piercings and tattoos

I met with both of my informants yesterday and we went out to eat and I brought up tattoos and piercings to see what they have and what they think about it. My older informant who is 19 got her first tattoo when she was 13! She said all of her friends were getting their belly buttons pierced and her mom said she'd rather her get a tattoo then get her belly button pierced so she did. She got a flower on her back and she said it was spur of the moment just because her mom said she could do it. My other informant was like "Damn your mom's crazy!" She is 18 and got all 3 of her tattoos this year because her mother wouldn't let her do anything until she was 18. One of her tattoos on her lower back is matching with her old boyfriend and it means the holy trinity. Her other tattoos are her name on her upper back which she said she got when her dad moved out and life was crazy and she wanted something permanent and her other tattoos is a star on her ankle because she loves stars. My 19 year old who has the flower tattoo also has a tattoo of a cross on her left ankle that she got when she was 18. She got it when her and her dad were having some tough times with religion and got it on her left foot because she leads with her right so her left foot is behind her, like God is always behind her and supporting her. I thought that was interesting. Overall we had a good dinner and the girls got to know each other better.

informants meeting

This week I brought both of my informants to Panara Bread for lunch so they could meet each other. At first they were both very shy and were not talking to each other very much until I brought up the subject of school and homework and then the conversation about our universal hatred of writing paper came up. We all had papers that were due soon and talked about how we procrastinate and leave things to the last minute. After we ate we went to a few store that were in the same shopping center as the place we ate lunch and the girls started to talk more about things like music and movie taste and they found out they had a lot in common. We all have similar taste in clothes as well so it was fun to go shopping with them and hear them talk about their interests. I definitely think we will all go out again soon for lunch or dinner so I can get some more details out of them.

Making up Projects!

So i met with my informants last weekend and asked them to make a collage and write a short explanation on why they chose certain pictures. My older informant chose pictures of animals that resembled her pets and things that have to do with relationships and love. My younger informant chose pictures that had to do more with her friends and boyfriend and not herself. I gave them another project to do today and I will be brining it in on Tuesday to show the class and describe what they mean. Next week I am going to go out to eat with both of my informants so they can meet each other and I can see how they interact and if they get along. So that should be interesting.
Thats all for now. Everyone have a super weekend!!

Rooms

This week I met with my two informants and asked them questions about their rooms when they were younger. My 18 year old said her room from when she was 10 to 16 was decorated the same. When she went away on a mission trip for church her mom painted it her favorite color at the time purple and decorated it with silver stars because she loves stars. She made a star garden behind her bed and had stars on the t.v. and chairs. She did not have posters on her walls but did have pictures of family and friends on her dresser. My other informant who is 19 said her room freshman year of high school looked like an easter egg. The walls were lime green, purple and blue with horizontal lines of each color. She decorated her walls with pictures of friends and did not have any poster either.

I met with my informants separately this week and asked questions about their family lives. My 18 year old grew up in Great Meadows, NJ and she has 2 bothers, Jason 24 and Christopher 23 who is in the army. She looks up to her brother Chris and his wife Gwen who is also in the army. She speaks very highly of him and her mother who is very involved in church and social activities. She does not get along very well with her other brother Jason and does not speak to her father since her parents got a divorce in 2006. She said she used to be very close to her father and became very depressed after he left the family. She used the words "daddy's girl" to describe her past relationship with her father.

My 19 year old informant grew up in Brick Town, NJ and she has 2 brothers Adam 28 and Michael 23. Bother of her brothers moved to Hawaii in 2004 but Mike moved back home after breaking his hand and having numerous operations. So right now she lives with Mike and he mom and dad who are still happily married. In high school she did not get along with her brother Mike but she says now that she is close to both of her brothers. She has always been close to her mom except for what she said was the embarrassing years of middle school and in middle school and high school she did not get along with her dad because he was going through religious changes that she did not agree with. She gets along with both of her parents fine now. She has 2 pets a dog Kenzie and a cat Snickers.

The next time I meet with my informants I am going to ask them about their rooms when they were younger since I have seen their rooms currently. I have tried to get them to make a myspace or a blog but I am not having any luck

first meeting

I met with the two girls I am working with for the first time today. They do not want their names to be revealed. One is 18 and one is 19 and I am having them share aspects of their life now as well as memories from when they were younger. I had them sign the consent forms and explained what the class is about and what kind of information I am curious about.

question

I just realized that the consent form has a signature and printed name spot and neither of my participants want their name to be known. So how do I go about using the consent form and do I even need one since they are 18 and 19?

Progress!

I found my two participants today! I am going to do an 18 year old girl from my town and a 19 year old that goes to Stockton. They are both sophomores and I used one of the consent forms that is on the main Blog page and had them sign it. I am feeling much better about the project right now.

MY NEW BLOG!

I have never used a blog before so I am still getting used to setting it up and adding the rest of the class as friends. For my project I am going to be doing an internship at the ARC where I will be working with disabled children from ages 8 to 18 in an after school program. I am going to chose two adolescents here and get a perspective on a disabled teen's life. I think it will be a great learning experience