Mackenzie Wenner #8

Return to your first article earlier in the term and respond to it. Where do you and your community fit in all we have learned so far? Propose a project you feel is vital into the positive imagination of this community.

Like many others of you I don’t disagree at all with what I wrote for Blog 1 on describing a nation and its purposes, though I did have another thought while reading some other posts. I forget who, but someone mentioned the class itself as a nation. While I would probably chose community over nation to describe our group it did call to question a claim I made in my first post. I wrote that the purpose of nations was “to self-preserve, protecting the identifying traits or beliefs that cause individuals to join.” A class’ objective is never to self preserve, it may wish to continue the relevance of a theory or protect the knowledge it is designed to impart, but no class wishes to “maintain citizenship” – keep the same group united until the end of time. With so much of the class comprised of seniors, all departing in only a little over a month, I think we have garnered a silent comradery knowing the status quo cannot and will not continue. We all have a sense of comfort here, a comfort that is productive as it allows us to sit in a circle and speak freely.

I might propose a geographical project. One in which the class mapped out where everyone was before there time at William and Mary, and where they will be afterwards. The fact that we all hail from such divergent locations, and know each other to have varied views, but all have the commonality to respect the voices of others in the circle would, I think, illustrate the uniqueness of our community and class. It could also instill a sense of confidence for the future – showing constructive, productive, and valuable relationships can be achieved across all forms of social barriers by employing respect and purpose.