Reflection Essay

           When it was first announced in my WRD 111 class that I was going to have to participate in a group project, my heart sank to the pit of my stomach. I instantly went from feeling hopeful about this class, to wanting to go right to the registration website and drop this class. However, I knew that I had to complete this class, and therefore this project, so I decided to “suck it up” and try to get through it. Later on in the semester when we were actually beginning the group projects, I was even more dejected to find that we were going to be put into groups – I couldn’t even work with people I knew and knew that I could count on.  With that said, going into this project, I had every intention of telling my group to screw off and let me do it myself. However, I was placed in a group of likeminded people, which more-or-less forced us to work together. 

            My biggest struggle throughout this whole project was feeling like I wasn’t doing enough. When picking our topic, we decided that Carlos (one of my group members) probably had one of the most interesting and “workable” topics to choose: The Lonely Boys of Haggin Hall. “The lonely boys of Haggin Hall” as a topic seems now to be a distant memory, because our topic evolved so much from there. We fully intended on focusing on the chronic masturbators inhabiting an all-male dorm here at the University of Kentucky. However, as the project went on, we realized that Haggin is being torn down. The fact that it was being torn down implied that it was old and no longer at its prime, and in these facts we found a gem for our project – the glory days, and lack thereof, for the doomed male residence. The aspect of our project that I am most proud is probably the vintage footage of Haggin field, or the editing of footage into thought bubbles as people are speaking. I believe that both of these contribute to the “then and now” concept of our documentary.

If we had 6 more months to work on this project, more than anything I would want to track down some of the men who used to live in and enjoy Haggin. We had a few different people currently residing there speaking about how terrible it is in its current state, so I wish that we had some old timers to kind of “stick up” for Haggin, since Haggin in its current state cannot defend itself. Also, if we had more time, I would have done more to ensure that our documentary was proofread, and we would have better sound and video quality. The one very important, absolute biggest aspect of our documentary that I would change is spelling and grammar mistakes. I absolutely wanted to bury my head 1000 feet under my desk as each of the many spelling errors popped up on the screen. Also, I would put my name in the credits, as Carlos rushed through editing and forgot me.

For our group, I personally was responsible for the group blog. I was considered the “scriptwriter” and I tried to help Carlos wherever possible. I feel that I promoted a healthy group atmosphere by listening to Carlos (as he sort of took over as our group leader) and clarified when he wasn’t always clear. I also text messaged the group, and tried to contact them from time to time about our project, whether I could make it to meetings, etc. Overall I really enjoyed my group, even though I feel that we could have distributed work more evenly. I wish that I had learned more about editing so that Carlos wouldn’t have had so much on his plate. I feel like my group was satisfied with the effort distribution, and I believe that I contributed all that I could to making sure our project was satisfactory.

Haggin Hall Documentary

     The issue that our documentary will be covering is Haggin Hall, an all male dorm on campus. This dorm is a sort of historic building here at UK and will be torn down soon. We seek reactions from students and staff on campus who care, or don’t, about this landmark. The audience of our proposal is Mr. Owen Horton, but our documentary as a whole seeks the interest of everyone on campus here at the University of Kentucky.

     For this project, the labor will be divided based on each group member’s academic strengths. Anna is in charge of writing the proposal and all other secretarial tasks, as well as helping Carlos with editing. Carlos will be our main editor of both audio and video footage, as well as operating photography and videography equipment. Jackie will be an interviewer recording audio and video footage, as well as helping out with any miscellaneous tasks that may come up.  David will also be an interviewer recording audio and video footage, and helping out with miscellaneous tasks. Emilee will also be an interviewer recording audio/video, and helping out with miscellaneous tasks. Our timeline for this project is:

*March 31 – Anna completes proposal

*April 1 – Emilee, David, Jackie, Carlos acquire photo/video equipment

*April 3 – Emilee, David, Jackie, Carlos begin audio/video recording; Anna collects footage via Dropbox daily and starts writing out organizational ideas

*April 15 – Emilee, David, Jackie, Carlos complete video/audio recording; group meets to go over the rough edit of acquired footage

*April 16 – Carlos & Anna begin editing video/audio; if time allows, Anna will write out the final script after editing

*April 30 – Project complete

     Our aim as far as the tone and style of our documentary will be a sort of “tongue-in-cheek” melancholic nature. We feel that while Haggin Hall is a well-known feature of UK and a lot of memories are made there, most people will not feel the sadness/nostalgia that would be expected in the tearing down of a place where many young men begin a new chapter of their lives – college. We believe that many people do not look at Haggin Hall seriously, and we intend to play on that in this documentary.

