This month has been phenomenal with outreach and it's only the first week! I've had the chance to interact directly with people who want to talk to us and hear some of what they're doing to spread the word about our project. I've been answering emails, writing blurbs, and asking for people's feedback through social media. Not only that, but I've also pitched a few ideas to Jake these past few weeks about ways to get incentive since our facebook posts have been decreasing lately. There's a video project I've pitched to him; we get people to send in their personal reasons for following us and then to describe a little of what community means to them. I'm excited for that idea because then it means we're reaching beyond borders. Precisely what we're all about.
I've really enjoyed this experience thus far because it gives me the ability to sit down and write in the ways that I love to, but it also has taught me a lot about management and PR/ communications skills. There's the whole idea of keeping accounts up to date, of sounding and being professional when speaking to the students we reach, and then just with Jake himself. It's a great chance for me because I've helped to build pieces of Heart Support from the ground up and this is only the beginning for all of us. I feel like I've really begun to mature as I learn how to conduct myself from behind a keyboard and a cup of coffee. I'm eternally grateful and am thrilled each day to be a part of this.
Jake asked me to write a blog for the month on what community means to me, what it looks like, and how I influence my community. This is the posting I've come up with:
There have been a number of times where I’ve been told and taught that community by definition is a social construct and perspective of people interacting with one another for a larger purpose. That’s a great definition from a textbook or for the sake of a classroom environment, but it just never felt like enough. When I saw the objectives and details for the month of May with Heart Support I experienced the exact same thought as in a classroom: “alright. I know what it is to define.” The question I couldn’t seem to answer with enough credit centered on uncovering what community looked like, and its significance in the larger picture that we create as people striving toward a goal. I kept thinking about the idea of community and the different things that I could manage to present for my blog this month only to realize that maybe, even in my own communities here at school, I still have a ton to learn about how they facilitate and what it is that I can do to better the machine. Community, in its own standalone definition, relates to the idea of people coming together and attempting to forge new connections- to promote a stable ground through the busy nature of everyday life- struggles and achievements combined. Yet, there’s still a piece that I’m desperate to uncover and that I hope will truly get the heart at what we’re trying to create as the people of this organization: what does community look like?
“There’s no I in team.” That’s the phrase so many of us here in the early years of childhood. Some of us might even still reiterate the same theme today, to ourselves or the other people that we encounter on a daily basis. This concept, whether repeatedly said throughout childhood in a game or group setting or, mumbled under your breath in the middle of a difficult situation, still applies. Community means that there is a group of people who share the same heart and vision toward a common goal. The size and number of those in the group proves insignificant. Instead, the importance is each individual brings heart and dedication to the project that lies ahead. Community calls to the individuals to put aside personal goals and come together toward the aspirations of the overall group.
Will it be easy to put aside personal values for the “bigger picture?” It’s never easy. Group perspective and human vulnerability is never a gift handed easily, but it’s possible and achievable.
What must persist though, throughout the challenges of each, is the heart of each person and their ability to sit and hear the need. A community comes together to tell a much larger story than the ones we’ve personally created. A community comes together for the sake of telling an intricate detail of this honestly broken world and when those words have been uttered, the community stands tall and connected to keep the hope and the faith. Will standing tall in the face of hardship, in the lack of energy and tired seasons be easy? Of course not, but it’s a possibility. The building and the effort is always a possibility. Again, it comes back to where the heart lies and the true dedication of those around us.
Think for a second of the communities you’re a part of. There’s communities at the school the attend, the church you go to, the job you have, the clubs you’re in, the music you like, the family each of us come from, the goals you aspire to achieve. Think about it: communities are a part of how we function as a mobile society. They exist; they sprout up in more places we tend to acknowledge. In those moments then, the question comes not from what community is but what it looks like.
Arcadia’s a school that prides itself on extending a hand to the community of the students and of reaching further out to the Philadelphia area. What does it look like? Community looks like students taking their time on a few Sundays of the week to go and complete service projects. Whether it’s packing things to be recycled, holding a family weekend for prospective students, or packing backpacks for inner- city kids. That’s one facet of the community. Community paints the picture of people working together to spark a conversation or make a statement, no matter how large or small.
Arcadia dedicates itself to making a community for the first- year students who come here and through their orientation program upperclassmen attempt to facilitate the commonalities between students as they attempt to connect to one another. Therefore, the conversation sparks around the beginnings of college life and the blend of people who come together in this new environment. The statement, in its own way, comes in the ability to mesh the newest class of students together before the start of classes. Thereafter, the fostering of relationships then continues as the semester moves forward and the changes of students is just something phenomenal. It still makes me wonder sometimes.
Is it challenging; of course. Is it awkward at times; of course. It’s the ability to persevere that makes the experience that much more worthwhile. Community then, takes the shape and the perspective of those who first breathe life into its creation.
Recently I’ve applied to a local graduate school in Philadelphia masters degree in counseling psychology. When asked about which concentration I’d like to pursue in the program I chose the community track almost instantly. When asked why I chose that track specifically I explained that I want to be at the heart of the situation. I believe that to be in community and to understand it is to be willing to dive in, trust God, and just take what He has to offer us. Allow ourselves to hear the stories of those around us because those interactions are the most significant, whether or not we’re consciously aware of it. The truth is, I love the way that a community can take shape, the way that it can transform, and the way that it can spark discussions and needs bigger than ever before imagined.
Community’s a pretty definition you can find in any sociology textbook, but the movement and steps it provides for are even more beautiful. Think about the communities your part of, make a list if you have to. Look at that list. Digest it, pray over it, and dare to be the one that takes the first step to make it noticeable. When that happens just remember: don’t do it for personal gain, pursue it for the movement of the world. Do it to meet the need and start the conversation.
I'm happy with the balance between writing and advertising, PR kind of roles. Frankly, it's kind of exciting to see the feedback from the people we're reaching everyday. I'm excited to see what the next few weeks have for us as a team.
Reclaim. Restore. Rise Above.
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