The Sunday Night Grind

Week 6:           

            It’s a peaceful but windy Sunday night, and I've decided to visit my field site on a day other than a week day. To my surprise, a good amount of cars filled the parking lot which made me expect another crazy night in Socialize Hall. However, yet again my expectations were very wrong.

            It wasn't exactly another “dead hall” but there was something familiar yet unfamiliar about the atmosphere. The group and single rooms were filled with student athletes, yet little to no conversation was going on. At first I thought I was dreaming because I had never seen so many people actually doing work like they were supposed to. The sound of typing on keyboards filled the room all at once and for once the sound of working preceded any voices.

            Since the usual conversation holding in the group rooms had ceased, there were a select few who decided to talk in the “lobby.” From the distance, I could hear Ice Pack talking about a football team she favored winning to Clocker. I could tell that Ice pack and Clocker were definitely good friends by the tone of friendly rivalry I heard in their voices. I thought that there loud conversation would be the spark needed for the people in the group rooms to start going wild, but that was not the case.

            Back in the group room since it puzzling to me how quiet it was I decided to observe what different people were working on. Behind me, Blue seemed to be working on a power point and taking a quiz for one of his classes online. Blue was very focused on finishing this task and I could basically hear the conviction in his typewriting. To my right, Little Red seemed to be consumed with writing then studying flashcards for a test I assumed to be in the very near future. One thing I felt with both Blue and Little Red was their motivation to finish whatever they needed done without distractions.

            This Sunday night was a series of unexpected firsts for me. Unlike the weekday nights were everyone goes wild, this night was somewhat peaceful. I and many others actually worked on homework and came prepared to finish it. Then I thought to myself about how Sundays in general were my designated homework days and how this must be true for many other individuals. I’m not sure if motivation or procrastination was the driving force making these athletes complete homework, but either way everyone in here had a purpose.