I have been an on-again off-again student for more about 8 years. I have lived in 9 different houses/apartments in 5 different cities. Each time I settled in a different place I knew it would be a temporary situation. The life of a post-secondary student is unique and is what I call 'life in a bubble'. Because I know, on my backburner, that I will move on from the place I am living in, my desire to deeply connect to my community is minimal. In fact, I generally benefit from where I live without really giving back. I have this ideal idea in my head about the community that I will put down roots and invest in. I see growing my family and raising my kids in a small community where all its members interact and help each other out. I believe it takes a commitment by people in a community to truly make it last. Sustainability is only accomplished when long term goals are incorporated. I dont feel cononected to my current community in which I live, and the main reason is that I am not commited to being a part of it or making it better. At its roots this attitude is selfish. I dont want to invest in a place where I wont remain to see the benifits. I try not to live by this attitude, but I find, deep down, that it shapes my decisions.
When I make the final move (hopefully) and settle into my new home in Ontario, I plan to invest in my community. How this will happen is still unclear, but I know that because I plan to be there for a long time, that it will help my commitment to make my surrounding environement better. The community living survey that I completed for the CRC (http://www.survey.crcresearch.org/index.php?sid=6)
showed me that contributing to welcoming and safety in a community are ways that I can help.
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