I’m really feeling at home with the Beyond Borders group this year. I think a lot of us have the same feeling on our mind: hanging out together is a blast. We come from different academic backgrounds, have varying beliefs and opinions regarding religion, and each has a unique blend of traits and attributes that make for an adverse group when together. It really is funny that from these varying walks of life we’ve managed to find unity in this program, in this one goal to learn, grow and share. It is this piece of us that we have built on as a group, and through which a stronger sense of community continues to grow with effort.
I’ve come to really value these individuals, and I think it has been a recent event that many of us are really able to appreciate each other. So, as Kate and John and others have expressed in their recent posts, I wanted to reiterate my gratitude to each of these participants. Thank you for dialogue most of all; for sharing your frustrations, for making me laugh, for your patience with my own flaws, for being part of my life, and for letting me into yours.
There is a sense of comfort in knowing that while I may feel alone or confused in Ukraine this summer, there are 12 others around the world who can relate. The exciting prospect is that my journey has only begun, and while travelling and engaging with others around me, my community of support will continue to grow.
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I definitly agree with everyone's thoughts about feeling at home with the BB crew. In university, I often find myself making very high level friendships with people in classes just to get me through the lecture and then they end there... partly because I'm lazy and it takes time and effort to build friendships, and partly because I already have a strong circle of friends. BUT, I'm so glad that I have worked to really get to know everyone, and I'm glad that everyone else is putting the effort as well. Since we are all in BB, we all share at least one characterstic regarding being a better global citizen and I think it would be such a waste to not explore the friendships we can build with this commonality!
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