I Believe In A Community Analysis

At Bethel University, where I am currently a student, community is a strong point. We care for each other regardless of socioeconomic, and racial background. We watch out for one another. We ask each other how our days are going, and we mean it. But the community outside the “Bethel Bubble” is far from this. Outside of campus there are riots, war, hate crimes, and all sorts of evil. The sense of community in our nation

Living in community will expose selfishness, ambition, jealousy, dissension and impurity in ourselves, allowing us to experience loss, despair, and stress. Even so, all of this is important to our spiritual formation because we mature as Christians,

Community is built of two main elements. First, community requires communal caring. Members need to put themselves in positions where they are able to relate to other members and does everything “within reasonable limits of self-sacrifice” (65). The second is communal reciprocity. Individuals will serve other members of the community, not for exchange of goods, but to provide generosity and support. These elements of community appear in the lives of all individuals, even the most capitalist ones. Humans are entirely capable of these.

Growing up I have watched how each of these communities have come together to support individuals or families who have suffered great losses. This past summer, my school’s new athletic director passed away and many of the athletes and sports teams came together to help his family and bring them meals. The outpouring support was inspirational, even though the athletic director had only met the fall sports teams, those teams and families showed immense support for his family. This value was one I have seen in my family as well, my mother used to tell my sisters and I that the world is mean enough, we don’t need to be mean to each other. Even from a young age, my mom emphasized the importance of taking care of others, this value was only reinforced as I grew up. Having grown up around this value has motivated me to help others when possible and be supportive of friends when they need it. I am the treasurer of my school’s Doctors of Tomorrow Club, and throughout the year, we organize various drives to benefit the community, the blood drive, and volunteer at food banks. Each of these activities helps give back to not only our community but the D.C.

There are four stages in developing an authentic community. The first stage, Pseudocommunity, tries to avoid conflict. They believe everything is fine yet, in reality, has many issues. Next is Chaos. In this stage, group members display their differences in opinions. It is better to work through these issue than to pretend they don’t exist, like in stage one. Stage three is assumptions and realizations. It is about recognizing that our speculations about each other are getting in the way of truly listening and understand each other. Finally, the last stage is an authentic community. In this stage, there is still conflict, but everyone truly listens and works through the problems. In this stage everyone works together to create and inclusive environment. No one feels left out. Everyone helps each other to accomplish their goals. Communities are a continual process. Changes will always occur and groups will have to work together to push through it. Members will come and go, and new issues will always arise. Teaming up to resolve these issues may seem challenging, but a true authentic community can work through it. I feel Gudykunst’s seven community building principals are essential to creating an authentic community. Communities may form for many reasons, but a truly functioning community, will be purposeful, caring, Mindful, understanding, ethical, inclusive, empowering and

My own loss sparked a desire to help others through tough times. I therefore began volunteering at the Orlando Regional Medical Center, where I consoled people going through those times, and let them disclose their feelings with tears and words the way I needed to when I was in their shoes. Unfortunately, I also met people who were dying and had no visitors to support them through their death. For instance, I visited a woman on several occasions and shared a few laughs and stories with her. She ultimately died from C. difficile over a period of three weeks in the hospital. At those moments, I was glad patients like her had someone with them, even if I was a stranger to them. Still, there were much happier occasions where families learned their sons and daughters and parents were alive, recovering, or asking for their company. Through all this, I recognized the fear and pain they felt, and helped them move forward. Care, compassion, and empathy are all

I believe that community is essentially the atmosphere that not only you can call home for yourself, but an environment where others, regardless if already established as a part of your community or brand-new to area, have equal access to nourished growth and opportunities to explore and connect with one another. Coming to Pomona College, from North Carolina, was a daunting transitioning for me and honestly had a me a little worried in regards to how I would have the chance to meet new friends and have the time to get to know the area inside and outside the Claremont Consortium for what it is. However, my worries started to disappear when I learned about Pomona Events Committee and all the innovative and socials events they put on throughout

I feel as if I can make a difference in the community in-game an out of game, that being said assisting players in TeamSpeak, forums an in-game. Watching an checking if every player is alright an happy enjoying there stay. Assisting every player to the best of my ability in TeamSpeak, giving assisting them with passion an respect. Never turning anyone down an getting assistance when ever they need it, making sure everything is ok an everyone is enjoying there stay an having fun. As I have learned with my previous experience with working with the Kohi Staff team an the Prime Staff team.

Today I saw a community come together in a way I have never seen before. My sister and I while driving to the nearby library as we found ourselves at the site of a car crash. We turned the corner onto the street right as another car hit a tree and totaled their car. We parked our car and we asked them if they needed help. One by one people started to get out of the car their faces full of pain and shock. All the airbags in the car had gone off and the front side of the car was completely smashed up. As they got out of the car I watched as neighbors and nearby walkers ran to the scene to help these people. A woman sat down on the grass with someone who was hurt and just talk to her and comforted her as someone else called 911, a doctor ran out

Third, Community is your religion. The day you begin to realize what community means to you is the day you begin to believe in it. Anywhere you go, it will be an instinct for you to represent your community, whether it be through sports or just leisure travels. You represent what means most to you and will always defend it the best you can. Community is not an actual religion, but it is a personal religion.

The word community may bring to mind, a group of people coming together under a common interest or background. In every community, there are positives and negatives. The city of the Simi Valley’s positives outweigh the negatives. Some might say it is almost an “ideal” community. An old African proverb states “If you want to go quickly, go alone, If you want to go far, go together”. This quote refers to the structure and collaboration of a community, how it functions. In our English class, we have been reading about the successfulness of a community. Texts we have read by range from civil rights leaders to insightful patriots. All of these texts have pointed to one conclusion. The successfulness of a community relies on the actions the community takes when facing outside groups.

I believe in windows. I believe that they do an excellent job letting us see through them. Because of windows, we can witness what’s going on outside without having to actually visit the other side of the glass. During a thunderstorm, I can sit in my house and watch the lightning without any fear of being struck. I can see the power of a waterfall without getting wet. I can gaze at the stars at night without being cold.

One community that I belong to is the athletic community.  I grew up playing sports of all kinds, like swimming, wrestling, football, and many others.  Although some sports are individual, many sports have a team element.  When your team is counting on you to play your part for the greater good of the team you realize that it is something bigger than yourself.  Doing my best is what they expect from me.  Athletics have been valuable to me by teaching me life lessons before getting out of high school.  The triumphs, defeats, and difficult situations that I have faced when others are counting on me, will likely be similar in college and particularly when I begin my career.  You won't learn about adversity until you know what it's like.  Perseverance

A community is established when more than two people share the same values and through time this personal connection evolves into a fellowship governed by rituals, traditions, and a particular form of communication that when taken together makes a group of individuals whether living in a specific geographical area or connected by ideals so distinct that their distinguishing marks allow them to stand out from among the crowd. They do not just believe in something like an organization but they need each other to survive and thrive. A good example is the Old Order Amish Mennonite community wherein the community serves as source of identity, strength and provides the reason why they should sustain the community’s way of life.

The strong sense of community that I have been privileged to know has been contributed to by many communities; however, two particular communities come to mind when I think about my own roles and personal growth.