Tag Archives: college

“Coastie”

MAIN PIECE

“Coastie”

“When you call someone a coastie, it is more often than not seen as an insult.  We use it, probably more in the sorority systems, to describe someone who is from the east or west coast of the United States.  We usually say it when somebody doesn’t understand Wisconsin issues such as the weather  or the lack of warm beaches.”

BACKGROUND

DA, is from Madison, Wisconsin and has lived in the state all her life.  She knows this from being in the sorority system and being explained as to what a coastie was.  She had never hear it before when she lived in Milwaukee, so she assumes it’s specific to U-W Madison.

CONTEXT

DA is a cousin I have that goes to college right now.  We sat down and I invited her for a zoom call.  She seemed a bit stressed about her finals, but she was very elated to talk and take a break from studying for her chemistry exam.

THOUGHTS

To see a piece of a folklore that is used in a way to not identify members of said folk group, but make fun of ones who aren’t is thought-provoking, but not unique to this folk group.  I believe it’s used in this more derogatory manner because most of the people who go to U-W Madison, from looking at their statistics, are from Wisconsin themselves, making these “Coasties” far and few between, as well as easier to pick on in a joking manner.

Badgeralls

MAIN PIECE

Badgeralls

“Badgeralls are just like red and white overalls that you wear at football games.  Really only the girls wear them, but guys also do when they wanna be funny.  If you don’t wear them, other students can tend to think you’re not a student. ”

BACKGROUND

DA, is from Madison, Wisconsin and has lived in the state all her life.  She knows this from going to many football games at  the University of Wisconsin – Madison and participating in the folklore herself.  She says she remembers it from when she didn’t do it and got told off by her friend. 

CONTEXT

DA is a cousin I have that goes to college right now.  We sat down and I invited her for a zoom call.  She seemed a bit stressed about her finals, but she was very elated to talk and take a break from studying for her chemistry exam.

THOUGHTS

It is very common to see female students to have specific clothing items they are told to wear for football games, but what is so different about this one is that it’s not skimpier than average clothing because you are apparently supposed to wear the badgeralls over your clothes.  I believe that this choice was probably made due to the cold temperatures Wisconsin reaches in the fall and winter months.

Insider and Outsider

Original Script: 인싸, 아싸

Phonetic (Roman) Script: Inssa and Ahssa

Full translation: Insider and Outsider

Main Piece:

The following is transcribed from a conversation between the interviewer and the informant, and it was translated from its original language Korean.

Informant: There’s this popular slang in Korea, especially for school and office settings, mostly college. It’s “Inssa” and “Ahssa”, they alway go in Paris. Inssa is shortened for insider, and ahssah is shortened for outsider. They describe the type of person you are in a given social setting. Insiders are those who can blend well with the crowd. They’re popular, outgoing, they’d get drinks all the time, talk to professors well, all that. Outsiders are, well, outsiders. They’re the people who don’t have any friends, who are not up to date with pop culture and all the new slangs.

Interviewer: Is this concept any different from the pre-established introvert and extrovert?

Informant: I think inssa and ahssa are more exclusively to these specific social settings, like schools, and more specifically colleges. I think it’s just a newer way of saying the same stuff, but it has slightly different tones. Introvert and extrovert are more like internal, personality trait things. I think you can be an introvert and an inssa, like you don’t have to be an extrovert to have good connections.

Interviewer: Are there any variations of these terms?

Informant: Yes. You can add the word ‘haek’ in front of them. Haek is Korean for nuclear, and Koreans use that word as kind of an additive to really emphasize things. So a ‘haek-inssa’ would be a really extreme insider, someone who knows everyone in their school. A haek-ahssa would be someone who’s like invisible.

Interviewer: How would you describe yourself when you were in college?

Informant: I think I was more of an inssa at first, but towards later years I jus stopped caring so much

Background:

My informant is a Korean male in his mid 20s, working as a barista in Seoul. He graduated from college already, but he describes himself as well versed with current Korean lingo and college culture.

