Revised Mircoculture Hypothesis

The microculture I plan to observe is the Morehead scholars. Morehead scholars are a group of students selected as high school seniors who show outstanding achievements in leadership, academics, and in other non-academic areas in both their school and community. As students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, these students receive full four-year scholarships, laptops, and stipends for travel and other miscellaneous activities. I was a nominee for the Morehead scholarship as a senior in high school and my suitemates are Morehead scholars. They piqued my interest because they are a group of the academic elite here at North Carolina and for that, they receive certain privileges and are, in turn, held to certain standards.
Because of the benefits they receive and their high achievements, Morehead scholars are often put on a pedestal by the rest of the student body and are therefore isolated. My hypothesis that I plan to test is that Morehead scholars, when in the company of non-Morehead scholars, will attempt to blend in by not discussing Morehead-related topics, such as their trips abroad or their meetings and conferences they attend. I am doing this hypothesis because, in speaking with my Morehead scholar friends, they feel the need to try to blend in with non-Morehead scholars. Most do not want the attention, plus no one is technically supposed to know who a Morehead scholar is because they are not supposed to tell others that they are scholars. This study would be of interests to the larger UNC community because it would be an inside look at a very secretive group that most know of, but do not know much about. Also, it would give the Morehead scholars a chance to be understood more instead of being held as high as they often are.