News Archives - 2009
Live life in the city at street level
The following is an excerpt from the Sept. 8 opening convococation address given by Sam Smith, Augsburg's Day student body president.
Welcome and thank you for being here. I'm pleased and honored to have the opportunity to welcome new and returning students, faculty, and staff to the first convocation of the school year.
This summer, I had the opportunity to conduct paid undergraduate research through Augsburg's URGO program. I based my research on a topic of great personal interest and international importance: online computer games. As I was studying "the dynamics of online relationships," I dealt heavily with online communities where people created tight friendships and bonds, even as obstacles like anonymity, differing cultures, and distance worked to undermine those relationships.
It occurred to me that in some ways, creating friendships in our own community, the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, is very similar to those online communities, and so I want to pose this question to everyone here: what will it take for each of you to feel that you belong in this neighborhood, and what obstacles will stand in the way?
This is a topic that my friend Juventino Meza-Rodriguez has spent the summer researching. Juve was interested in the relationship Augsburg has historically had with the surrounding Cedar-Riverside community. Over the summer Juve and I have had many discussions about the difficulty of sustaining a meaningful relationship with the community when there are so many other alluring options for a young college student who has thrown off the heavy shackles of parental supervision.
For my own part, I think I've successfully found other ways to connect with both the campus and the community. I've been a test proctor, a writing tutor, an orientation leader, and an editor for the school newspaper. I've visited local mosques, been to community meetings at the Brian Coyle Center, served a few Campus Kitchen shifts, and made friends with local business owners. I truly feel that I am now a resident of this neighborhood and an important part of this college.
At Augsburg, my life and my learning have been enriched by the constant reminder that the city and the community are the largest classrooms you can find. In my experience, the most profound learning comes from living with and serving our neighbors, both at Augsburg and in the city. To meet, work, and talk with people of other backgrounds and cultures is sometimes challenging, but it is also rewarding. Augsburg is at the center of a shifting, changing mix of cultures, traditions, and peoples. It is a privilege and a responsibility that we must be aware of as we continue to contemplate how we can best serve our neighbors. Every difficulty you face as you work to acquaint yourself with Minneapolis is another opportunity to strengthen your connection to the city.
Where I currently live, on the 13th floor of Mortensen Hall, the view of downtown Minneapolis is both beautiful and intimidating. Up that high, it's impossible to make out faces or street signs. One is also aware of the extreme pace that life seems to move at in Minneapolis. At street level, though, life in the Cedar-Riverside and Seward neighborhoods doesn't seem as complicated, foreign, or hectic as it appears from my bedroom. My hope for all City Service Day participants is that they will eventually learn to live life in the city at street level.
My hope for those of you who go out into the city today is that you will treat City Service Day not as a single expression of solidarity and service but as a preparation for a life at Augsburg that constantly seeks to engage and serve the members of our community. My hope is that you will begin to find meaning in the simple task of talking and working side by side with the other residents of Minneapolis, and eventually come to engage the community on your own terms and of your own accord.
If your experience with City Service Day doesn't compel you to return to that location, keep looking. In a city as great as Minneapolis, and in a neighborhood as varied and diverse as Cedar-Riverside, I'm confident there's an opportunity for all of you to connect with your neighbors on a personal level—to learn, to teach, and to feel that Augsburg, as well as Minneapolis, is your home.
