Challenge Check-In #2

To: Mikayla Beaudrie
From: Peggy Porter <pporter@ufl.edu>
Date: November 16, 2014
Re: Challenge Check-In #2

As I stated in an earlier blog post, I have chosen challenge number two, hip-hop spaces. I will be writing about the basketball weight room, and how I feel it has hip-hip elements. I am still in a brainstorming phase on this assignment, and I have taken some photos of the motivational quotes on the wall and I am thinking of how to tie these into my paper. I feel as though these quotes have aspects of hip-hop. One of the quotes, "hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard" I feel strongly correlates with the deeper meaning of hip-hop. Hip-hop resonates a sense of overcoming financial and social obstacles, specifically from residents of the inner-city. This quote ties in perfectly to this overcoming aspect, but that is not the only element of this space that I feel correlates with hip-hop. Hip-hop music and rap are constantly blaring, and I have actually written a paragraph about the musical aspect of the gym and how it correlates with hip-hop. A third aspect, that is delaying my writing process because I am finding it difficult to describe in words, is that this space fills me with adrenaline and a sense of power and strength. I feel as though these feelings I get at the gym are feelings that hip-hop tries to inspire in its listeners. I have written one paragraph about the musical aspects of hip-hop within this space, taken photos of the gym (and I don't know whether I should include these somehow in my paper or not), and I am brainstorming how to write about the feelings I have when I walk into this space.