Togetherness - ERC Week 7

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” - Helen Keller

As we approach the seventh week of this semester I have a trend that I saw from the very beginning has started to come to fruition. That of a strong sense of community, belonging, and togetherness. While much of my past experience last year was driven by the fact that we were all engineers living together seeking a common goal, this year I feel that the community has achieved a whole new level of this belonging. Rather than a simple sense of commonalities, almost every resident sees each other as people helping them to achieve their goals. With most of them looking toward Thad and myself for advice and assistance with their own struggles. The main reason I have pride when I walk the hall and see a group of 10+ people working on homework together is because they all feel welcomed. I cant help but to feel that I largely attributed in setting up a community of young adults who see one another as people and are aware of group dynamics. While going on a walk with one of my residents he talked about how incredibly different the mentality of the students in college was compared to high school. He was referring to the majority of the residents being non-judgmental and inclusive, rather than creating drama. Talks like the one I just described make me remember just how amazing and unique the experience that living learning communities provides. I'm eternally grateful that I have had the opportunities that I have thus far, being in the community my freshman year, and assisting in creating the terrific community that I see this year. I only hope to continue to keep the environment stable and positive while we push through midterm stress.