While community can be experienced in countless ways, the meaning of community might be pretty universal.
This was definitely clear to me yesterday - as I was at Westfield High School's "Entrepreneurship 101" class (the second session to be exact) - interacting with kids between the ages of 14 and 18 - and their visionary teacher Lauri Russo. We had been chatting about conversations, the humanization of brands, community in online spaces and in the real world, and trust. My challenge to them was to write what community meant to them in 1 to 2 sentences. Every one of the kids turned in a definition. They're all here. Read on.
"Community is being a part of something bigger than yourself" - Joe
"Community...a group of people who all have something in common" - Derek
"The people that live around you and affect your everyday life" - Ashley
"Community. Everyone should be involved" - Gunter
"Community comes together to help each other and others in need" - Taylor
"Community is how all people come together. It could be around a brand or just something simple. Community brings unity" - Alexis
"Community is a group of people who like or value the same thing in the same way. They come together as one despite the difference they might have" - Katlyn
"Community: a group of people that have similar interests and involved in the same thing or an area with people living in that area" - Alex
"Community is what bring us together and it is a great way to build relationships"
"We have a Colombian community center which involves people from all over the world to come celebrate the traditions of Colombia" - Sebastian
"My church community means a lot to me. It makes me really happy because it shows people actually care about the ways of god" - Juan
"My community is football"
"My community is my family. It makes me the person I am" - Carlos
"A community is a group of people that have each others backs. They stick together and work as one to succeed" - Lenny
The elegant, no-nonsense definitions moved me to write this post. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.
Tomorrow's post will be "teenage perspectives on the meaning of trust"
the hip, community-savvy kids from the entrepreneurship class at Westfield High with Laurie Russo and myself. We could learn a bit about paying attention, sincerity, and conversation from them.
Special note of thanks to Laurie Russo for hosting me! You're the best!
