having a good time in downtown.  
 
     Above is the picture of when Salem State reopen the Salem Diner you can see that the president of Salem State is there as well as the mayor, chief police etc.

   This triad experience for me was fun and a new type of experience that I did. What I learned the most is coming up with questions to ask a person also how to communicate better with others. For example I am taking a course called oral communication and it has help me grow into a better speaker. Also while going to the diner what I found most interesting is the way the building is shaped because I have never seen a diner shaped like the Salem diner is as you can see from the picture above the way it looks. But there was really nothing that I did not have interest in everything was new so I mostly looked around.
    Another thing is since it was my first time going to a Salem diner I was amazed of how it looked like on the inside because I have gone to other diners from where I am from and they are completing different from the Salem diner. Ways they were different was like the Salem diner was more of a cozy place and the diners where I have been to are more spaced out, bigger and more modern.
    Going to the diner I believe it did contributed to a sense of place in Salem because it is basically a very old building that still people go to and interact with each other and having that type of atmosphere makes it a better place to be around.
   At the end I decided to do my research paper topic about how women get treated differently from men in the work place. I chose this topic because we interviewed a worker who is a female and it reminded me of things I have read online about sexism and how women do not get treated equally in the work place. So I decided to research on why women do not get equally paid the same amount as men. It also plays a role in sense of place in any city, country, state because equality is very important making everyone feel like they belong somewhere.
   I couldn't read the assignment due November 14 because it is not published but me and my partner are thinking about like a trivia game and I will bring like a prize for the wining group.

Sense of place at the nearby park

    Connections human have with trees is that we breathe oxygen because tree produce it. The sun gives the trees life. Animals eat of the glucose the trees make. The weather like rain will make the tree grow even more.
    Going to the park was very good. I felt relax and at the same time happy because of the peacefulness that is there. I definitely value the park because not only do the trees provide us with food and oxygen but also because it is a place where people go and have fun with friends and family. But since global warming is happening people need to notice that they need to value or know how worthy nature is.
    This park plays a role in my sense of place in Salem because of the way people go there and find it a place to relax and enjoy with friends or family. I think a huge part of sense of place is feeling the nature and connecting with the environment surrounding you. So by going to the park it shows the meaning of enjoyment for people to go to.
    Overall this field trip to the park in my opinion was awesome because it reminds me of my nephews I always bring them to the park and also how peaceful it is there. I like that when I got there and had 20 minutes to do our assignments it made me feel more happier just sitting down and observing and also it made me less stressful. But what I did not like was the weather I was really cold but that is my fault for not wearing a better sweater.
     I definitely will go to another far trip like this I really enjoyed it and liked it.

Panel and advising

    On Monday students from the first year office came in and talked to us about anything like school, Salem, classes, jobs etc. When they came in they gave the class an index card for we can write questions for them and they will answer them all in class. The type of information they were telling us is very helpful I learned many new things from how to choose classes and putting them in your shopping cart in navigator, how to check professors at rate your professor and how helpful it will be when choosing classes for next semester and also talking about their experiences in Salem and how to become a better student. What struck me about how to succeed in college is to stay focus and not get lazy with your homework to make time for school but also make time for yourself to relax and chill with friends or family. Also what struck me about life as a student at SSU is that there are many ways to get involve to interact with others and make the most of being in college having some fun etc.

     Also on Monday Justin came from advising to talk with us about degree tracker, navigator etc. He was very helpful on showing us where to go to check our courses and how many credits we have already, where to register for classes and also reviewing what you must do to graduate. While knowing what classes I need to fulfill my first 30 credits I started shopping for course for spring semester. After I was done choosing classes I decided to make an appointment with my adviser and he helped me by checking if I had good classes and gave me more information about majors and minors. I think the amount of support SSU gives is very great I feel like getting helped made my first year in college better because I came here knowing not so much about college and credits but now my knowledge is growing.