The first instance where I see a difference in norms is working at Goldfish swim school. When I first started there I was reserved, shy, and intimidated. I didn’t speak up and I treated everyone with kindness and respect. Having worked there for over a year I can see not only how I’ve changed, but also what I looked like to other people when I first started. The norm for employees is outgoing, fun, and positive. My “norm” or the attitude was not inherently wrong, just different from the majority. The norm was everyone always engaged in conversation, laughing and truly getting along. Of course when its time to work everyone is respectful and does there job. The thing is when I started I was really guarded, I didn’t think it was okay to be fun…show more content… In terms of our team's normal behavior respect for coaches and other swimmers is a given. However, the atmosphere created at each team tends to vary. Over the years I’ve swam for numerous different swim teams, each offering a different sense of community. The main difference between teams is the norms of the coaches. For example one team of mine had very strict coaches. You had to do x, y and z or you’d be kicked out of practice. Even though to an outsider that might seem like a lot, that was our norm. In terms of Shawmut there is an unwritten rule that you have to do x, y and z with less to no emphasis on being kicked out. Swimmers on my team listen attentively to my coaches while incorporating all of their suggestions. For Shawmut our norm is a sense of trust that connects us as a family, operating as a unit. We abide by this trust and expectations because we want to get better not because of an ultimatum. Of course, as there always is those few kids who don’t see the norm the same as I do. They come to practice screaming, laughing, and disrupting. These few kids have different experiences, and different attributes than I do; therefore, telling them to act differently. Swimmers operating under a different norm don’t have the same interpretation of what's expected of them. Looking at my team with my bias I find those kids incredibly distributive and undisciplined. On the other hand, someone with
