The Place. My Space

One day I was walking after class, and my stomach started growling and interrupting my train of thoughts. I felt very down knowing that I would have to follow my daily routine and head to McDonalds for another time. I was walking past the library heading towards the bus stop, and reviewing the schedule looking for next arrival. As I turned to head to the left I noticed a long line outside the Viking Commons. Accordingly, I went there and I looked from the window and I saw a cashier and I saw people pulling out a form of payment. Behind the cashier I saw many tables where people were eating. I was skeptical at first to come in because I was concerned that the place was only meant for specific people attending an event. Without knowing, I was standing in front of the cashier, and my turn was up. I gave her my credit card and my payment was accepted. I walked past the opening and was overwhelmed with the amount of both food and people around me. I said to myself, “This is it. Is this a dream?” In my mind I said goodbye to McDonalds because the campus-dining hall was clearly the place for me. This made me wonder what the dining hall experience is like for other Western students?

When contemplating what other international students experience, I first consider my own experiences. As an international student, I treated the dining hall experience as a chance to improve my English. Just by attending the dining hall I had the opportunity to talk with and meet new students. Many other international students have to pay to interact with native English speakers through a Homestay program as a way to improve their English. Therefore, I was excited to partake in the dining hall experience where I could be surrounded by native speaking English students. I am grateful for the experience the dining hall offers since it provides this interaction for free. If I can have this experience through the dining hall, it would follow that other international students could have the same experience. In addition to always going to dining to practice my English, the dining hall was a good opportunity to make new friends. As an international student, I remember coming to the U.S feeling lost, homesick, and encountering culture shock. Back home, food was something I enjoyed because eating meant spending time with my family. It was used to bring people together and to talk about our day. Eating in the Dining hall helped to bring back that experience. Not only could I meet new people to practice my English with, I could meet other international students and make new friends. This is something I believe every other international students could relate to since culture shock and making new friends is always hard in new places — especially a different country.

All of these events I experienced through the dining hall can be tied back to Staiheli’s concept of place as context. Place as context is the environment around you (for example, the environment you were raised in and around). This includes things such as the people around you, the weather in the place you live in, the schools you attend, and the place you go home to. For example, my family focuses on my education. Thus, they fully supported me when I had the idea to come to the U.S to study. They loved the idea and they encouraged it, which gave me the determination to achieve my goals — studying in the US. My context (background) as an international student is what makes me view the dining hall as something more than a physical place. Other international students would have similar context due to the drastic change in environment and culture shock. Therefore, I would assume other international students would likely have a similar experience of my place as context rather than simply a physical space.

According to Staiheli, place as a physical location means it is a place that you can describe and feel — it is physically and literally there. For example, students who are from America probably don’t see the dining hall the same way as international students. They might not appreciate it for the experience it provides; instead they see the Dining hall as just a physical location or site. They might not see it as special, but simply as a place for food. I know a friend who just considers the dining hall to be dirty and gross. However, I view it differently because I had a hard time feeling comfortable before I found the Dining hall. Overall, each student has different way of seeing the Dining Hall. Some of them see it as physical place, which is just a location for them, but other students see it as place as context where they can view it based on their own experiences and appreciate all it has to offer. If we all are experiencing places (like the Dining Hall) differently do any places on campus have a central identity? If, as students, we view such a small place as the Dining Hall in so many different ways, then how does that apply to the campus as a whole? That means students could have similarities regarding the campus as a whole, such as sharing the campus and going classes. For example, they could simply experience Western as a place where you do homework and study. However, because we as students are different, other students may see the campus as a second home or a place for other diverse activities. For example, students might go to the gym to work out or go campus to meet up with their friends.

Overall, all students at Western go to the same places and might participate in the same activities. However, we have can have very different experiences within each place. My place as context/environment became the Dining Hall. When I came to US, the Dining Hall became the place I was “raised” in and my experiences there became my environment. Therefore, I use this place for many reasons — such as practicing my English, and meeting new students. However, some anther students see the Dining Hall simply as a physical place. For example, some native English speakers go to the Dining Hall just to eat. This means that we might never view any one place the same. Our different experiences here at Western create diverse views about each place within the campus, as well as the campus itself. As a whole, the students at Western are so diverse that it would be extremely difficult for any one place to have a central identity — especially the dining hall.