Koinonia!

During orientation this year I remember people talking about the “struggle” for community at LSTC. Well, I’ve been here for five weeks, and let me tell you, coming from where I come from this is anything but a struggle. This is success! The fact that each of my professors knew my name by the end of the first class, and that some of my professors live in the same apartment complex as me is community. Having a wine-tasting with neighbors and friends, and then going to church with those neighbors the next morning is community. Finding a plate of cookies by our door after being away for a weekend. Having people around campus notice how long I’ve had cold symptoms. Having classmates ask me why I wasn’t at open gym last night. Continually seeing professors and students at my place of employment off campus. Having classmates ask me just how many hours I’ve worked at Starbucks this week, because it seems like a lot. These are all, to me, signs of community.

Maybe I’m biased, having just moved from a suburb of Los Angeles where it took real effort to get to know one neighbor’s name. Or because my last school was the largest seminary in the country, and I didn’t live on campus. But to me, LSTC has real community, and it is beautiful and wonderful to be a part of.