After a few days of agony, I think my body has finally recovered from my first rugby practice on last Thursday. This realization is a little bitter sweet, as it feels like I have recovered just in time to do it all over again tomorrow after class. However, I remain excited to move forward with my experiment and dive even deeper into my field site to see what else I can discover. Before I do that, however, I feel that I must first take a step back and evaluate myself so that I can understand how who I am will impact what I am seeing. My background impacts who I am as a person and affects how I see my world. I grew up in a working class area in a rich section of town, and I went to school with a lot of kids from both economic upbringings. In elementary school especially, there was a clear animosity between the "haves" and the "have nots," and I grew up resenting the rich kids who spoke down to me. Although I have learned to deal with being corrected and being told that I am wrong in an academic setting, I still do not receive criticism well. I have to make sure that being criticized by my fellow players and my coach while still learning the sport does not give me a negative impression of them. Even though I grew up in a working class area, many of the guys I play with have lived or currently lived in poverty, and I have to make sure living a fairly comfortable life style doesn't impact my ability to connect with them. Walking the walk and talking the talk will also be important in order to make the necessary connections. The rugby players at the club talk and act tough, and making sure I do the same will allow me to interact with them easier, gain respect and affection from my fellow players, and will hopefully keep hazing down to a minimum. I also have to acknowledge some of my previous conceptions about rugby players; not all of them are stupid, arrogant racists, and I have to make sure that these preconceived notions I have of them do not impact my research.With this in mind, I can hopefully keep my own subjectivities in check and make sure that this project is informative and successful. Wish me luck guys!