Xcountry Team

Finales de cumpleaños felizo to my fave foreigner & least favorite singer!!!! 💜💀💛 #edward40hands #spanishstud (at ECU spanks UNC 🏈)

Place Identity. This beautiful picture (that I did not have the fortune to take) of First Landing State park or better known as "Seashore" is a place that I am very fond of. I can say that this place has the strongest place identity with me outside of my home. Just looking at it I think about the thousands of runs I've been on there with and without my teammates. All the times I went there to swim or hike or swing off the rope swing. Watching my best friend get asked to prom right on the beach, or just sitting there smelling the ocean and listening to the waves hit the shore softly. It is a beautiful place in more ways than just what meets the eye.

Play. This is a photo of me and one of my friends at the end of a wrestling match. We were actually at soccer practice but we had a few free minutes that turned into a Gatorade/grudge match. It broke out of no where and for a few minutes we participated in the leisure experience known as play. Some might theorize that our sudden outburst was due to surplus energy that explained our physical form of play.

Crowding. This picture is of a Halloween party that my friend had at her house last year. It would have been much more enjoyable if it hadn't become so blown up and overcrowded. People were sweaty and gross and the music was really loud and it was mostly chaos. Crowding in this situation did not lead to a very fun leisure experience.

Leisure. This is a photo of my champion powder puff football team a few years ago. Powder puff football falls into the category of recreation under the topic of leisure. The games raise money for the school SCA and is a good fun experience for people to participate in a role reversal. The boys get to be cheerleaders and coaches while the girls get to go out and play flag football.

Recreation. This is a photo of my friends and I celebrating a victory during our dodge ball tournament that was also a fundraiser for a local charity. We are participating in an activity that is both good for us as individuals and good for society. Recreation is a great form of leisure to participate in because it is so beneficial.

Leisure and Technology. This picture of my friends at National Honor Society inductions from last year represents leisure and technology. Technology does not always have to be used purely for the basis of productivity. You see hear my friends are taking "selfies" with the cameras on their phones to pass some free time that we had.

Flow. This picture of me running in my regional meet of indoor track during 2011 represents flow because that is the state that I am in when I am racing. I am experiencing leisure in a unique way. I seem to become very focused and loose track of time and my surroundings when I am in the midst of a race.

Leisure and culture. Although it might not seem like it at first glance this picture represents leisure and culture. My friend and I got dressed up to go hangout with friends on a Saturday night and realized that we were both wearing Aztec prints. It is funny to see how past cultures throughout history can influence the choices that we make in things today, such as clothing.

Tourism. This picture of me as an 11 year old girl posing with the Naked Cowboy represents tourism. My family and I went on a vacation to New York City one summer to explore and experience the hub of the big apple in person.

Leisure and Human Development. This is a picture of me and some other girls from my fashion and marketing class that I was in my senior year of high school. We had to put on a fashion show for almost 500 people and set it up without almost any help from administration. These skills that we learned through this leisure process and activity helped us develop skills that we will use later in life.

Happiness. Ironically enough, I had just taken this picture previously to receiving the similar one of the girl and the dog you had sent us in an email. But this picture of me and my dog Zoe represents happiness. She came with my parents to visit me at my past cross country meet. Although I wasn't having the best day and did not do well in my race having her there put the biggest smile on my face. It was amazing to see the impact and the happiness she brought to others at the race as well.  

Serious Leisure. This picture of me and the rest of the East Carolina cross country team represents us participating in serious leisure. We are division one athletes so we are at a high standard of performance and we have to put in hours every day to experience intrinsic reward from this activity. This sport takes a high degree of commitment and we all engage as a group in it together. Cross country expresses our special skills and experience in running.

Wilderness. This picture of my teammate Stacey and I roasting marshmallows at a campfire represents wilderness. We were visiting a small camping area during our cross country camp in Boone, North Carolina. We had a campfire where we made smores for a leisurely experience in the wilderness. The specific environment we were in provided us with the opportunity to do this activity.