the college experience and the longing for community

After helping me move in to my dorm room, I hugged my parents goodbye so they could get on the road back home. I watched my parents pull out of the parking lot and I waved goodbye. Excited – yet nervous, confident – yet a little afraid, I was finally here- a student on my own at college.

Do you remember that day? Perhaps it was a little different for you, but I’m sure you remember some of the feelings you felt. For me, it was exciting to be in a new environment. I enjoyed this new-found lifestyle of making my own decisions, discovering and defining myself, and preparing for the future. However, one of the things I really liked about my freshmen year was that I was not the only wide-eyed wanderer freshman. There were at least a couple thousand other students just like me searching out this new college life. There was just something comforting to the fact that I was not alone.

The university made it a point to organize various welcoming and orientation events so that we freshmen could meet each other. One of the really appealing things at this time were student organizations- groups that you could plug into and be a part of. At the time I couldn’t explain it, but something within me wanted to be a part of a group. Something within me wanted to belong. I wanted friends, I wanted a family. Amidst this foreign land and all of the newness of college life, I wanted community.

I also really enjoyed the dorms. I liked the fact that there were a bunch of us college students living close together. I remember several occasions where my roommate and I would join some of my neighbors down the hall and grab some Nerf guns and have an all-out war in the hallways of our dorm! It was also fun when people in the dorm would leave their door open and welcome conversations from those passing by down the hall. There was clearly a social element of college that people craved.

So all of this gets me thinking about the college experience- those 4 or so years of college, chock full of new experiences, new-found freedom, social and personal definition, etc. How does this affect the longing for community that every human has? How does the college experience affect the longing for community that Millenials especially demonstrate as mentioned in the last post?

Also, what is it about the popularity of greek life and other student organizations? What about the appeal of dorms and living on-campus?

Here are some of my thoughts: I think the college experience intensifies the longing for community in students…especially Millenials. I think there is just something about going off to a new environment, away from all things and all people familiar, that intensifies the longing for community, for family, for belonging. I think there is just something about being out on your own, making decisions on your own, and redefining yourself that intensifies the longing. I think there is something about being around many other students just like you that appetizes the longing for community. For Millenials, I think there is just something about the fact that “all of us students are in this together amidst a changing, and uncertain world” that also fuels the longing for community.

So what are your thoughts? I am really just thinking out loud here, so think with me!

This entry was posted on March 23, 2010 at March 23, 2010 and is filed under Millennial Generation, community, the college ministry experience, the longing for community. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.