One of the most important facets of college is community activity, or being involved in the college community. Community involvement makes a college into something more than a bunch of classrooms and dorm rooms. Everybody always takes about a neighborhood being more than a bunch of houses near each other, but this also applies to the college community. Events on college campuses are helpful in the fact that they bring people together who may not have met otherwise. In the case of Paul Smith’s College, events are put together by Student Activities, Leaning Pine Productions, the Joan Weill Library, and several other groups. One of the events that I attended was actually put together by one of the RA’s in my dorm. The event was Drug Jeopardy, and the name really speaks for itself. We were split up into two teams and we had to answer questions to earn points, and the team with the most points at the end of the game was declared the winner.
Drugs can be a touchy issue in any group of people, especially college students. What started out as a fun, easy-going game eventually became serious, because the topics covered eventually started to really make people think. People began to tell stories of how their friends and/or family have been affected by drugs, and it really made everybody think. The stories originally felt like a blast of reality, because it made me realize that the world isn’t always sunshine and rainbows. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not a “sunshine and rainbows” type of guy, but those stories really brought me back down to Earth. It also made me think of how lucky I am that none of my friends or family have been negatively affected by drugs. The stories showed how essential community is, because those who told the stories usually eventually talked about those who supported them through those tough times. Then I actually thought about how the college community is a great support network for college students, especially considering the fact that most students are away from their families.
Just like several other things on college campuses, the drug problems revealed were only a microcosm of a full-blown issue that affects thousands of people in the world outside of college. I think that because I’m from a very small town and a very small high school, I have a tendency to think of issues on a small scale. More simply put, I tend to “live in a box” where I tend to forget about issues that don’t directly affect me. I think this thinking has translated to college because Paul Smith’s is so isolated that it feels like a whole different world when compared to the world outside of campus. The school and the Adirondacks have created such a sense of being protected from the outside world that they have formed the new “box“ for me to live in. Hearing the stories and realizing what drugs are actually doing to people really made me think about how I have started to live in my new “box”. My thinking therefore made me realize that I need to be more aware of the world outside of my “box”.
More than anything, the event increased the connection between those of us who attended. We all seemed to have a good time playing the game, but we were later able to sympathize with those who revealed they had been affected by drugs in some way. It sounds about as corny as it gets, but it’s true. I instantly became friends with a couple of people who live in my hall, because we always had that experience in common with each other. Whenever we see each other around campus we’re more easily able to talk with each other, not because we always talk about drugs or the event, but because we already feel more comfortable with each other. The event may have been an example of how easily events around campus can create a sense of community among the students.
This event, like most other events around campus showed that college students are diverse, but they can come together in any situation. Those of us that attended definitely feel more of a sense of community around campus. This is listed as one of the colleges goals on the school website (http://www.paulsmiths.edu/slh/residence_life/housing.php). The website talks about how campus life is designed to “support the development of communities in which students can meet their educational and personal goals”. Even though this sounds as though it’s probably on every college’s website, I can personally testify that it is true here at Paul Smith’s College. Even an event as simple as “Drug Jeopardy” can instill a sense of community in the students, which shows how accepting the students are to each other. I think that acceptance is one of the keys of a good community, which is why the Paul Smith’s community is so exceptional.
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