My first discourse community are the people who love food, the foodies. We try new foods and restaurants together and share stories and laughter. 

Saying: Someone in our group says they want to hang out, so they find a place that we haven’t tried before. It’s usually someone different each time. We talk to each other to see what we’re in the mood for, and schedule a time to meet up. We all communicate to try and make a plan that works for everybody.

Doing: We try new foods that either someone in the group suggested, or something that none of us has tried before. While we eat, we catch up on each other’s lives, and drama. 

Being:  Outside of our food meets, we all go back to our regular lives. Everybody’s something different outside of the restaurant. Some are fellow college students, some are other dance instructors, most are family members.

Valuing: Speaking for my group specifically, we value quality time, good food, and full stomachs. Our food meets are meant to give us a break from all our daily lives and laugh it all out. 

Believing: We believe that spending time with others in person, rather than just through a screen, is important for one’s mental health. Our group gives everyone a sense of belonging, a space where we can be ourselves and a group of people we can count on. 

My second Discourse community is Dancers/Instructors. I am a dancer/instructor and I have been dancing since I was 9 years old. In my Community we meet at least 3-4 times a week for instruction and training. Our group practices a specific style of latin dancing called “Salsa on 2”. Each time we meet we review footwork that was presented the previous week and then work on a new shine, dancing by yourself, and a partner work pattern.

Sayings: As a dance instructor, we need to find a way to speak to everyone in the class and make sure they understand. Every class has a different vibe. Some classes like jokes and personal stories, while others are there to learn how to dance and then leave. Even though we have a microphone, we need to make sure we speak loud and clear so that the whole class hears and understands, especially when the music is on. 

Doings:  Being part of the we have a responsibility to ourselves and others to promote growth of ourselves, our peers and our studio.  We have to record independent videos to help this promotion but also to critique one another.  We post on social media which allows us to grow within the dance world.

Being: As a dancer/Dance Instructor we must meet a lot of demands.  We need to be able to translate what we know to our students.  We need to be able to communicate in such a way that allows our students to find their own style as well develop it into the best translation of the specific dance.   We also need to be able to turn off our instructor mode and make ourselves open to the styles of others and  open our minds enough to reach our own artistic translation.  We achieve all of this through communication and determination. 

Valuing:  At our studio we value paying it forward.  We as Dancers/Instructors alway remember where we started.  We remember without the help of our peers and predecessors we may not have been able to reach the level of dance that each of us has reached.  We encourage all of our students to adopt the same values and always share what you learned and pay it forward to all new dancers.

Believing:  We are firm believers that everyone can learn how to dance.  It takes a lot of time, patience, dedication and perseverance to reach the leave you wish to reach.  Dance inspires us which makes all of these values easier to possess.  However it takes the encouragement and community to allow us to push through and work harder as a team and community.  We feel proud when we see how we can impact the lives of one another.  We are especially proud when we have influenced beautiful and artistic styles of our dance. 

My third discourse community is procrastinators. We are just last minute people. Some say we just work best under pressure, others would say we just have discipline issues. I have always struggled with my procrastination habits in all areas of my life like school, work, fitness, etc. 

Saying: We are constantly saying that we will “do it later”. Whenever someone reminds us, we just reply “I know, I know” and go right back to whatever we were doing. 

Doing: We are always leaving things for the last minute. We convince ourselves that we have enough time to get stuff done on time, and then end up forgetting about it, or just continue to push back when we’re going to finish our tasks. 

Being: We are lazy people. There is always time to lay down and sleep, or just watch tv or TikTok. 

Valuing: We deeply value rest and relaxation. Taking time for ourselves is good for mental health, sometimes we take too much time and forget to bring ourselves back into the real world where homework is due. 

Believing: We believe that we have enough time to get our work done, and that we’ll work better when we’re well rested.