10: Brainstorming

As a pretty indecisive person that practically has no creativity, choosing a discourse community to research about is proving to be a fairly difficult task for me. However, if I was forced to choose at this very second, I would choose to research about the nursing community. Choosing to write about this discourse community wouldn’t be too bad, I think.

Nursing is a very rewarding field and I think learning about how nurses started their career, what attracted them to take up nursing, and how they interact with each other and their patients would be an interesting topic to cover and research.

I’ve never seen what hours are like behind the hospital doors, but as the daughter of two RN’s that both work the night shift, I’ve gotten to observe how exhausting and tiring the job can get. I wish I could say I know a lot more about the nursing community, but other than the occasional “how was work last night?” I ask my parents, we don’t really talk too much about their job. Sometimes when something really big happens, they talk about their work but besides that, still no conversation about their work. If I do end up writing about the nursing community as a discourse community, I wouldn’t have to worry about finding people to interview because I’d already have two people at home I could interview. Not only that, my parents’ friends are practically all nurses, so if needed I could easily just ask for a couple of their phone numbers. It would be pretty cool to get the perspective of other nurses that I don’t know as well as my parents.

I’m a person that gets attached to others pretty quickly, so one question that I’m definitely interested in asking is how nurses manage to separate their feelings at work from the ones they feel when they take the uniform off… If that makes sense. It must get really emotionally exhausting working with different patients in a day, with each one dealing with their own injuries, problems, and personal feelings. I probably could never be a nurse just because of how emotionally invested I would feel with each patient I see. The emotional toll it would have on me would probably grow into a whole other problem in my mind. That’s one thing I admire about my parents, and nurses in general. In my 20 years of being alive, I don’t think I’ve ever seen my parents really cry or talk very seriously about a particular patient. Sometimes they would mention something really vague about a teenager involved in a bad car accident, but that’s really the most they talk about their job. I really don’t know how nurses do it but hopefully I could get that answered, even if only partially, if I do end up researching the nursing field as a discourse community.

Although I am still not sure I will go through with the nursing community, I can already see the potential where the research paper could go if I do decide to write about them. Happy brainstorming, everyone!

8: Service Workers

I have never worked as a waitress before. Or in any customer service job. But from what I’ve seen and what I’ve heard, working in that kind of setting is not easy. I completely disagree with the things Drucker stated about service workers.

When I go out to eat at a restaurant, I always make sure that I show the employees with respect. I know they already get treated like crap by a lot of customers that they get so the least I can do the make their job easier is to be respectful. As an introvert, it amazes me how a lot of hosts and waiters can manage to keep a positive attitude throughout their whole shift, even if they’re just faking it. They always have to constantly talk and ask customers if they need anything. It just seems like a job that would tire anyone out quickly you know? So really, props to those who work in the service industry.

“Inactive service workers lack the necessary education to be ‘knowledge workers.’” I don’t know if I’m understanding this statement correctly, but I think it’s a load of bull. It’s very difficult to get a job in your field of study these days, even with a college degree. But people have to find ways to make a living. And service industry jobs may be easy to get, but they’re not easy. There are also different situations in which this quote just sounds flat-out ignorant. A lot of college students that don’t get financial support from anyone work service industry jobs. It doesn’t mean they “lack the necessary education.” Single parents who struggle to make money may need to keep their job working at a restaurant. They can’t afford to go to school because if they do, then who will feed their kids? Just because they don’t have a college degree, it doesn’t mean they “lack the necessary education.” They’re just struggling to pay the rent every month and trying to put food on the table for their children. I find it really sad when someone looks or talks down on service industry workers. They’re probably so used to exercising their privilege that they don’t stop and think how being a host is the only way some people are able to afford food.

Even though I’ve never worked as a waitress before, I can still say that this job definitely requires some sort of ability to solve problems. These workers stand on their feet all day, taking orders from parties of two to five, and even a dozen sometimes. I don’t know about you, but I’d probably pass out from talking to too many people in a small crowded space, navigating my way through tables, frantically getting everyone’s different and complicated orders, and asking to stop if someone needs water. Honestly, service workers are God-sent. What would we do without them? Imagine eating out with some friends or family. But all the waiters and hosts boycotted the work day. Isn’t that such a shitty thing to think about? It’s depressing. So please, respect the service workers that have to please your privileged lives.

