Writing At "Home"
It is only the third week of my first year at Case, and by now I had assumed life on the second floor of Tyler to be a bit crazier. To clarify, I didn’t expect wild parties every night to the point that I couldn’t sleep (although the kind gentlemen in the room to my left have taken the liberty of playing very loud rave music as 1:00 A.M. on a Tuesday morning). I did, however, expect it to be more sociable.
In My Freshman Year: What a Professor Learned by Becoming a Student, by Rebekah Nathan, dormitories are described with writing on every door and on every wall. She states that the walls are heavily decorated with cut outs from comic strips and magazines to illustrate that person’s life or how that person is feeling. She also notes that many doors are collaged with photographs of students in everyday life. I, on the other hand, have seen none of this literary or photographic representation on my floor. Except for a few posters that have been put up by the RA about Residential Council meetings and the rudeness rape, the hallways are fairly bare. Some people do have message boards on the outside of their doors, but from my observations they are used more by a person to tell visitors of their whereabouts than by others to tell that person “hello.” For example, my message board currently says: “Writing a blog; leave me alone.” I don’t see how such communication defines student life.
The writing that does define most student life, however, is that of text messaging and instant messaging. This form of communication is everywhere I look, and many students use it as a primary means of communication. It is an irony that many students express themselves socially through writing; I’ve heard students complain about having to write a 500-word paper, while writing greater than one thousand words over an instant messenger within ten minutes of said complaint.
Of course, face-to-face communication still exists, but based off of what I’ve seen at case, texting and instant messaging are the main forms of communication between students. One out of every four students that I observe while riding my bicycle to class is texting on their cell phone, and rare is it that I see someone on their laptop in class who isn’t on AOL Instant Messenger or Facebook. Technology has allowed students to communicate faster and farther than ever before, and with such technology—specifically, IM’s and text messaging—students communicate with one another through the use of writing (although sometimes the writing is far from grammatically correct).
I believe such technological messaging has replaced the writing on message boards and bulletin boards that Nathan described and that I imagined before coming to Case. However, I believe that having such a broad way of textual communications is better, as it is faster and I don’t have to struggle to read someone’s handwriting (although i may hav 2 read sumthing written lik this). Because this form of communication is more widely used, it is a more accurate definition of student life through writing than the writing one would find scattered along the halls and doors on my floor at Tyler.
Comments
Posted by: Bob Taft
Posted on: September 13, 2007 06:55 PM
What an excellent piece. It has changed my life and the life of my children's grandchildren. Thank you.
Posted by: Ty Taylor
Posted on: September 13, 2007 06:57 PM
Why thank you, sir. And, yes, in fact I am wearing pants.
Posted by: David Kotsonis
Posted on: September 15, 2007 08:42 PM
I think the problem with defining student life through texting/IM is that it's not publicly accessible. What people say about themselves and their lives behind closed doors one-on-one is very different from what they announce to the world at large.
Posted by: Bob Taft
Posted on: September 16, 2007 12:45 PM
This is true, David, but everyone can see what you just wrote, and everyone can what one writes on Facebook. And hackers can see whatever they want. I think Ty has made an excellent point.