Throughout his novels, one of Thomas Hardy's recurring themes is the idea of community. For the Victorians, and therefore Hardy himself, social status and social standing were paramount to leading a fulfilling life. When interacting with others in all aspects of social interaction: whether on the street, at a market, or at a party; Victorians categorized those they met into various social classes - and once you were a member of one, you were prohibited from fraternizing with the others. This practice was at best a contraction of character, and at worse hypocritical.
Our community has long been known as an "agricultural community". One of the positive aspects and ability of MVU is that it combines students from the agricultural community with those of other backgrounds, incorporating them into every day activities. This allows for integration of students...students with (not only racial differences) but also differences in mindsets, abilities, and habitual practices. I think this broader integration, which we don't receive as much in elementary school, helps define our community. Rated as one of the top 100 communities in the U.S., I believe that a large factor of this is the capability of our community to interact with each of its functioning parts as a whole. In defining ourselves, I think that we strive to represent our morals, ideals, and practices through our actions, acting as a flag to show others who we are, in hopes they will see this flag and come interact with us as well. It is finding others similar to us that we find friendships and relationships. And it is with these that we hope to discover and define ourselves to a greater extent. All of these different discoveries and definitions of character are adjoined at school and within our community, unifying us as Franklin County. I think that farming, as much as working, or as much as scholarship, being brought together and unified is what defines our community.
ReplyDeleteI remember my first week here at MVU like it was yesterday. I was on the XStream team and my homeroom teacher was Mr. Lashure. I sat with Eamon in all of my classes because I didn't know any of the Franklin or Highgate kids yet. For the first couple days, we tended to only associate with other students from our respective sending schools. No one would admit it, but we were all a little shy, and we found comfort in talking and working with those we already knew. After a week or so, students from different towns began interacting with each other and new social groups were formed. We no longer divided ourselves based on what towns we were from; we began dividing ourselves based on interests, likes and dislikes, academic ability, talents, and often, by gender. This school community is similar in many ways to the communities that exist between families both today and in the Victorian era. Once we decided what "group" we belonged to, there was little opportunity to move into another one. For the most part, people who are close friends today were close friends within the first few weeks of Freshman year. While Victorians were often "born" into a social group, we have slightly more freedom to decide for ourselves what social group we belong in. I say slightly because, in reality, there isn't complete mobility between groups or cliques. You can tell yourself on the first day of middle school that you're going to be a "jock" - but if you don't know the difference between a hockey puck and a baseball, you won't fit in, and you'll be forced to find a group that fits your personality more closely. You can't become a "musical" kid overnight, and, in most cases, you can't just decide that you're going to start "being smart" on the first day of middle school if you never put work into your studies throughout elementary school. That being said, I believe that our community is strongly defined by its rural and agricultural landscape. You don't have to be a farmer or a logger to appreciate the foliage, a sweet ear of corn, or a gallon of Vermont maple syrup. Sub-communities will always exist within communities, and those are often defined by interests. At MVU, I find that we often define ourselves by the communities or group of friends that we belong to. It's great to be yourself and have your own identity, but it's also important to understand that really, you're not that unique. And that's a good thing! You would feel lost if you couldn't find those people that are similar to you.
ReplyDeleteI agree and disagree with this. I agree that a community can be, and usually is, defined by the "groups" or interests of the people in that community. As you said, we've been defined by our rural landscape and the amount of farmers in our community, but we also have people who aren't farmers but still appreciate our community and the surroundings. What I don't agree with is that you say we define ourselves by who we hang out with. For example, I hang out with different "types" of people; I have friends who are probably considered unpopular, and I also have friends who are popular athletes. I'd like to think that I'm not unpopular, and God knows I'm not athletic. Also, I think there's more mobility between groups than you give credit for. I know that I have drifted away from some of my friends that I made in middle school, and even freshman year, but I have also gotten closer to more people over the years. For example, I used to hate Myriam a lot during 9th and 10th grade (which sucked considering she was really the only one I knew when we went over to Italy together). But during these past two years, as cliche as it sounds, I've seen a different side to her, and now I don't despise her every time she talks to me.