9: Identity

So I tried to read Wardle’s article in its entirety but about four pages in, I found myself rereading every sentence about ten times before I processed what she was trying to say. It wasn’t until I got to page 524 that something really caught my attention about the topics she addressed. Identity is a big part of belonging to any job. Doctors, teachers, musicians, professional athletes, and every other job you can think of will involve different identities associated with it. Whether we think so or not, identity plays an essential role in belonging to a group of people that share similar values.

Warble mentions a sociologist named Ettiene Wenger. Wenger had a theory of communities of practice where he described workplace enculturation. He focused on identity within the workplace setting and other activities. Wenger described identity as a “negotiated experience… a layering of events of participation and reification by which our experience and its social interpretation inform each other.” What I make of this quote is that our identity in the workplace that we belong in is a long-time occurrence that develops over time. We obtain our identity by participating and being actively involved in what is required of us, rather than just watching someone else and learning from them. Of course, our interactions with the people in a work setting help but they are not all that we need in order to obtain our identity in our job.

According to Wenger, in order for newcomers to find their “own unique identities” within new organizations, they must choose levels and types of engagement and modes of belonging. These three modes of belonging included engagement, imagination, and alignment.

Engagement basically describes how newcomers and old-timers of the job interact with each other to develop “interpersonal relationships.” I’m not entirely sure what this means, but if I had to guess the “interpersonal relationships” are more important to the newcomers in that a relationship with more experienced members of their workforce could really work in their favor as they’re still learning to be an expert in what they’re doing. Wenger also explains that even though engagement can be positive, it could also lack in mutuality, meaning that the newcomers wouldn’t really get the full respect from the old-timers and therefore a sense of marginality is created especially towards the newcomer. I’m studying to become a physical therapist in the future, and this is definitely a career where I will need to engage with more experienced therapists in order to become better at my job. Even after obtaining higher education in the field, I can’t just become an amazing physical therapist without actually learning from those who are more experienced.

Imagination is pretty much that- newcomers imagining themselves transcending, and “creating new images of the world and self.” Wenger points out that while imagination can lead to a positive mode of belonging, it can also “be disconnected and ineffective.” With imagination, newcomers could potentially interchange their experience in the community as competence. A scenario I thought of when I read this quote that relates to my field of study is someone who has volunteered their time learning in a hospital or clinic setting prior to actually getting a job. Even if they have volunteered for a long time it doesn’t automatically mean that they’ll be a superior physical therapist than others when they finally get a job. This person might hold the mindset that they’re already better than other newcomers just because they’ve volunteered and learned the workings of a physical therapist in the past. In turn, this might lead to arrogance in the workplace and a sense of superiority that will blind and prevent them from becoming better at their job.

Finally, there is alignment. Alignment requires those involved to basically find a common ground and “reconcile diverging perspectives.” This could be a good thing in the long run, but Wenger mentions that alignment often violates a person’s sense of self and crushes their identity. What I get from this is that maybe sometimes someone’s personal values and beliefs don’t completely align with what their work requires them to do and alignment is necessary in order to completely identify with their job. They have to sacrifice what they believe in just to fit in and to be able to identify with the others in their career.

7: Mushfaking

I can think of many instances when I had to mushfake. Because my whole is basically a big mushfaking festival. In fact, one of the mottos I live by is “fake it ’til you make it”. I know I’m not the only person that pretends like they know what is actually happening around them, but I’d say I do it more often than others. 

One of the times I had to mushfake is when I first moved to California in 4th grade. First of all, I was 10 and had only attended an American school for a year before moving back to the Philippines. I lived in Maryland for a year when I was 8 and was in an English learning class but when I moved back to the Philippines at 9, I went back to speaking my native tongue. Anyways back to California. When my family first moved to San Diego, my sister and immediately started school (in February, too!). It was difficult adjusting to such a different atmosphere and environment. I only knew a small amount of English and I had a fob accent, lol. It was hard to talk to the teacher and ask for help because I didn’t even know what we were learning about. I often found myself sitting in detention during recess because I wouldn’t know which homework assignments we were supposed to do, and therefore I would not do them. It was especially challenging to make new friends because kids can be cruel sometimes, and the fact that I had such a strong Filipino accent when speaking English made other kids not want to talk to me. 