     Our aspirations involving camera shots, content and audio include wide-angle footage of the building, personal/close-up angles for interviews (in order to convey emotion or lack thereof); lots of background dialogue – less video footage of people/interviews (to create a sense of discomfort and to allow more room for images/video of Haggin Hall rather than people (as Haggin Hall is the subject of this documentary – not it’s residents)

     As far as transitions go, we will be using a lot of fading, because it connotes thoughtfulness. We will also be using time slates because they bring a sense of organization, and effort in general, to our project. As for our plan of organization, we will tart out sort of poking fun at Haggin Hall and conveying that no one takes it seriously. However, we plan to gradually progress into a more serious tone. We would like to try to find where Haggin Hall actually made an impact on male students (both of today and years past).

     We intend to promote our documentary through social media (Facebook, Twitter, text messaging, Tumblr, Instagram, etc.) The emotion we are hoping to extract from the audience through our short film is empathy, respect of a historic building on campus, and perhaps nostalgia for the young men, and maybe even women, who made priceless memories at Haggin Hall. The music we involve in our project will aide in conveying these emotions with a sad tone and an acoustic style. We plan to use a gloomy filter/lighting effects, a “rainy” look to our video footage, and dark/shadowy/foggy effects throughout the presentation.

Proposal Outline

Audience of proposal – Mr. Horton

Issue – Haggin Hall, an all boys dorm, being torn down

Timeline/Schedule

*March 31 – Anna completes proposal

*April 1 – Emilee, David, Jackie, Carlos acquire photo/video equipment

*April 3 – Emilee, David, Jackie, Carlos begin audio/video recording

*April 15 – Emilee, David, Jackie, Carlos complete video/audio recording

*April 16 – Carlos & Anna begin editing video/audio

*April 30 – Project complete

Division of labor – Anna (Proposal/Writing/Co-Edit); Carlos (Audio/Visual/Co-Edit); Jackie (Interviews/General Misc. Tasks); David (Interviews/General Misc. Tasks); Emilee (Interviews/General Misc. Tasks)

Tone/Style – Melancholic, sad, slow

Content/Shots/Audio (i.e. Interviews)

Organization/Transitions – A LOT of fades (fading connotes thoughtfulness, melancholy)

Consider audience of video (in order to get 1000 YouTube views) – Facebook, Twitter, Frats/Sorority (Student body)

Purpose (What response are you expecting?) – Empathy, Respect of a historic building on campus…

Audio (music) – sad, acoustic

Filters/Effects

The Lonely Boys of Haggin Hall Podcast Link

Click here!

Thanks for listening! Enjoy!

The Lonely Boys of Haggin Hall Podcast Transcript

 Carlos: Hi. I’m Carlos.

David: And I’m David.

Carlos: Our topic for our podcast is Haggin Hall. Haggin Hall’s a dorm on central campus - all male – a place seldom of much interest. Most don’t put much thought into it, but it’s almost a sort of unspeakable place. The rumors say it’s to be demolished next year. But how might some of those there, and those connected to haggin feel about this, and about haggin in general. We went out and found out.

Transition

David:  So Zach, as someone who used to live in Haggin Hall, what are your thoughts on Haggin exactly? What comes to mind when someone says “Haggin Hall” to you?

Zach: Well, the first thing I think of is just the whole thing is pretty gross. It’s getting old obviously, and there’s definitely some room for improvement. The whole place just needed renovating. It was just kind of nasty in general.

David: Alright, well, did it help you at all to live in Haggin Hall? Were there any positives or was it all kind of just really bad?

Zach: I mean, it was right on campus, so that was nice – I could wake up 5 minutes before class and still make it. But overall, I definitely think that there were better places to live, if I would have had the choice. On campus was the main advantage but overall there were definitely other places that would have benefited more.

David: Are you sad to see Haggin go in anyway, cause it’s being torn down or is it pretty much all that you’re pretty happy it’s gone?

Zach: I mean I may shed a few tears when I see that place go, but no it’s definitely something that needs to be done. And building all these new dorms are definitely something that UK’s campus needs to see.

David: So how much more, like, what are the more advantages of living away from Haggin as opposed to living in Haggin?

Zach: Well it’s an all guys dorm so it got pretty rowdy sometimes. I definitely get a lot more sleep living out of Haggin. The environment just in general is a lot nicer than living in an old dorm – an old nasty dorm. So I definitely get a lot more sleep and a lot more work done, that’s for sure.

David: Alright, thank you, Zach.

Transition

David: But Zach decided to move away from Haggin. How might those who still live there feel about it? We asked some residents at k lair how they felt about it.

