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Name: Shrija Acharya

Course: UWRT-1101-078-Fall 2014-16890

Instructor: Miss Jamie Burgess

Date: November 21, 2014

The smell of Chlorine from the swimming pool rushed down through my spinal cord as I

entered YMCA. The parking of the cars in the parking lot said that there weren’t that many

members in the club that day. I assumed it was because it was a Sunday and on a weekend day

like Sunday, no one would ruin their family time by coming and working out. However, this

assumption of mine was conflicted when I saw people working out in various forms with that

enthusiastic determination in their act and face.

The moment I entered the club, the solid mud portraits of children playing soccer and

basketball grasped my attention. I wondered to myself if this club dealt with just children’s

The mud portraits of children

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growth and enhancement. As I walked pass it, I saw a green bulletin board with many info

graphic articles, brochures, breaks’ plans and schedules, which mostly dealt with the club’s

activities and enhancement of one’s spirit. The towels that were kept inside the glass cupboard to

my knowledge seemed free. The services provided there must be good was the thought that ran

crossed my brain then. On the right side of the wall, there were various activities’ forms, mostly

for old people. Seeing so many forms for old people made me want to reassume that YMCA was

a club that dealt with old people. However, I thought that this could be answered when I

interview Luke, (a staff) from the reception. By this time, I was very sure that the community I

was going to analyze surely did not deal with just physical intensification but also with mental,

social, emotional and mostly, spiritual strengthening.

Towels that “seemed free” The green board

The main purpose why I chose this community was to know how a fitness club and a

community like YMCA affects one’s life and with its own rules and regulations, helps to

enhance an individual’s life. With so many queries in my head, I went and asked Luke, one of

the staffs with whom I had scheduled an appointment with. He was busy assisting a medium

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aged man who was wearing a white YMCA shirt covered all in sweats, blue shorts and blue Nike

shoes. The way he dressed made me assume that this particular club has a majority number of

rich people. The man who he was assisting was constantly repeating the same thing over and

over again. “The class is empty”. I was pretending as if I was minding my own business which I

wasn’t. I was trying hard to hear what they were talking about. While they were conversing, I

analyzed the reception more clearly. There was another staff who was assisting some outsiders.

The cupboard had sections specifying where things like first aid box and staff’s belongings’ were

put. Many other staffs came in and out from the corridor that was attached to the reception to

help other staffs. This was a perfect example of a community. Also, the way that the staffs of

YMCA were attending their visitors and members and dealing with their inquiries made me

conclude that YMCA was a full package of a community, service provider and a promoter of that

particular branch.

When Luke was finished dealing with the man, he came out of the reception and took me

to a couch that was on the far right of the reception. He told me that his time had ended and there

was another staff to assist them. One more time, the bonds amongst the staff members were

clearly analyzed by me. The first thing I wanted to ask him was about the man who kept asking

him about the class. I was surprised to hear from Luke that the man was talking about the

aerobics class that takes place every Sunday from 4 to 5 ‘o’ clock. This was perfect. My

assumptions of YMCA being a fitness club then a children’s club, Old people’s club and a

spiritual club was finally replaced by a community club when Luke told me that classes do get

held at YMCA. YMCA was getting interesting minutes after minutes to me. The ceiling and the

wall color kept striking my eyes because I couldn’t take my eyes off them. The colors had got

into me in such a extent that I asked Luke if the colors play a role in making the community a

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better place and to boost the minds of people who workout. He mentioned that the blue and the

bright white color in the ceiling and wall symbolize peace and harmony and that might be why

the directors chose those colors. This made sense to me because I think the colors did

compliment YMCA as a community because the people and the environment were peaceful.

The ceiling (sky color) that looked fascinating

A community doesn’t just go through roses and rainbows because I had seen a member

getting outrageous about the class being empty. I wanted to know how well did YMCA work.

How many complaints do they receive and how many members get offensive about class or

machine being empty or broken. To my surprise, he said that they did not really get complains or

have outrageous members because majority of the members at YMCA were old people and old

people know where the limits lie. WOW. The assumption that I made was finally right. The Nike

shoes that the man wore made me want to raise a question about the types of people who join

YMCA based on the economic standard. He told me that YMCA was a community where

scholarships and aids were provided and it did not restrict people on the base of how wealthy

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he/she really is but how badly they want to get in and witness a change in them. This was a

perfect balance and a perfect community which had its own form of language, i.e,

encouragement and motivation.

