And how, specifically, do we do this?-Maintaining classroom etiquette
-Contributing thoughtfully inside and outside of class
-Looking out for your fellow classmates."
It might be a little rude to say that I have a harder time relating to all the information prior to the above paragraph, but I do. One of the main reasons I transfered schools is because I wanted a change in student culture. I felt like the culture at my previous school was absolutely not engaged to a point that it was negatively effecting my learning, it was one devoid of goals and motivation, and where the professors catered to the students who were never interested in learning in the first place. So I completely agree, and am happy to see that Northeastern encourages its students to be "engaged, active, and contributive." I also think it is very important to be understanding and "supportive" of the other students in the class, but as dependent as class culture is on a sense of community, I think it also takes a certain level of independence. I think students need to be comfortable with themselves, and in their knowledge before they are able to accept another's. I think that "responsibility and respect," with the goal of being shared eventually, must first be developed by the individual. To develop responsibility and respect someone must be confident in their own will power, for I find that peer pressure undoubtably influences college students to think differently about their surroundings (including their classmates.)
Why can't I relate to the first few paragraphs of the essay?
As an older transfer student farther along in my college career than all of my other classmates, I do not consider myself part of the culture of my classes, or of Northeastern. I transferred from a very limited and specialized student culture at a music school, as much as I dislike it, I have to say that Berklee, having been the first place with which I became acclimated is the only school that I'll feel I belonged to the culture. I started classes with other freshman in the new world of college, and we went through all the same successes and failures together, just as Northeastern freshman are doing. I used to not think there was a major difference in the years because all academic levels were mixed at Berklee. So, I thought I would be able to easily migrate to a new culture and meld with the new student community, but I was wrong. I was wrong because the community I should be melding with, is unattainable at the level of classes I am having to take, and I find it overwhelmingly awkward to try and find my place among eager and green new Northeastern students. Not because I find them inferior in any way at all, but because I cannot relate with their new excitement, or much of anything they are interested in. However, I believe that everything said in the essay is true about class cultures, and I will always have the connections (with many lost opportunities) from my old school, as Northeastern students will have their connections and opportunities to take with them when they graduate. I only wish that I would have written this response before I transferred so that I would have been able to realize the amount of opportunities I would be losing by abandoning my community.
In that regard, I guess a few lessons can be learned from my plight. Communities work very very well if every member is functioning properly, and at the same level, but if a new member comes along at a different level either the community will shut them out (for fear of being disrupted) or absorb them and take the risk of being slightly disrupted and disjointed until the new member melds completely, or leaves. Second, the group that choses to absorb the new-comer will demonstrate that they are indeed a strong community full of self-actualized people ready to be respectful and responsible. The group that rejects the new member shows weakness and immaturity as exhibited by their lack of respect and acceptance.
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