Context:

The conversation took place on the phone. The informant was in house by himself in a comfforbtale setting.

My thoughts:

These new words came across as more jokey than serious, but they still gave me the sense that it was to point out people who weren’t outgoing. I’m not sure if categorizing everyone in these standards would be positive, but I did find the terminology very catchy.

A Song for Finals

“Right before finals, the band usually plays at Primal, so we will play right outside Leavey Library, to like cheer people up before finals and get people hype for studying. The songs that we play are usually pretty variable, but at the end, we always play ‘Conquest’ at the end and scream ‘Beat the Finals’.” 

Context: The informant, EK, is a member of the USC Trojan Marching Band. We were having a conversation about the strange rituals and customs of the band that are specific to that one student group. This ritual is an unofficial one, as in years past they have gotten in trouble with the university, however the band is trying to bring back the tradition, with and without official approval. EK really enjoys participating in this ritual as she feels that it really exemplifies the motivating aspect of the band; she also loves seeing the students’ faces when the band starts to play

Analysis: While this may seem like a simple tradition, this ritual demonstrates the role and importance that the Trojan marching band plays for the students at USC. The band’s role is not only limited to promoting school spirit at football games and other sporting events, but also to energize and boost morale for the entire student body. As someone that has witnessed this performance while in the library, hearing the amazing band play uplifting and motivating songs brought joy to the hundreds of stressed and overwhelmed students in the library who had been studying for days. This impact shows how the band’s culture and traditions affect the people in their community, and is capable of reminding the students that there is more to USC then just working.

Along with this, the choice of song that they play at the end of their performance demonstrates the meaning and overall significance of the performance. The song “Conquest” is usually played by the USC marching band when the USC football team beats their opponent to celebrate beating the enemy. By performing this song, the studying students will get the same feeling that they would feel when the USC football team wins. They suddenly feel a sense of confidence and increased morale and ready to vanquish their enemy: finals. Along with this, the screaming of “beat the finals” at the end of the performance echoes the sentiment that finals is something that we all should put our effort into trying to win our finals by doing our best. 

Kicking the Lightpost – USC Band Tradition

“So the band has a tradition of, every time we march to the football stadium–the Coliseum–for games, everyone has to kick the bottom of the light pole as we are leaving campus for good luck. Then, we also kick it on our way back on [campus] after the game.

If we win the football game, we always play ‘Conquest’ at Tommy Trojan as, like, a celebration.”

Context: The informant, EK, is a member of the USC Trojan Marching Band (also called Spirit of Troy), and specifically part of the drum line of the band. We were having a discussion about some of the strange and somewhat rituals that the band does on game days (football) and how they affect the outcome of the games. EK feels an obligation to participate in this ritual as she is a member of the band, and fears the consequences of not participating in the tradition as it is a highly ingrained belief in the student group. The band, according to EK, relies heavily on many superstitions and traditions in order to ensure the success of the USC football team.

Analysis: For the informant, this ritual is extremely important for the band and to ensure a good outcome for the football game that they will be performing in. In this manner, this ritual is a demonstration of folk belief and superstition and how it supposedly affects the outcome of events that can be seemingly out of our hands. With this superstition, this group of performers can have a level of control over an unpredictable event.

There is also a participatory context for this superstition. If you do not participate in this ritual and kick the light pole, then if the football team loses, the band can blame the person who didn’t kick the pole. In a way, knowing and participating in the superstitions of the marching band is a way to figure out who is a member, and who is an outsider. Due to this, if you choose not to participate, or merely forget, your band members will see you as someone who is not really a member of that group anymore, and only after you resume your participation in that ritual can one resume their membership. This is mirrored in many other societal groups, from firefighters to physicians to USC students. Particular superstitions and customs are defining components of culture, and the groups that perform them claim them as a piece of their identity.