Transition

Carlos: Alright, I’m here at K-Lair. My name is Carlos Gutierrez and I’m interviewing George Tsolmetes. He’s a resident here at Haggin Hall. He’s been there for a while now. What semester is this for you at Haggin Hall?

Tsolmetes: Second semester.

Carlos: Second semester… So how have your experiences generally been at Haggin Hall in these 2 semesters?

Tsolmetes: What do you mean by experiences?

Carlos: Has it been fun being at Haggin or has it been more negative?

Tsolmetes: It’s been fine. Good enough for me.

Carlos: “Been good enough for him”. There we go with George Tsolmetes. “Haggin Hall, it’s good enough for me.”

Transition

Carlos: Tsolmetes did not seem to care very much about Haggin, and was simply satisfied with the conditions. Quote-unquote “It was good enough for him.” But another resident we interviewed showed he was much more apathetic towards Haggin and showed us quite blatantly how he did not care.

Transition

Carlos: Winston, care to tell us how you feel about Haggin Hall?

Winston: Ugh.

Carlos: He responded with a simple blurt of the word “Ugh”. I do not understand what this might mean - not at all. Would you care to elaborate, Winston?

Winston: I don’t really care!

Carlos: He said he doesn’t really care. Are you saying you don’t care about Haggin Hall or the place you live or the conditions in which it’s set?

Winston: I just sleep there. I don’t do much else there so it doesn’t matter.

Carlos: He “only sleeps there”. “Doesn’t really matter.” Edgar Winston.

Transition

Carlos: It was obvious that those who live at Haggin live there simply out of its practicality. It was enough. It has beds and that’s enough for Winston. It’s not positive in many other ways. To those who are not from Haggin and, in particular, those with a sensitive nose, the negatives were quite blatant. A girl by the name of Ashton summarized to us how it seems most those not from Haggin think Haggin is.

Transition

David: Alright, Ashton. What are your first thoughts when you hear “Haggin Hall”?

Ashton: I think of run down, kind of depressing, not very kept up.

David: Do you see any advantages of living at Haggin Hall, from a girl’s perspective, or anything at all?

Ashton: I think the only advantages would be that you’d be really close to classes. I know the Donovan isn’t far, so it would be nice to not have to get up super early to walk.

David: Since Haggin is an all male dorm, could you see yourself living with all girls or anything like that?

Ashton: I think I could but I kind of like the South Campus view better because you’re going to meet more people.

 Transition

What we learned about Haggin was that it’s a strange place. Those who live there don’t care about it. Those who have been around it see it as an uncomfortable place. We learned that no one is, sadly, going to miss Haggin Hall once it’s gone. But it has had a significant affect on some people…

Carlos: ...Specifically their nasal passages. It seems that the one thing everyone took away from Haggin was that it smelled bad. Anyways. Thank you all. My name’s Carlos.

David: My name’s David.

Carlos: Hope you have a great day.

Game Plan - Lonely Boys of Haggin Hall

David - Interview set up with a friend who resides in Haggin and ask a few non-residents of Haggin about their take on moving into an all boys dorm *Monday morning*
Emily - Interview with her boyfriend (who lives in Haggin) *Friday morning*
Carlos - Walk around his dorm (Haggin) and doing random polls/interviews with residents and ask a few non-residents of Haggin about their take on moving into an all boys dorm
Anna - Interview Ms. Judy (the lady at the front desk) about her take on Haggin and it's residents
Jackie - Hang out in Haggin's office and talk to random girls coming into the dorm about Haggin and what they think it would be like to live in a gender specific dorm (Friday afternoon)

Group project - Haggin Hall podcast

David - host
Emily - interviewer
Anna - interviewer/blog
Jackie - scriptwriter
Carlos - editing

ROTC Scene Depiction

On February 15, 2013 at the unpleasant hour of 6am, I had the opportunity to observe the University of Kentucky’s Army ROTC. After driving a full hour from home, I pulled into K-lot around 5:45am, walked half a mile in the freezing cold, and eventually made it to the gym where a good one-hundred ROTC members gather for a mandatory 6 o’clock work out. Sleepy men, as well as a few rather manly women, stand around not saying much at all. This ordinary-looking gym that reeks of old sweat and hours upon hours of exercise has taken on a whole new atmosphere. This gym is not filled with its typical lighthearted, recreational ambiance present during basketball games or other fun activities that usually take place there. That vibe has temporarily been replaced with one of a professional, here-for-business feel – any hint of cheerfulness has been displaced.

