Allison Wade
Intro to Psychology
September 29, 2012
Sensing Your World

Countless people go about their day without recognizing all the things that go on around them. Maybe they’re just so used to certain things that they just blur them out or they’re not used to it at all that they pretend it was never there. When you slow down and watch the world around you, you see so many more things then you once did. I chose Berkshire Hall, my dorm, for my place of observation. Living with mostly males has been a big change for many of us girls in this building. But I never really noticed how many things I missed until I started to look for them. First I watched the girl’s floor and how we all interacted together. Before this project, I assumed that the other girls just did not want to hangout with all of us and that they were the type who kept more to them selves. But as I sat back and watched, I observed that it seemed like the majority never really gave them a chance to become closer to them. The group of girls who have become closer tend to do everything together such as going to the dinning hall, going to the gym, doing homework, and even going out together on the weekends. From an outsiders point of view it would seem as though we all got along great and there was not any problems. But really there is a great deal of tension within the group. Some of the girls deal with each other for the sake of the group but behind closed doors they don’t have anything polite to say about each other. The same thing happens with the boys upstairs. The majority of the boys in our dorm play football together but there are only a few who do not. The boys who do play football are a lot closer since they bonded during preseason and at all of their practices. But the boys who don’t play football have been a group of friends as well. But the majority of the boys get along no matter what sport they play. Watching some of the friendships that have developed, you would think that they grew up together when in reality they just met this summer. Watching these boys, I realized that boys tend to be more accepting of each other and less judging in the beginning. Where as with the girls it was the total opposite. But they also can be oblivious to certain things, such as the consequences of their actions, the emotions of other and when things are appropriate or not. Lastly, I watched the hall as a group. For the majority of us, it’s the first time having to live with the opposite sex this closely and for this extent of time. There is a large group of us who have become very close even though we have only known each for a short time. When there is a problem with two or so people from that group, the whole dynamic of the group changes. Everything we do may or may not have some sort of an effect on the others. Some of us realize that but some don’t until it has already had its effect. The boys got so used to living with all males from preseason, which is a lot different then living with girls. And