DeleteI definitely agree that when everyone first came to MVU, we segregated ourselves by town. I know I sat next to the one person I knew from Swanton on the first day of school. I'm not sure I would have made friends with people from other towns if we hadn't gotten assigned seats in classes. They just seemed too different to be able to get to know. Community is a bit of being forced together based on similar interests and activities. I'm not currently friends with some of the people I was in elementary and middle school because we stopped having things in common. Classes, sports, and other extracurriculars define who we feel we fit in with. It's difficult to be friends with people who don't have any activities with you, so your friends change as you get older. This idea of community is different than Victorian society. As Taylor said, Victorians were born into their social group. In our current society, people evolve into their social groups. And they can continue to evolve. This is where I kind of disagree with Taylor. I believe there is a little mobility between groups. A person involved in more activities can be in different social groups. The athletic social group can be different than the academic social group and so on. This makes it a little more difficult to define the community, while less involved members of the community have obvious definitions (jock, nerd, theater kids, etc).
DeleteWe live in Franklin County which means that there isn't much opportunity for diversity unless we get an exchange student (*cough Pierre cough*). All most of us know is Franklin County. Most of the students at MVU have never left the state, let alone the country. Nevertheless, each down is different and each holds a well known stereotype. Franklin students are either Gates or Rainvilles and live in the middle of nowhere surrounded by fields, Highgate students are the farmers, and Swanton students are the "rich kids". Having two foreign parents I am used to being surrounded by people who speak different languages than me, look different than me, and have different beliefs than me. That is all minimal here in Franklin County. I wish I wasn't the only "brown girl" here. I wish I could share my excitement about Ramadan dinners and have people understand what the hell kind of foods I'm talking about. But, in all honesty, when you put that one wish aside, I love my school. The teachers we have here are wonderful and we are offered so many opportunities. I learn about different cultures everyday. They might not be as dramatic as sharing a class with someone wearing a hijab but they are there. Just the other day I went on a ride with Alanna and she showed me a road people in Highgate call "the Horn". She taught me what she thinks qualifies as a "sexy" truck and what doesn't (just in case you're wondering Fords are not sexy). I love my school and I love my community. The people I am surrounded with are some of the most caring and loving people I have ever met. The bonds people have with their families are incredible. I see my cousins once a year and people in Franklin County usually live right down the road from them.
ReplyDeleteMy mom always says "Everyone has their own bag of shit. If you and everyone you know put all their bags at the center of the table, would you take yours back or pick someone else's?" I would take mine back in a heartbeat.
I agree with Taylor and Eamon in some aspects, but disagree on one thing. During my first week or so of seventh grade, I didn't really talk to anyone that didn't go to Highgate. I knew a few girls from Swanton because I had played softball with them, but I didn't know anyone from Franklin. So I mainly just stayed within my circle of people that I was comfortable with. But once sports started, I got to know a bunch of kids from other schools. Some of those friends that I made during 7th grade soccer are my best friends today in senior year. But one thing that I didn't agree with is that you just have one "group" of friends. I agree with Erikka on this. I have friends in many different "social groups". In every different group that I'm a part of, I have friends. A lot of times the people in those groups overlap, but in some cases they don't. For example, I have friends that play sports, friends that are in student council, and NHS, but I also have friends that are farmers and are a part of FFA. In all of these groups, there are people that I have common interests with. You makes friends based on your interests and things that you're involved in. In today's society, you have more freedom to chose what "class" that you're associated with. In Victorian society, whatever social class you were born into is the one that you were stuck in. Our society, both in MVU and our communities, we have the ability to change who we interact with and what types of people we interact with.
ReplyDeleteThis is pretty much what I was trying to say in my reply to Taylor. The more involved the person, the more social groups that person can be involved in. Our friends changed as we started new activities. And I definitely agree that we have the ability to change who we interact with if we want to.
DeleteBecky, Hannah, and Erikka,
DeleteI think you all make the clear and valid point that, the more your interests and activities, and the more people you encounter in pursuing these interests, the more groups of which you may find yourself a part. It's also got a lot to do with growing up: with any luck, the more you grow and mature, the less concerned you will be with what others may think of your friendship with so-and-so. If you like so-and-so, that's it, end of story. Different friends fulfill our different needs in companionship: while one friend is great for going on spontaneous adventures, another may be passionate about the same kind of music you love, while yet another doesn't shy away from the mutual vulnerability of a bare-all deep discussion of personal concerns. No one's a cookie cutter character, and we do ourselves and others a grave injustice in pigeonholing people as such.