A Travel Writing on The Different Locations and The Use of Stereotypes During My Trip

The first location I went to was RITZ, a dining area under the SAU. I stayed here for about 30-45 minutes to eat lunch. It was very dimly lit. There is an area to buy and order food, an area to eat at tables, and then a mini bar. The people at the bar were the first people I noticed. I thought that they must be social and wouldn’t mind a stranger talking to them.

I saw a girl with long purple hair and a bright blue beanie, with a bright blue jacket and Converse shoes. My first impression was that she probably liked anime. This was based on my past experiences with people in my classes in my life. I hung around a lot of people who liked anime, and for some reason, the image that appears in my mind is of people dressed like her.

I also noticed someone who I immediately thought was a computer science major. There is a stereotype that CS majors have bad hygiene, and there are a couple of experiences where I have found this was true. This guy had very greasy hair, looked unkempt, was lanky, and wore a lanyard around his neck while wearing a sweater and a t-shirt. He also slumped when he walked. I’ve heard a few of my friends who are also CS majors joke around this stereotype as well.

Then, I went to another location, the graphic design lounge. I stayed here for an hour or so. It was very dark, with only 3 other people in there. The first thing that caught my eye was these two girls at the computer in the corner. One of them was extremely loud when she talked. She kept interrupting the other girl when she was talking, and she said “no, you’re not listening” when the girl tried to help her fix a problem on the computer. It made me think she was selfish, extremely rude and annoying. I would not want to talk to her or be her friend. When she got up, I noticed her clothing. She was wearing a baggy hoodie, with pants that said “#phat” on the butt. She had a bun as a hairstyle, with hoop earrings. I assumed she was white from her hair (it was straight and blonde) and she was white-skinned, with blue eyes. The way she acted, in combination with the way she was dressed, kind of made me think she was…less intelligent.

Most of the ways I classified people in this experience were by the way they acted, talked, and looked, and if I didn’t use a personal construct, then I seemed to use stereotypes to confirm it. Confirmation bias?