Week 1 - Advice from Barbados Students

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WEEK 1 - ADVICE FROM STUDENTS ON THE
BARBADOS TERM ABROAD

Several years ago, at the end of the Barbados term abroad, George and Sharon Gmelch asked students the following question: "If you could do the term over again, what would you do differently? What advice would you give the next group of students?" Their comments were:

"I would have pushed myself harder to jump into the work knowing what I know now. I realize now that my 'intruding' or 'prying' aren't resented. I spent too much energy worrying about how people would react to my request for a formal interview at first."

"I would make sure to spend as much time as you can in your village. It's sometimes hard at first, but it's really important."

"I would be more diligent about typing field notes every day. I would also be more aggressive about pursuing informants and striking up informal conversations with people. I would recommend that kids bring a lap top."

"I would be a bit more aggressive in getting interviews and recording them. I would plan my time better. I would tell the next students to get in at least three good interviews for each major section of the ethnography--history, life cycle, economics, etc."

"I would tell students to make sure they have the means to save all their material on their computers and typewriters and that they have backup copies. And that it is really important here to be organized."

"I would try to pace my work out more so I wouldn't get caught at the end. I'd tell them not to be tempted to visit other students. I think it benefited me to cope with the environment on my own, instead of running to other students. I went through a lot of pain and discomfort but I gained a lot of character and strength in doing that."

"Advice: Stay on top of your work. Get to know people in your community right away! Keep going out and keeping in contact. Start your ethnography early because it will hit you hard in the end."

"I would advise you to follow the syllabus; interview at least two people every day; don't get too discouraged; and don't hesitate to go to George or Sharon if you are having problems."

"My advice would be to force yourself out of the house and get to know people and ask questions. Its the best way to get over loneliness and depression."

They also asked students: "If you could do the research for your ethnography over again, what would you do differently?" Here's what they said:

"I would do more research. I also would use my homestay family more. At first they always seem so busy, but I should have remembered that they wouldn't have taken in a student unless they were interested in our work. I would have also been more aggressive and done more informal interviewing."

"I would have taped more interviews and gotten more interviews for each section. I would have planned my work a bit better so that it wasn't so rushed in the end."

"I would have had my subject headings written out a few weeks earlier so I knew exactly what to look for."

"I would have started much earlier. I would have paced the work out over the latter part of the term. I also would have made my field notes more organized. They were not put into a concise order and it was hard to find my information when it came time to write. I also would have made sure that I had a word processor [he had an electric typewriter]. I wasn't happy with the typos in the final copy and that wouldn't have happened with a word processor. And the writing would have been a lot easier as well."

"I would have asked more specific questions and done more interviews. I would try to get it done earlier so I would have had time to proofread and make sure my points were clear and well developed."

"I would use more uniform, generalized headings which would have made my indexing a lot easier! As it was, it took many frustrating hours to get my notes into shape. Could have avoided this with better organization of my notes from the beginning."

"I would have done more interviews."

"I would have gone out earlier. It would have been better to develop good rapport with people sooner. I would have done more taped interviewing too. The taped interviews allow you to ask better questions more often, and you don't have to worry about writing down everything that's being said because it is all on tape. Plus, you can have more accurate, quality quotations and you know the context in which they said something."

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