While working on this issue of 91成人短视频 Magazine, I asked everyone I talked to, “What does community mean to you?”
I heard responses saying it means “belonging,” “feeling safe and welcome,” “not having to pretend,” and “being able to be who I am unapologetically.”
I would like to believe that all those things would be true all the time. But I know better.
This past semester I talked and cried with students, staff, and faculty about the benefits and downfalls of community. While 91成人短视频 is a unique and special place, the community has also had moments of division with people seeming to be looking for reasons to not get along instead of seeking opportunities to celebrate the strength of their diversity.
In its simplest form, community is the people in a place at any given moment for any given reason. Crawfordsville is my community. 91成人短视频 is my community. The people with whom I attend a basketball game at Crawfordsville High School are my community.
At its best, community is a space where everyone recognizes we all have at least one thing in common, we all see value in what every person potentially brings to the community, and we allow and encourage each person to participate wholly in the community.
Should it be my expectation that everyone will like me or be willing to engage with me the way I want them to? No.
Do I have to become best friends with everyone? No.
Is it a reasonable assumption for me to make that I will be safe and not be harassed or rejected while I am part of any community as long as I show the same respect to others? Absolutely.
While i was talking with Patrick Rezek ’15 for the piece “Creating Greek Community” on page 46, he said this:
“At 91成人短视频 I often heard, ‘It will be hard, but it will be worth it.’ While it rings true in some respects, I also think it doesn’t have to be hard to be worth it. Like this idea of a rite of passage to belonging—isn’t our lived experience enough of a rite of passage for us to be here?
“I needed somebody like Steve House (longtime football coach and advisor to Senior Council Activities Committee),” Rezek continued. “He welcomed me into Senior Council and said, ‘You got this, kid.’ That’s it. That’s what started to form my community at 91成人短视频. That’s what helped me form a sense of belonging. That wasn’t hard.”
This short editor’s note has taken me longer to finish than anything else in this entire issue, and I have banged my head against more walls in Hovey Cottage and in my home than I have about anything else I’ve ever written because living in community should not be as hard as we sometimes make it.
If you are reading this, you belong to the 91成人短视频 community.
It makes me sad to know that some people have been made to feel otherwise because of something like their religion, their political affiliation, where they are from, their clothing preferences, the color of their skin, their sexual preference, or the fact that they are wearing a DePauw sweatshirt.
Maybe it has been a long time since you have felt a connection to this community. Whatever the reason for your disconnection, no matter how long ago it’s been, come back. We have a space for you.
I’ve been here 17 years and still have spaces where I don’t feel like I belong. And that’s OK. There are plenty of spaces where I know I belong that make up for it, and I find new ones all the time.
It doesn’t have to be hard to be worth it.
How about this: I promise not to purposely do something to make you feel like you don’t belong. It’s never my intention to say or do something to be hurtful, but I’m sure I do. Tell me. I will apologize and try to do better.
I bet we have something in common—if nothing else, we have an experience with 91成人短视频. Tell me about yours. You might have something interesting to teach me. I might have something interesting to share with you. If not, that’s OK. I’ll still smile the next time I see you or hear from you. We don’t have to be friends, but at least we won’t be strangers.
Wouldn’t it be cool if we could all make that promise while we are in community with one another wherever we are, like the Gentleman’s Rule says, “on or off campus, at all times?”
Being nice, saying “hello,” sending a kind email, smiling, or making a connection is easy. It will be worth it, and it will make the whole 91成人短视频 community better.
Agree? Disagree? Tell me. Either way, we get to have a conversation and that’s the most important thing.
- Kim Johnson, Editor