Ethnography Draft Deux.

Looking into the world of a dorm room becomes an interesting concept. Each room has a different story to tell. In some ways, ours remains orthodox to the stereotypical views of a college crib: the ringing of loud music, the home to many ‘weekend-celebrating’ folks of both genders, and the obvious lack of parental help. But in others variances, the culture remains unique to Collins 202.
The not-so-white walls of Collins 202 evoke a sense of maturity for room and the tenants alike. The purity and innocence of the early years have been erased through the marks, cuts, and blemishes left over by stupid mistakes. Luminous white paint on the cubical-like chambers has become tarnished as the experiences have piled on. Although the aesthetic pleasure of the room has probably faded with the years, the homeliness still remains strong.
Three lightly stained pine desks lie in row, exposing memories and personalities of the owners to the world. From a rosary gingerly hanging over a cross on one desk, juxtaposed to the stein reading “Max” on another, the room’s culture clearly deviates from area to area, depending on the owner. Upon further examination of desk nestled in the corner (with the rosary), a myriad of textbooks ranging from comparative religion to mass communication can be found. And remnants of times long passed: Photos. Chubby faced, red-haired baby pictures and an abstraction of the owner perhaps reflect the past, but also connect with the room‘s current state. The clothing found on one of the pictures can be found splayed across the floor in a true messy boy-ish fashion: a green polo with a tiger graphed on the right breast, and a pair of chocolate corduroy pants.
Opposite of the desks, the bunk beds display the true messy nature of owners. Sheets and covers splayed across the bed and pillows tossed in every direction in an ocean of browns, whites, and blacks. And in this pile, I lay sprawled across the fluffy mess, blasting Ben Folds. Allowing the dissonant piano chords to ring through the room as the pounding of the computer keyboard strums off-beat to this paper.
The messy corner that I strive in while studying just seems to be a jumbled mess of loud music, deodorant, Christian symbols, and opened bags of stale food. The unkempt array of pure boy-hood could never be a haven for most. But to me it’s the most comfortable home I’ve ever been in.
Comfort derived even from tension between the varying views of the tenants, even self-conflict from this very writer. The Christian symbols reflect a sign of religion, martyrdom of Christ, but when encompassing the atmosphere of the room, they mean something different. To the atheist--interested in the words and rhythms of the world around him--they are observed as art. Ornate beads and metal crafted by a skilled Italian worker. To the non-denominational Christian - prone to playing his guitar, and keeping most of personal life in a distant chamber of his mind - they are viewed as a celebrated religious figure of an established sect of Catholicism, unfamiliar to him. To the recently confirmed Catholic writer, pounding away on his computer‘s keyboard, they represent endless confusion and awe. The close proximity to the jumbled mess perhaps best signifies the culture of the room. Where religious views are as varied as the shapes of the popcorn nestled in the bag of SmartFood next to me (but not quite as cheesy and delicious).
You can generally judge one’s culture by the home they live in, but does pluralism of cultures creates one cohesive culture in this instance of our dorm? I believe so. Max, one of my roommates, brought along the aspects of his home culture. A negative rainbow of color, or the absence thereof can be seen leaking out of his drawers. Shirts, pants, and underwear all various shades of blacks and grays with graphics of various cartoon characters and symbolic designs flood the floors and corner he’s staying in. The blob of clothing, objects, and toiletries rivals that of my other roommate Evan.
Evan’s laundry perhaps is a bit more organized than Max’s or mine, yet it doesn’t go any further than that. While the drawers and neatly packed with clothing, the floor around his desk and bedding reveal a caddywhompus of books, bagged foods, and ‘pleasantly’ fragranted sneakers. Though this disorganized nature may seem to separate the roommates from each other, it only melds the idea that three types of disorganized beings have their cultures melded together from the common trait.
Hard tones of Mindless Self Indulgence, the ballads of Ben Folds, and the gentle tones of Death Cab For Cutie don’t necessarily always coincide. And where clothing labels vary as much as Calvin Klein to Plugg, the culture of Collins 202 can be distinctly described as the home to three boys, from very different backgrounds, trying to make the home the best it can be in our own little melting-pot-within-melting-pot. Sharing cultures through our messy habits, mixed foods, and habitats, we have created a new type of home-away-from-home and sketch an image of a culture unique to Collins 202.