Ethnographic Reflection

Over the past semester, I have studied a community and created an ethnographic account by conducting observations and interviews as well as collecting artifacts. The community that I chose was the University of Arkansas commuter community. Looking back at all the data I collected, it seems like an extraordinary amount but they all relate to serving the purpose which is to inform the reader and assist in exploring this community through many ways. I will be analyzing my last three essays and its contribution to my portfolio which is significant because without those essays, there would be no portfolio. Not only that, but I will reflect on the experiences of being both a participant and an observer. Keeping up with a field notebook throughout

In all honesty, I have been a participant of the commuter community since the first day that I commuted to campus which was the first day of this semester. However, I was not actively involved with my community at that time and had no reason in doing so until I came across this assignment. I would go to the commuters lounge every now and then but I would not talk to anyone or even think about talking to anyone. I would simply just sit at a table alone and do homework until I had to go to my next class. After this assignment was given and we had to start writing essays, I knew that I had to become involved. It was for essay two when I started talking to others because essay one relied solely on observations. I engaged in multiple conversations with those who regularly come to the commuters lounge and instead of calling them by an identifier such as “girl with long brown hair” and “boy who always lays on the couch and reads,” I was finally able to give their faces names. I learned more about these people, have come to be good friend with them and can relate to them because we all know the struggle of being a