As 5:55am rolls around, everyone shows up to the gym five minutes early in order to “get in formation”. The room is filled with large groups of men (and a few women) in straight lines - all presence of joy absent or well hidden from their faces. Two short, muscular females make their way to the front of each of the two groups, and speak to the group in some kind of Army workout language that made absolutely no sense to me. She announces the first exercise and then makes everyone in her group scream it back at her in unison. It seems as if this group of fifty people has become one very large body of one. No one moves until this intimidating lady says, “Positions!” at which point everyone gets on the floor and into the first position necessary. No demonstrations were given on proper technique, and questions didn’t appear to be welcome. Every member lied on the floor in the exact same way, with the same form and the same stern expression on their faces. The lady-in-command waits for everyone to get into position and then tells her group, “Ready! Exercise!” Everyone moves at the same pace and supposedly does the same number of exercises.

The exception, of course, is a line of MSIV’s (a.k.a. the senior members of ROTC, who are in charge of this morning work out) “working out” in the back row. These members seem to have their own subculture in ROTC. They were laughing and cutting up during the workout, quietly teasing one another and doing a few reps every once in a while (usually when my camera was pointed in their direction).

With only a few exceptions, everyone wore the same green Army PT shirt and the same gray, too-short-for-most-guys Army shorts. Each personality seemed to be well hidden in this sea of soldiers, only expressing it’s self through the brightly colored (or for some personalities, very plain) tennis shoes. I stood out like a sore civilian in my bright pink, fleece exercise jacket and matching black and pink running shorts. The floor exercises continued for 15 minutes or so, when I noticed people showing signs of weakness. Here and there guys started dropping out of exercises early, and women were lying on the floor motionless and out-of-breath. The invincibly tough persona that everyone in the room seemed to try to adopt fell away, and I saw a group of real people experiencing pain and exhaustion just as any civilian could, if put through this vigorous workout. The stern expressions faded to sweaty, “when is this ever going to end” faces as the workout dragged on. The group did a few sprinting exercises, followed by my favorite part of the whole hour that I was there – the run.

As the floor exercises finished up, the organized group broke into chaos for a water break. Upon returning, everyone seemed to frantically seek organization again. This time, the different groups were organized by how fast each person could run. For example, Alpha plus’s lean, muscular members could run two miles in twelve minutes. Alpha minus’s members could run two miles in thirteen minutes, so on and so forth all the way down to Charlie minus’s stout members who could run two miles in sixteen or more minutes. At a whopping 15 degrees outside, each group formed two lines and proceeded into the cold, dark morning on their predetermined routes. I forgot my inhaler as well as my determination at home, so I ran with Charlie plus. Because these people were slower, the run would be easier, right? No. My muscles ached with every step, and all liquids being produced by my face were frozen. My eyes began to water and my lungs felt like they were going to burst at any minute. Maybe Charlie Plus people are fiercer than I gave them credit for. We ran right into the heart of downtown Lexington. It’s pitch black outside, with only the dim, eerie streetlights to guide us along each street and turn. I dropped out of formation to catch my breath, as the group continued at the 7:20min mile pace. After a few minutes, I couldn’t even see them anymore. They had left me! The leaders didn’t even bother to check on me… They left me, a 5-foot 4-inch defenseless female, ALONE in Downtown Lexington – yet another example of the coldhearted, no-bull shit characteristic of ROTC members, and especially the leaders.  I needed an inhaler and I felt like I was getting hypothermia by the second.

 I kept running in hopes of catching back up with the group, when I hear footsteps behind me. My heart both stopped and started racing at the same time. For one of those manly Army women, they probably wouldn’t have thought twice about footsteps – they could take care of themselves. I, however, have never felt more powerless and pathetic than right there on that dark street corner in Lexington. All of the sudden, I feel a hand on my shoulder. I feel like puking and quickly glance over to see who is touching me and if I could stand a chance in hand-to-hand combat with them. A beautiful girl in Army ROTC attire smiled at me and started checking on me. She was an MSIV named Lynch and she completely changed my perspective on the women in ROTC. She was sweet and naturally beautiful, with a comforting presence. First, she checked on my general wellbeing. “Do you want me to take you back to the gym? We don’t have to finish if you can’t breathe. I completely understand.” then apologized repetitively that her co-leaders had so carelessly left me out there alone. She ran the rest of the 3.4 miles with me and then once we got back to the gym, hugged me and went into formation with everyone else.

As the meeting closed, there were some final announcements and then everyone gathered their bags. Again, the room was silent as everyone minded their own business and then left to their various destinations. Clusters of ROTC leaders talked quietly about the happenings of each workout, but their conversations were quiet and business-like. After the longest hour of my life, the stern, exhausted soldiers returned to their daily lives, and the fun, lighthearted feeling returned to the empty gymnasium.