Selvig1 Kacee Selvig Ms.

Martinez ENC 1101 3 April 2013 Sports and Exercise Medicine (SPEXS) Club Intro: So I walk into a room in the student union and I am immediately taken aback because it is filled with people I would not expect especially for a sports and exercise medicine club. I sit down with a friend whose in the club and I just take everything in, I quickly realize I am definitely out of place because my major is legal studies and Im at a meeting for sports and exercise medicine or as they like to call it SPEXS, those two are nothing a like but I wanted to put myself in a situation where I am a little uncomfortable because you cant live in a bubble your whole life and maybe I would enjoy it. Method I continue to observe this discourse community, according to James Paul Gee a discourse is defined as a sort of identity kit which comes complete with the appropriate costume and instructions on how to act, talk, and often write (Gee 484) and a discourse community is defined by Swales as a group of people that share a common goal and use communication to achieve them (Swales 471). I did my observations for two more Mondays for an hour each and then I observed their routine game of flag football. After my observations were complete I interviewed a member of the club to get her intake into what its like to be a member of the SPEXS

Selvig2 (see appendix A), as a freshman and a fairly new member of the club it was good to get her perspective on the club and what her first impression was of the club. I interviewed her on a Tuesday and my first questions were just fun questions to get to know her a little better. Through my observing periods I found it difficult to really let myself become part of this discourse community because in the end I really had no connection to it. After I had completed the observation I went home and compiled everything and looked at their Facebook page because lets be honest thats all young adults care about, social media, so I decided I was going to see how this club uses social media or its genres as Swales defines as types of text recognizable to readers and writers (Swales 467), to their benefit and how they use the internet in general to keep their members up to date on everything thats happening. Evidence Looking at their Facebook page (see appendix C) I saw that it is used to inform other members of meetings or get togethers and to share pictures of their weekly activities like their routine game of flag football. Over the past few years the response to recurring rhetorical needs (Swales 467) or the use of social media to get anything noticed by a group of people especially club members that are not always in the same place has greatly increased because everyone has some sort of social media whether it be a Facebook or a twitter you can pretty much find out anything you want on the internet. After I visited their Facebook page I went over to their club website (see appendix C) and was a little shocked because there is really nothing on there besides a couple albums of pictures and I think this goes back to the idea that social media has taken over the need of a website because everything

Selvig3 can be placed on your Facebook page, there is no need for a website and with Facebook your club and its goals are able to get across to a lot more people and it is easily accessible to a wider audience. Conclusion If you were to ask me before I studied the group of individuals what I knew I would have told you sports medicine is beefy guys or football players who couldnt make it into the NFL because well every football player I have every known had sports medicine as their back up plan and girls who were nice to look at but Oh was I wrong. Studying my discourse community I learned that you couldnt place your personal expectations on a group of people because you could be surprised and I also fully realized the impact of social networking on a club especially after looking at their webpage. I think thats why it is important to study a group of individuals that are outside of your immediate circle or differ from you; studying discourse communities forces you outside of your bubble and you acquire knowledge that you may not have known before. As people we are all part of some sort of discourse community whether it be out in public or in our household and the ability to study a community outside of your own allows you to get a better grip and understanding of the world we live in and why people talk the way they do or act the way they do.

Selvig4 Works Cited "SPEXS at UCF | Facebook." Facebook. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2013 Sport and Exercise Science Majors Club. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2013<https://ucf.collegiatelink.net/organization/sportandexercisesciencemajorsclu b>. Wardle, Elizabeth, and Doug Downs. "Discourses: How Do Communities Shape Writing?" Writing about Writing: A College Reader. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. 467-84. Print. Dumlao,Rebecca. Personal Interview. 28 March 2013

Selvig5 Appendix (A) Interview Q: Whats your favorite color? A: yellow Q: Whats your favorite animal? A: panda Q: Whats the first thing that comes to mind when I say red/blue/fun? A: heart/ sky/ music festival Q: What profession do you plan on going in? A: physical therapy Q: Have you ever wanted to change your profession and why? A: toward athletic training because in school less Q: What year are you? A: freshman Q: Where do you plan on going from UCF? A: medical school Q: What was your initial reaction when you went to the first meeting? A: The people werent who I expected, but I was excited because of the conventions they talked about raising money to go to Q: Are you in any other clubs on campus? A: No I signed up for undergraduate physical therapy club and salsa club I just dont have the time. (B) Observation notes

Selvig6 Room in the student union chill Nerdy adults Not what I expected Talked about fundraisers Leaders are important Friendly

(C) Websites A. https://ucf.collegiatelink.net/organization/sportandexercisesciencemajorsclub B. https://www.facebook.com/spexsatucf