I remember towards the end of the school year all the 4th graders had to make three speeches and present them in front of the whole class and be filmed while giving the speeches. The speeches were assigned every two weeks, so everyone had two weeks to write and prepare to present their speeches before giving them. Those weeks were the ultimate mushfaking time for me. I barely spoke English, I had a strong accent, and I had trouble asking for help because my communication skills at 4th grade weren’t so great. So basically, I was in some deep ass trouble. I eventually went to my mom for help writing and preparing my speeches but since Tagalog was also her first language, she was only able to help me with the main ideas and points. Putting the speech together to make it flow smoothly was still a challenge for both of us. Fourth grade was not a fun time for me. 

I started to adjust better in 5th grade. It was still there, but there was definitely much less mushfaking involved. I had made a couple of friends by then and started doing better in school. I  even became friends with my school librarian because I read so many books. Because of this, my English improved significantly, but I think it wasn’t until middle school that I lost my fob accent. 

School is a setting that everyone mushfakes at. Even to this day, I feel like we all mushfake at some point during the school. We all kinda just learn how to hide the fact that we’re faking it. 

6: Discourse Communities: College

Growing with up in an Asian household, I was expected to go to college. There was no question or difference of opinion when it came to the topic of college. I never really cared about that thought, though. Even I assumed I was going to college. I didn’t ask questions about why it was absolutely necessary. I just knew it was important because that’s what I’ve been taught and influenced to think my whole life. 

On my first semester of college, I realized that not everyone is actually really required to go to college. I noticed that a lot of people I graduated high school with went straight to the military, or got a full-time job, or even just took a break from school for a year to do whatever it is they need to do. I had a secret admiration for those people, actually. I admired them for being so honest to what they think they’re capable of handling at such a young age. And in a way, I was a little envy of them. I envied that they were able to make a decision for themselves while I just kinda had the idea embedded onto my brain that I was going to attend a university, no questions asked. 

College is… Different. It’s a lot different from high school, that’s for sure. In high school, you had to ask the teacher if you could even use the restroom. You had to raise your hand, wait for the teacher to notice you, then you asked if you could leave the classroom for a couple minutes to use the restroom. It’s very structured. But in college, you can not show up to class for a whole week and the professor wouldn’t even know you didn’t show up. It’s a whole different world. How do you adjust to a very structured educational setting with a million rules to an educational institution with over 34,000 students in a span of 2-3 months? The answer is you don’t. At least you don’t adjust right away. You learn to adjust when you fail your first midterm as a straight-A student in high school. You learn to adapt to the environment when you go from seeing the same 30 faces every day for a whole school year to barely recognizing one face in a sea of students in a 500-seat lecture. Adjusting to such different setting takes time, but it also depends on the person and where they came from. 

I’m a local of San Diego. I know how to get to the main places without needing Google Maps. Because I live in San Diego, I also get the wonderful privilege of commuting to school for class. It’s a blessing and a curse, really. It’s a blessing because the only thing I basically have to pay for besides tuition, is gas and the parking permit. It’s a blessing because I get free home-cooked meals every single day, and also get the comfort of using my own bathroom and staying inside uninterrupted for an hour because I decided to bring my phone in with me. Commuting is also a curse because I spend 4-5 hours commuting to school every week. That’s 4-5 hours I could’ve spent doing something else like studying or getting involved on campus. It’s a curse because it’s hard for me to meet new people and make new friends. But, being the annoyingly shy introvert that I am, I would say that that last part doesn’t really affect me as much. Even if I did live on campus/close to campus, I’d probably still have the hardest time making new friends. So I would say that the pros of commuting far outweigh the cons. Of course, adjusting to college life is different for everyone. It is different for someone from New York, or an international student studying in San Diego. How we adjust to life in college depends on where and how we grew up. 

As a junior, I’ve pretty much learned to adjust to college life. As of now, the only thing I’m adjusting to is living at home without seeing my sister everyday. She just started her first year at UCSD and my parents had let her dorm. It feels weird at home because I’m not very close to my brother so I have no one to talk to at any given time. She’s also very smart and often helps me with Chemistry (ironic right?), so not having someone to ask for help at home makes learning Chemistry more challenging for me, lol. But overall, I’ve learned how to adjust and adapt to changes around me.