While Luke was telling me how passionate he really was about YMCA, I observed the

surrounding with great curiosity. I saw rows of motivational posters that were placed right in

front of the machines where people were working out. A man, about sixty years of age was

pedaling the bicycle with ease and smile on his face. Other middle aged men and women were

running on the treadmill and I could see sweats dripping down their faces. “The posters do have

some impact on how people work” was the thought that crossed my head. I was distracted by the

old man on my left when he tried to have hot water in the paper cup as he poured it down the

Thermus. I was amazed by how well YMCA functions as a community and a centre to promote

self being.

The bulletin board and the Thermus

The quotes or posters that keep members motivated

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I squinted my eyes as I tried looking at a room that had mirrors instead of solid walls

where people were dancing like crazy. Luke, who was telling me about his madness for the club,

grabbed my attention after that. The immediate question that popped in my mind was what they

were doing in that strange looking room. He told me that they were Zumba Dancing, which was

one of the various activities form at YMCA. I recollected the man who was complaining about

aerobic class. I asked him if there were just two activities related to dancing. He denied me and

told me that YMCA has a lot of programs related to dancing and body improvement. I had found

a discourse community of dance club inside one whole other discourse community, YMCA.

A table in front of the reception caught my attention because I could see the word “teen”

written on it. Keen on knowing what that was and what sort of activities teenagers get involved

in, I raised that question to Luke. He told me that the poster was put up so as to remind teenagers

that the college applications were online and that they should get started on working with

applications. I could see one man helping the other and vice-versa. I could see people smiling,

hugging and shaking their hands as they came in and left out. I could see people greeting and

calling each other by their names. I could see people wearing blue shirt, representing YMCA as a

group. I could see love. I could see affection. I could see a community and most of all, I could

see a family. YMCA at this point was not just a community for me, but a family of values, love

and affection. As Luke took me on the ground floor to show me old people working on the

swimming lessons, I saw a poster frame of Jesus Christ with a candle lit in front of the photo

frame. I wanted to relate this seeing to a fitness club. I wanted to know why a fitness club

regarded its Christian values. As we walked down the stairs, Luke told me that YMCA stood for

“Young Man’s Christian Association” and it was then an activity centre for young men and

women with Christian and moral values. He told me that the same values had been brought up to

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this date. The ground level of the building had many children rooms' that dealt with different

aged boys and girls. I could see the color and splashes of the pool water from outside itself. On

the one side of the level, I could see the swimming instructor teaching old people some strokes

through the translucent door while, another instructor lining up the kids to take them to one of

the rooms. The sights of two generations did contrast on the basis of things being taught to them

but the goal was the same. The goal was to serve oneself and others as a community and to learn

the language and culture of the place.

College tips for Teenagers

When Luke took me upstairs, where we initially had started the interview, I noticed boys

playing basketball in the basketball court. I saw boys of ages 9 to 30 playing in the same court

peacefully. Such a wonderful sight it was! I saw a small boy falling down and the other picking

him up. I could see the balls being passed to all of the teammates. I could see a team. I wanted to

assure myself for the last time by asking the two girls who sat next to the vending machine. They

both were wearing YMCA’s shirt and were in shorts. The way they were talking made me

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assume that they had known each other since a long time. The only two questions that I asked

them were where and how they met and how do they like it there. The sole purpose of the

questions was that I wanted to know how greatly YMCA had impacted their lives. However,

when they answered my question, my whole purpose of coming to YMCA was accomplished.

They told me that their names were Kayla and Sarah and they met each other at YMCA. The

bond established between them made them want to come there. They told me that YMCA felt

like home. Having “YMCA feels like home” as the answer to my questions made me conclude

that YMCA was a family of values and love.

Dear Shrija,

This essay is brilliant! I absolutely loved reading it. You drew me right into the YMCA, into your

thoughts and observations, and into the important moments of your essay. I could see that you

were really thinking about how language works in this place, but you also created a whole

image of the culture as well. I greatly appreciate the effort that you put into this assignment

with the photos and the thoughtfulness that you showed in your interview questions. You are a

very insightful person, and it comes through beautifully in your writing. Thank you for sharing

this with me! (As you might notice, I wasn’t left with much in the way of questions or thinking

about revision for your essay. If I were you, I’d just give it a proofread to fully polish up before

submitting to the portfolio. All the ideas, the structure, and flow are there, and I think you have

exceeded the assignment)

So looking forward to what you will do for your portfolio! I have no doubt it will be amazing!

Jamie