Habitat for community

Well! You are approaching your third and fourth weeks of classes. That is very exciting, I hope that many of you are adjusting to the seminar and lecture settings at Trent. I know for myself personally, my favourite courses in first year were History 150 (1500): Ten days that shook the world, Women's Studies 100 (1000): Introduction to Women's Studies, and of course, Canadian Studies 100 (1000): Introduction to Canadian Studies. I loved these courses because of the small class settings, and the fact that my T.A's and even some Professors knew my name. All of this would have never been possible without our community. According to my trusty Oxford Dictionary, "community" is defined as a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.

My mother always explained community through one of her favourite songs, Joan Szymko's "It takes a whole village".
The opening line is: "It takes a whole village to raise our children, it takes a whole village to raise one child." For my mother, it takes a community of people to help raise our children. That is one example of what community could mean to one specific person. There are several personal meanings to community. For my classmates and I, we were apart of a learning community at the University of Ottawa. Champlain is another community. I lived in C/D, thus making me apart of the C/D tower community.

Now as I study education in preparation of becoming a teacher, I also have learned the importance of community from an educator's perspective. In all of my classes we discuss the importance of community. It allows people to have a sense of belonging, but most importantly, it gives people the opportunity to belong in a safe community. It should be a place where you can go and feel and especially be yourself. Whether your community is in a classroom, a club or sports team, a religious group, your tower and "pod" (floor-mates), or even the entire college, it's a place where you can feel at home and share your commonalities with others.

So the next time you are walking around that beautiful college, ask yourself: what makes this place my community? If you feel you can't find the answer, ask yourself this: HOW can I make this MY community? As students who have now begun the new journey, you need to make it your own. One of the most unique qualities of Trent are the colleges. Each college has its own personality and... their own COMMUNITIES. That is what makes it so different from everywhere else.

So I leave you with the words of Mark Twain (those of you in English 1000 will meet him soon I am sure), " The universal brotherhood of man is our most precious possession." Good luck with your studies! Today is Saturday, what a perfect opportunity to go out and belong to the community!