Intro to Sociology

Intro to Sociology

February 1st 2014

        Through out my life I have been influenced by many factors of society. These have greatly impacted my decisions and molded me into the person I am today. The most influential time of my life was definitely my High School years. It was a time where I was socially influenced by large groups, and a time where I was trying to fit into social norms and the high school culture.

        During my “glory days,” I was very involved in various clubs and I played two sports. Because of this, I met many new people and I was thrown into a new dimension of culture.  In other words, the modes of my thought, behavior and production were handed down from one generation to the next by communicative interaction. I was new to the school and new to the varsity baseball squad.  In this culture, I had to be a ruthless, smooth, talented and humble individual with a broad sense of humor. The culture in the baseball locker room was different than anything I had ever seen before in my life. It was cool to chew tobacco and spit sunflower seeds all over the floor and shower naked as a team. As a ball player you had to have a certain style and certain swag. That was just the way it was. Humor and social interaction went far beyond what most people would think was appropriate. became accustomed to many of these new cultural ideas and behaviors and by my senior year I was the leader of the pack.

        As a freshman, I quickly conformed to the ball player culture. I conformed by going along with the standards of the group and began doing what all of the other kids were doing. I began chewing tobacco, developed a bad-spitting habit, and added many new inappropriate words to my vocabulary. I wore my hat low during class and walked with a chip on my shoulder. I turned into a “ball player.”

        My senior year I was named captain of the team and I had achieved status by virtue of my individual effort. I worked my tail off for three years and was rewarded for it. During the time this was a huge social status to have. I wore a big “C” on the sleeve of my varsity jacket to show off what I had achieved. I had the status of an athletic, talented, leader of a group. Because of my role as a captain, I was expected to behave as a leader and as an alpha male. It was my job to make sure my team was focused and ready to play on the field, and at the same time exhibit admirable character, trust, and faith in my teammates.