Field Notes

Composition for History & Culture Fall 23’ (FIQWS 10103)

Prof. Miller

09/10/23

See: When I first enter the campus, I see a purple food truck that sells halal food, burgers and more. I see many “castle-like” buildings on the campus. The first building I see is Shepard Hall. As I walk around I see grass where sometimes students sit. I see the quad with black round tables, black chairs and stone benches. When I go straight through the quad, I see grocery stores, a chinese spot, a pizza place and a restaurant along with other shops. 

Some of the buildings I recognize when I see are:

• Shepard Hall
• NAC
• Admissions 
• Compton G 

In the first floor of Shepard Hall I see very “old-school” classes due to the fact that the floor is painted brown and the classrooms have chalk boards not white-boards. 

On the outside of the NAC building I see black benches that students sit and talk on. I see black tables and black chairs on the outside, some with umbrellas and some without that staff and students sit and eat on. In the NAC building I see a very big space full of escalators, Benny’s Cafe, the library (from the outside), an eating area, the cafeteria, and very confusing hallways and directions. I also see an elevator.  

In the Admissions office I am greeted by security. When inside I see directions that say “Financial Aid” or “Bursars”.  

In the Compton G building I see students that put more effort into their outfits since it is the “art school”. Some girls wear skirts or dresses where the majority of girls I see just wear jeans. On the first floor I see an open space with a round table and seats. On the third floor I see red paint on the walls and many flyers about auditions and shows going on. In my acting class, I see big black curtains, black doors in different sizes, theater lights, red chairs stacked on top of eachother and a little room near the ceiling with a mic. 

In the bathrooms I sometimes see paper on the floor whether it’s tissue paper or toilet paper. I see the differences in toilets. For example, some toilets are black and you to manually push to flush and others 

Statues on campus 

Hear: 

• Before and during class transitioning I hear music on my airpods. I put my playlist on shuffle and listen to whatever is played 
• In classes I mainly hear the professor speaking. When students are put into groups or raise their hand to answer a question, I hear them speak 
• Walking around campus from class to class I hear students talking on their phones or with friends 
• I rarely hear car horns
• I hear the security telling people to show them their IDs
• Recently I heard the fire alarm go off 
• In the bathroom I have toilets flush and the water running 
• In the quad I hear students speaking with their friends or on the phone and if I’m lucky I hear almost silence

Smell: When arriving at the campus I smell food from the Halal truck. When I’m in class I usually smell my own perfume which is fruity and floral. Sometimes the perfume of the person sitting in front of me or the person that passes by me. When I’m in the bathroom I smell shit, pee, or cleaning products if I’m lucky to find a freshly clean bathroom. In the NAC building on the second floor I smell coffee and toasted bread. Besides that I don’t smell any particular smells in the different campus buildings. 

Taste: When it comes to taste I have not eaten anything from Benny’s cafe or the food truck. 
Feel: When arriving on campus I feel a little sleepy. In reading class I feel bored because the material doesn’t interest me. In writing class I feel more awake and participative because I feel more comfortable in that class especially since in the back. In acting class I feel more expressive and more participative because the professor makes us do activities that require us to move and obviously act. However, I feel very triggered at the fact that some of the students often bring up other topics that distract the teacher and waste my time. In my microeconomics class I feel confident in the material because I took economics in highschool. However, I feel uncomfortable that the class is so big because it has about 300+ students so I opt for the remote option of the class. Walking from building to building and class to class I feel tired and hot. I also feel curious to know what buildings are the ones I haven’t been in and what they contain.