Building Community
Something we never really talk about in college is how our college campus will be one of the best communities we’ll experience in our lives. It’s a fresh start after high school so we’re allowed to have more control over our identity. We get to meet new people and (if the club fair went well) more people that have common interests. We live in shared spaces on a campus where our daily tasks, eateries and even some activities exist within a walkable distance. A dinner with friends costs nothing more than a short walk and use of a meal plan.
But then we graduate. Some of us find jobs and settle into new daily routines. Or we wind up in a program like the Fellows. I got to experience a little bit of both after I graduated. I worked for a hot minute at a retail store and a fast food restaurant. In both I viewed work as a task to be completed for the sake of survival. Though I enjoyed the company of my coworkers it was hard to foster or grow a sense of community when I was always either A) at work B) sleeping or C) trying to enjoy the few hours I had to myself on a daily basis. My community consisted of trying to stay in touch with friends from college who had graduated or were finishing up school.
In the pursuit of figuring out what to do about my desire for community, I wound up applying to several different programs and potential careers. Through a handful of interviews I learned of The Fellows Initiative, a post-college discipleship and leadership development program with locations in a variety of cities around the country. This seemed like the perfect choice for me; I had been working a handful of odd or interim jobs as I tried to better understand what I wanted to do and where I could do such work. Though the work was able to support me financially, as well as give me something to do during the day, I wasn’t doing anything that I was passionate about. I had settled into a groove and was no longer taking risks or pursuing what drove me: a desire to minister to students. I applied to a handful of programs and soon found a place in the Chattanooga Fellows Program. As much as I would love to say I was led to Chattanooga by a prophetic dream or word spoken over me, I applied to the city for fairly pragmatic reasons. I had visited it a handful of times while attending college at Lee University and I rather liked the Tennessee Aquarium. I would soon learn that God has a way of shaping incredible outcomes out of practical decisions.
With an excitement to take the next step towards community, I upended my vague but unfulfilling sense of normalcy and moved to a city I had visited maybe twice while in college. I met the Chattanooga Fellows Director, began working at a local church and even found time to hang out with another member of the class that also arrived in the city ahead of schedule. Other Fellows eventually started the program and we did a variety of group bonding activities like surviving an escape room, exploring a garden/hiking trail full of gnomes, sharing our stories at a cabin, and rafting down the rapids of a river. There was even a city-wide scavenger hunt that ended with us listening to a free concert. As I was listening to one of my favorite bands perform I realized how good it was to share in a moment like this with others; not just the other Fellows but the whole assortment of folks that came out to see the show. It felt like I was part of something rich and meaningful.
In our classes we listened to and discussed a handful of lectures by Dr Brene Brown. In one of these said lectures, Brown discusses the idea of trust, and how it is a thing that is built over time through small gestures by showing up for others and being known as reliable. I think the same can be said for community. While it is true that adventures and group outings can quickly endear a group towards each other, it serves best as a kind of foundation. Sure, it's fun to go rafting with a group of people you formally met three days ago or share life stories with each other one week later, but building true community is a process made of tiny moments and choices. Building community looks like showing up for each other, choosing to join last second hangouts no matter how much you want to catch up on your current Netflix binge, or deciding to learn a sport that you’re terrible at so you can enjoy a game with friends. It looks like deciding to drive to a college campus when you are five minutes from home because you were invited to a homecoming. And sometimes it looks like being willing to ask how other Fellows are really doing, and being open to sharing your own story or struggles with them. This slowly but steadily builds true community, brick by brick, upon a trusted foundation. And I could not be more excited to see what gets built during the rest of my year at The Chattanooga Fellows.