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I’m beginning to see all of my data fall into place and this is extremely exciting for me!  I’ve taken numerous sets of fieldnotes and have made it a point to become involved in my fieldsite, the BSM.  I’ve done two interviews….but one of those interviews was with three people.  We had a great roundtable discussion and I was able to get multiple points of view from the intern, secretary, and a student at the BSM.  Joe Schmidt was my first interviewee for WA4 and his interview was extremely helpful as well.  It felt like working on WA4 was rough draft for my final project.  I’ve collected alot of information and I feel I will have no trouble coming up with what to write for my final paper.  An exciting discovery was even made that will help to provide me with a thesis. I’ve uncovered that the most effective method used to bring students to the BSM is word-of-mouth.  The student to student relationships are extremly important.  However, a by-product of this is that the BSM has tended to become cliquish and certain student groups are excluded. (There are no members of the football team who attend the BSM.)  To have other student groups attend you need an insider in the BSM.  Joe and I talked alot about this and how it is human nature to go where your friends are and you are comfortable.  This was as interesting relevaton and what is even more interesting is that steps are being taken to not make the BSM cliquish.  Members of the Leadership Team are encouraged to meet and greet new students every Thursday at Overflow and sit with people they don’t know at the free noon lunch on Mondays.  I’m super excited to have discovered all of this because it was something I did not expect/think about when I began my study.  In addition to this, I have all other types of ways the BSM reaches out to students through info fairs, campus outreach, mission trips, ECT. to provide even more fodder for my paper.  My survey went out today and I have recieved my first response.  Already it provided me with material that is relevant that I didn’t know about and reaffirmed other things I thought about.  (Ex: I didn’t know the BSM is looking for someone to lead a media ministry and confirmed that word-of-mouth and facebook are the two most important methods that the BSM connects with students.  It feels like everything is falling into place which makes me very happy!

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