A close friend and I were aimlessly talking one night and stumbled upon the topic of what our lives would be like if we had never met. A brief silence of wonder and curiosity followed, but was soon interrupted by an intense rebuttal of laughter at the realization that such a reality could not be imagined.

That very realization is the root of what it means to feel connected to someone, and is further experienced on a larger scale with the various groups and communities in which we associate ourselves. Think about the numerous clubs, organizations, programs, and other group related experiences that we have all been a part of. What would your life be like if you never played a sport, were never elected for student government, never pledged a sorority/fraternity, or never attended Trinity University? It becomes quite ridiculous to even imagine a life without the various people, events, and experiences that make us who we are. Since that collection of experiences becomes something so personal, it naturally develops into a universally meaningful experience that inspires us to want to create future memories and participate in future experiences together. That’s how societal communities form. The realization that values, beliefs, interests, passions, and experiences in this life are shared “in common” or are personally “familiar” brings out an identity that is mutually defined, widely recognizable, and can be further developed into a sense of prideful belonging. That’s also why ethnic cultures, political parties, religions, and biases toward professional sports teams have such strong influences in the way people relate to the world; we are proud of who we associate ourselves with, we are proud of what we believe in. That, or our apathy causes us to be alienated from connecting to anyone or anything altogether.

As college students, the opportunity to form and join communities is constantly at our fingertips, so how can we ensure that every opportunity to feel connected, and every opportunity to ensure that everyone feels connected, is not lost? Many campus projects and events do involve students providing experiences and opportunities for each other, but how many of those were for a grade, and how many have felt as if its overall effectiveness was limited to the select number of faces on campus already belonging to your club/organization? As a university community in its entirety, what can we do to further develop a visible and intrinsic sense of campus intimacy, and why does it even matter?