Community, Place, and Stewardship
09/23/2019
The Essence of Community
“Quality of life actually begins at home - it's in your street, around your community.”
~Charles Kennedy
A community can take many different shapes and sizes. It can be as small as a family to as big as a nation. However there are many elements that make a community different from anything else. The most important value of a community is the ability to trust everyone in that community.
An important community in my life is Fenn. Fenn is a place where I can feel welcomed and involved. Even though I don’t know everyone at Fenn, I still trust everyone here, and feel comfortable being around them. I know that my teachers are here to guide me to success and my friends are here to support me along the way. Communities allow you to feel happiness by being together with people you know and trust. However, something deeply tied to any community is the place where you gather.
Everyone has an important place in their lives and eventually you just want to preserve it. Whenever I come to Fenn I feel safe because I know the type of people the are here. Even if I stay late because of an extra long sports meet and it’s only me, I still feel at home because I know this place so well. The experiences I’ve had at Fenn have seeped into every table and chair. I go to the library and remember the few minutes everyday last year where people would gather while waiting for their ride. I go to Ward Hall and remember how I’ve slowly made my way to the back of the hall and now am sitting where I never thought I would. An important place is more than just the location for you to meet friends and talk, but the collection of some of your best memories.
The more you become attached to a place the more that place becomes a part of you. Your decisions can become impacted by the time you spent there and you become molded by that place. Overtime the place means more to you and the more you want to make sure it stays the way you remember it, and maybe even better. Without you noticing it, you start to do small stuff to make it better, like picking up trash or being more friendly. You feel obligated to take care of it, because it took such good care of you.
The value of stewardship is important, because it helps keep a place going. As long as a place inspires stewardship in its residents, it can keep going for generations. Fenn, for instance has been around for 90 years, if former Fenn students and faculty did not take care of this place, then it probably would not exist today.
But it does exist. Does it exist for you?
Well done Owen, this was a pleasure to read. Throughout your piece I was surprised again and again, each sentence had its own secret ingredient to making this piece as wonderful as it is. I liked when you said “Your decisions can become impacted by the time you spent there and you become molded by that place.” I thought this line was very powerful. Your conclusion was short and sweet which was great and had left me thinking! Great job excited to see what other writing comes from you!
Posted by: Jack Moskow | 09/24/2019 at 12:24 PM
Owen, I really connected with this piece well. One moment when I really feel you dug deep into the text was during your fourth paragraph where you stated "The more you become attached to a place the more that place becomes a part of you. Your decisions can become impacted by the time you spent there and you become molded by that place." Overall, a great essay! Keep digging deep!
Posted by: Henry Spence | 09/25/2019 at 02:59 PM
Owen, very well written piece. Loved how in depth you talked about not just the community but the people around you. Very organized and great thoughts all around. Nice job!
Posted by: Hudson | 09/25/2019 at 03:31 PM
Owen, great job! Amazing starting paragraph, and great job launching off it to relate the reflection to Fenn. Actually, amazing job in all your opening and concluding sentences. They all (except for the opening statement) conclude your point really well and at the same time give a good transition to your next paragraph, in which you do an amazing job of utilizing the conclusion before it to clearly explain what the paragraph was about. Good job using the past and your memories to show how far you have come, and how much time you have spent developing at Fenn. This is by far the best reflection I have seen yet, amazing job!
Posted by: Bobby Skrivanek | 09/25/2019 at 05:26 PM
Owen, this essay was fun to read. It was like as if you were telling an important story of your life. The question at the end made the essay that much better also.
Posted by: Malcolm Clark | 09/29/2019 at 07:19 AM
Owen, this was a Great piece of writing. The opening paragraph was very interesting, especially the part about how a community can take different shapes and sizes. I also really liked how you ended the writing with a question, it leaves the readers thinking an I thought i was a great addition to your piece.
Posted by: Sam | 09/29/2019 at 02:20 PM
Well written Owen, I really liked your introduction about how a community can take many different shapes and sizes and I also really liked your conclusion and how you ended your essay off with a question.
Posted by: Finley Stevens | 09/29/2019 at 03:12 PM