The Little Things

“I’m here with my tribe, this family’s my wealth, and I would die with them before I would live by myself.”

-S. Bear Bergman, Day Of Remembrance

Jonathan Chapman / Columnist

When people ask me what I like about Elon, there are always a couple of aspects included in my list. I love the student involvement. I love the amazingly beautiful surroundings. I love the engaging faculty. But one of my most favorite characteristics about Elon is the people.

That’s not the response everyone gives when they are required to give a reason why they chose to attend Elon. It’s not just how people inevitably say hello while passing on the way to class or are genuinely concerned about how your day is going. It goes beyond the general kindness and compassion that can be used to describe the majority of Elon students.

I like people at Elon because I click with them — because we fit. I like my friends at Elon because we can go to Harden to eat and not say a word to each other. I like my friends as Elon because we are comfortable with each other.

Take my group of friends in Jordan Center. We met at the beginning of the year — interested in different possibilities, but all a little sad about leaving home. We were thrown into living with each other and for some strange reason we hit it off. As the year continued, we became family. From stories about falling out of bed to suppers in McEwen, we became inseparable — the JC Crew.

But then there are also the people that make instant connections. Take for instance, my friend Carolyn. We would see one another in the fall at church, recognizing each other as Elon students. At school, we would pass by each other outside Moseley or see each other in Octagon before our heinous 8 a.m. classes. She would speak and I would wave, but we would never exactly sit and talk.

Then came the fateful day when we picnicked in front of Chandler. As we sat talking about issues at hand, we both found that our common interests abounded. From then on, we became, for all intents and purposes (minus a few crucial details) a couple. She’s an interesting person with an unquenchable curiosity.

And it is people like my JC Crew and Carolyn that make all the hard work, pressure and stress that college can often force upon its students bearable.

Some might say that college is about learning. I have no doubt that part of the college experience is academic, but an equally important aspect (and of times the more fun) are the friends.

There is a journal entry that I have seen in many Web logs. I have searched for the author, but have had no such luck of finding one. But here is a paragraph of what was written about the end of school.

“A few weeks from now we will leave. A few weeks from now we take down our pictures, and pack up our clothes. No more going next door to do nothing for hours on end. We will leave our friends whose random e-mails and phone calls will bring us to laughter and tears this summer. We will take our memories and dreams and put them away for now, saving them for our return to this world.”

As a freshman, this coming summer will be different. I will be returning to a place that was once my only world. Things won’t be the same, and I don’t expect them to be.

In a few weeks, we will head home and say goodbye to Elon — some for only three months, others for good. But we will never lose the spirit of Elon. We will always have a bit of College Coffee, Club Belk and, most importantly, friends that will sustain us until we meet again.

I have found my tribe at Elon. This family is my wealth.