Katie Graham's Interview

Beyond the Bubble

            This interview was conducted with a female 19-year-old freshman. She currently resides in Pennsylvania. Although she has only been here for a semester and a half, she had lots of insights into life within “the Bubble”.

            She discussed that although there are several colleges close by, even within walking distance, she doesn’t associate with students from these other colleges very much. Her only interaction with these schools is through Red Hot Blue, the Goucher acappella group that she is apart of. Red Hot Blue hosts schools from the surrounding area and they are also sometimes asked to go to other schools for performances. Even then she explains she does not really hang out with the other groups and other than that she had no association with other colleges or students. This information adds to the understanding of Beyond the Bubble by giving insight into the phenomena that Goucher students rarely associate with members of other universities.

            Why is this so? Are Goucher students scared to go out or do they love campus so much that leaving is not needed? The interviewee explains, “I really don’t get out that much. Let’s be honest, I’m too busy.” This gives a glimpse of insight into college life where students are too busy with work and papers to socialize but certainly other colleges seem to display a notion that students get out into the “world” more. I think further research and interviews would need to be done to discover what about Goucher creates this closed off atmosphere.

            In terms of the small community that Goucher prides itself on, the interviewee seems to enjoy the close knit community. She claims that she feels like she knows the majority of people on campus making Goucher feel like home and in some ways campus feels like “a big family with lots of acquaintances.” At the same time however, she adds the small community means that everyone knows almost everything about everyone, which provides lots of drama. “It’s very cliquey at times I feel,” she says.

            This was interesting to hear because I myself have experienced this clique like atmosphere. As a freshman I was unsure if this was natural or not and am curious to see what upper classman would have to say about this notion. At the same time even the impressions of a freshman are useful and can tell a lot about a school. Sometimes fresh eyes are needed to see that changes need to be made.

            When asked, “What does the “Goucher Bubble” mean to you?” the response was surprising. “It means that you feel stuck on campus and there’s nothing to do even though there are many things you could go out and do. We become too lazy to go out and do things so we blame it on Goucher.” This last part really struck me. As a group we have been considering how Goucher itself affects the students lives and decisions but this response made me realize that we must also question how the decisions of students affects Goucher. Instead of trying to discover why Goucher creates this “bubble” that seemingly traps students in, we must also look into the theory behind what makes students too lazy to get out and do things and why this is so.