Community: What Does it Mean?

I come from a small town. A town of 1,000 people to be exact. I lived in that town for 18 years of my life. It is a town I am incredibly grateful for, a town that is a true community. Throughout my time living there I saw each and every person come together in times of tragedy. It amazed me every single time to see everyone supporting and comforting each other. I loved being from a small town, so much I went to college in a relatively small town as well. I witnessed the same thing in that town as well. There were times when the community was shaken by a tragic death or a natural disaster and everyone, I mean everyone, came together to help. Being able to come together and lift one another up is why I love small towns. So when I took a job in a big city, I was nervous. What was this going to be like? Was I going to have a community? Would people be there to pick me up when I fell? Was I going to be able to help others who were facing a difficult situation?

The recent events in the whole state of Nebraska (the whole midwest actually) have shown me community is much more than a small town. Community is when people come together for people they do not know and even people they know nothing about. Throughout the past couple of weeks, I have seen the whole state of Nebraska come together to help one another and that is a community. I truly believe you can find community in your workplace, your neighborhood, your friend group, the local coffee shop, the public library, wherever you look there is the potential for community.

I was scared I wasn’t going to have community living in a big city, but boy was I wrong. I have found a community of people everywhere I look that are there to support and encourage me. So even if you feel like you are alone, take a moment to look around and notice the people that care about you. I promise they are there, even if you are living in a big city.