Responce+2

I like how Nathan opens up the chapter by describing the beginning process of going to college and becoming part of the college community. I can relate back to my Freshman year feeling as though I had join every group, go out and party Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and attend every event my CA had planned for my hall. After I gained a sense of belonging on campus and with new friends, I slowly went to planned events less and less. As time went on I gained my spot in the little community me and other freshman had joined to cope with the bigger community of the whole student body at Bloomsburg. The movie night Nathan wrote about was a prime example of the many planned events people said they would go to on our floor, but when it came down to the event never showed. Nathans point of listing the different students ideas and statements really made me question, what would I define community as? After much thought, I believe community is a group of similar interest people, who together; cope, work, socialize, respect, enjoy, and bond. Even though I lived in the Living Learning Community last year, I had my own community within that community. I thought Nathan provided a great example of this when she brought up her example of student life on Super Bowl Sunday. That sums up the dorm experience in a nutshell! Yes, most of the community had the same interest in watching the big game, but it was the smaller communities within the larger community that came together in their own private and secure comfortable setting to watch it. During my freshman experience I had the same observations as Nathan, "Despite the belief that college expands our social horizons and extends our experience to include new and different types of people; the findings suggest otherwise. The most significant relationships are formed either before college or very early ill one's college career; most often in some shared affiliation, whether voluntary or not, such as freshman dorm assignment special freshman summer program; ROTC; ethnic club, or sorority and fraternity rush (Nathan, pg. 10)" Sadly, after I formed a community with my close friends that I met the first few weeks of school I remained in my comfort zone for the next half of the year. Sure, I wanted to meet new people, but I hardly ever put in the effort. I was fine with the friends I had and wasn't open to much diversity. The facts and data Nathan collected about the types of people who ate together (race, ethnicity, gender) is very similar to student life at Bloomsburg. People aren't opposed to be socializing with others who appear to be different then themselves in appearance, but it is hardly ever seen. For the most part, those who socialize, or who associate themselves with others in their group have the same appearance, race, gender, and background. In conclusion, I agree with Nathan's statement " diversity is one part of college culture that is intimately tied to community, another part (Nathan, pg. 14)."